quick questions about mixing

[dave123454321]

hi,

i was recently given some new but cheap gear - a cheap mixer, it's a 'behringer ub1202' and two microphones, a shure sm57 and a shure pg48. the 57 came with a regular xlr cable, the 48 came with a cable that goes from xlr to 1/4". anyway i then bought an attachment that goes from the main outs on the mixer (left and right, both 1/4") to my computer soundcard. i have adobe audition on my computer. i know this isn't ideal in the least but i was excited to try stuff out.

questions:

1. i plugged the shure sm57 into the first XLR input and turned up the volume a bit and i could hear it in my earphones, but it was primarily on the right side. the pan switch was centered. any reason for this?

2. i then plugged in the pg48 into the 1/4" input (on the second channel) and couldn't hear anything. is it because of the cord?

3. there's this button that says 'phantom' and i assume it's phantom power. i haven't touched it for fear of blowing up my microphones. am i worrying needlessly?

regardless, even with a slightly panned 1-microphone recording, i was really pleased with the results i threw together in about 20 minutes and am excited to learn more.

 

[dave123454321]

ps i don't think anything is broken, either. the mixer is brand new & out of the box. i tried plugging the sm57 into my computer directly using the xlr-to-1/4" cable with a 1/4"-to-1/8" adaptor and it worked just fine with no balance issues.

 

[james123]

hi ok then here goes
1.i dont actually know the answer here but maybe it has some thing to do L&R main outputs ???????
2.1/4" input is a line in not a pre amp ,you need a preamp for microphones to increase the signal so it can be heard (theres probably a better explaination). line input are usualy for guitar line outs and keyboard(mostly things with line outs)so for you to be able to hear the second mic you need to get an xlr cable and plug it in to the mixer pre-amp or buy an external pre amp and plug it into the line in.
3.phantom power is for condenser mics,you have dynamic mics,so you dont need it but it wont do any damage at all to your mics but i have heard that phantom power can damage a ribbon (whic you dont have)mic but ive also heard it cant.

p.s someone who knows more and has had more experience will probably be able to explain it better.hope this helped you

 

[dave123454321]

thank you! this is a big help. i'll buy another XLR cable today or tomorrow and that should be the end of that.

the attachment i bought are basically two 1/4" jacks that combine together and end off in a 1/8" jack. also when i record stuff in audition sound on the left side is there, it's just not as loud as the right side.

also the mixer has a little series of green and red LED lights that light up and show you your volume level.. when i was making noise in front of the microphone, only the lights on the right side were lighting up, so i think the problem is in the mixer?


lastly, is there any easy/obvious way i can tell if any of my microphones are ribbon mics, or do i just need to look that up on the internet. i'm glad pressing the phantom power button won't mess them up!

 

[Creamyapples1]

Sounds about right. How is your L&R outs of the mixer running into your soundcard? What type of soundcard is it? If it's stock, chances are you don't have two inputs on the card, or if you do they aren't matched. One being a mic and one being a line in, could account for why you are getting mismatched L&R signals. I know you're just getting started, but if it's a stock sound card, it'd be worth your money to go pickup an M-audio delta 44 or whatever would best suit your needs. Less trouble and easier to manage everything.

 

[james123]

lastly, is there any easy/obvious way i can tell if any of my microphones are ribbon mics, or do i just need to look that up on the internet. i'm glad pressing the phantom power button won't mess them up!

your mics are not ribbon mics they are dynamic mics (just to save you searching the net)

 

[james123]

How is your L&R outs of the mixer running into your soundcard?

i think from what is explained above that he has a Y cable from the the outputs on the mixer to one input on his soundcard . i still cant think of what could be wrong.although you could plug the mic with the xlr in to the second chanel and see if still does it.

 

[dave123454321]

hi!

yes, what i have is like a Y cable going into the line-in on the soundcard. i'm not sure what's wrong - i'll try it with a different input tonight and see if i get the same problem. like i said before, i'm pretty sure it's not the microphone since that works fine when plugged into the soundcard directly.

thanks for your help!

i will definitely look into a better soundcard, as well.

 

[Creamyapples1]

How is the mic channel panned on the board as you try to record?

 

[dave123454321]

hi!

um, well there one 'pan' knob which is centered.

here's a link to a picture of the mixer i have:

http://www.audiomidi.com/assets/3117_ub1202_top.jpg

the pan knob is the black one, second from the bottom.

anything else i should be checking out?