piss off hiss

  • Thread starter Thread starter dobro
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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
I have a certain amount of hiss on my recordings which I'd like to get rid of. I think it happens because I haven't paid enough attention to my recording situation, which is this. I record with my computer. My mics, and more importantly, my preamps, are both about a meter to a meter and a half from my monitor screen. So's my soundcard breakout box. I arranged things this way for the sake of convenience, but now I'm thinking it's the prime suspect in my search for the source of the hiss that pisses me off.

Anybody have sources of hiss arising from sensitive gear too close to a computer screen?

Next question: if so, then a flat screen is a good fix, right?
 
I doubt that your computer monitor is responsible for hiss. If anything, it may give you some hum. I've got my breakout box (Omni I/O) right next to my monitor, and I don't get any noticable hiss, and only get hum when using a dynamic mic too close to the screen.
 
Crimeny, I get all kinds of noise from my monitor and it seems to get worse and worse as time goes by. Recently, when I've recorded with mics, I've had to turn the monitor off after hitting record, and back on to hit stop. I think the monitor has about had it - I've been having all kinds of problems with it.
 
Flatscreen is a fix to monitor noise... Thats what I use... but monitor noise is more of a rreally, really high pitched whine rather than a hiss...

Cables can cause hiss, and some of it is the noise of your pre's and other pieces of outboard gear.....
 
Just a question

Would investing in a Didital recorder resolve the issue as far as using the PC?

I have people that tell me to use the PC for everything or keep it outside the PC and use the PC only for editing.

Should I take this advice?

lil
 
R U talking about a hard disk recording unit? If so, then it depends on a couple things. If you have a very nice powerful PC, all can be done on it. That is if you're comfortable with using the computer. A stand alone HD recorder has advantages too, it's completely dedicated to sound, is portable and has less to do with computer use, it's just audio. So I think it's a judgement call you have to make depending on your goals and personal comfort with a computer. My $.02 :)
 
lilman42459 said:
Should I take this advice?
Click to expand...

No... Lots of us record in the PC without any noise. Dobro's problem is most likely outside.
 
Ok dude, set your mics up & fire everything up. Put some headphones on and crank em up....now find your hiss! If you're recording it, you should be able to hear it.

I would definately not recommend using any sort of noise reduction software or anything like that. I would much rather hear some hiss than have the air sucked out of your voice & nice accoustic sound!

Slackmaster 2000
 
I listened to your recording again, the one in the clinic.

I commented that I don't hear any insect life, but listening to it today, I do. But only if I crank it.

That is the only 'hiss' like sound I hear, on that track. Not a preamp type hiss from my view. I've heard far worse on commercial recordings.

For your style of music, you may need a very very quiet room. Or live with it, I don't find it much of a problem on that track, or the others I listened to. But, not one to stand in the way of achieving perfection.
 
TO LILMAN

It doesn't really matter which one you use because me myself I used to do all of my recording on my pc but then I got a Boss BR-8 it isn't the best but it is excellent to me and user friendly and it uses zip drives to save so know I record my vocals using it and to me it makes the vocals more clear (MY OPINION) and then I just save everything on the zip and then I installed a zip drive on my computer load it up and Edit and mixdown using Cool Edit 2.0
 
Slack, I'll try that next time I set things up. Thanks. And yeah, I haven't had any good experiences with noise reduction in Cool Edit - I think it's primarily a restoration tool for old recordings.

Emeric - hey, thanks for listening more closely. :) You're right about the continued insect noise (bird noise when I track in the daytime) - but I've got it down to levels where it's livable with. I'm planning more soundproofing of my studio soon, especially of the outer wall. The hiss I hear is when I burn my stuff to CD. (I compared my CD stuff to your stuff on the CD you sent me, and there's a similar amount of hiss.) It isn't the player I use, crappy as it is, because commercial CDs don't have anywhere near as much. I'm being fussy here - I don't notice it unless I'm listening for it, but now that I've spotted it, it pisses me off.
 
RD423

I have a BR532 the little sister of the recorder that you have. I think it is a good little recorder. I am on my way to an upgrade. (need more tracks).

So it is ok to mix the PC with out side resources. It just seems like I loose too much when I take that approach. It might me me though. I am new to this

lil
 
You're right about the continued insect noise (bird noise when I track in the daytime) - but I've got it down to levels where it's livable with.
Click to expand...

I used to have that problem. A little anti-freeze in the ol' bird feeder did the trick :D (just kidding)

So it is ok to mix the PC with out side resources. It just seems like I loose too much when I take that approach. It might me me though. I am new to this
Click to expand...
You're losing a generation (unless you transfer digitally), but if you've got a good quality 24 bit sound card, and transfer carefully, your ears won't hear the difference - plus, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages by a landslide.
 
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