Peavey PV-i100 Issues

[jimmy163]

Hi, just got this mic for some basic home recording. I know it is a cheap microphone and not a Shure or anything but surely it can't be this bad.

First of all, is this meant to be ran through an amplifier? I have ran it through my XLR inputs on my camera (Canon XL2) and have ran it to my PC through an effects pedal which has an amplifier built in.

However it is extremely quiet, even through the effects pedal. I can rack up all the volume levels but the audio quality sucks with lots of hissing etc.

Am I to assume this mic is intended for running through a proper amp? I have a big Marshall but would not like to have to have it sitting next to my PC all the time.

What is the best way to record audio from this mic to my PC, at an acceptable sound level and quality level?

Thanks!

PS: Could it be case of the mic needing some proper phantom power? I notice it does not take batteries however I don't want to try giving it phantom power from my Canon XL2 incase it breaks it.

 

[jimmy163]

Does the mic need a pre-amp before it goes to the PC or something?

 

[dgatwood]

Use FireWire to the XL2 and capture the audio through its converters. There's no point in going back to analog and using the crap converters in your computer's sound card....

And no, it's a dynamic mic. No phantom required. It shouldn't hurt anything, but it won't make any difference, either.

 

[jimmy163]

The batteries for my Canon XL2 don't really last too long. I have tested again today through the effects pedal and its actually working with +10dB gain selected within the PC.

I am going to build a XLR > 3.5 preamp for it in the next few days which should be able to increase the gain (audio hiss free) from 10 to 40dB.

I've built some stereo and mono amplifiers before with great results so hopefully this preamp will be just as good.