Small wavelengths & an odd male xlr

[calluma]

Hi all,
I have made an introduction on the intro thread but I'm Callum, 21 from Doncaster, UK. I play acoustic guitar, piano and sing. I've recently bought a Macbook Pro to help edit audio and video..but i've come across a few problems (they were there with my old windows laptop but i never did anything about it- so now's the time!)

I'm doubt the 2 questions are connected but:
1 - I (try to) use a Rode NT3 mic to record my acoustic guitar. but i've never actually been able to get a useable sound out of it. This is because of the huge hiss i hear when monitoring. I've just found out the cause. I was monitoring through the M Audio Fast Track Pro headphone port - must be very sensitive or broken. Now I have my mac i'm able to use the headphone port (the one on my old laptop was broken). I can get a MUCH clearer sound now (less of the hissing) and the audio levels are what I'd assume to be perfect.. however the wavelengths dont show this. They are very small, despite my gain knob being at about 85% (i dont want to max it out because i start hearing more hiss than guitar then). I've used both Garageband and Logic Pro X

2 - Said Rode mic has a very strange looking rear end.. and, forgive me if I'm wrong, I'm fairly sure it should look like that. One of the 3 pins protrudes further thn the other. See here




(Not sure how to resize..)

Thanks

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hi,
Don't worry about the amplitude shown by the graphic display. It wont be calibrated to mean anything and can be adjusted.
Worry about numbers. Can you give a peak or average reference for one of your recordings?

The third pin is ground and is meant to be longer than the others.
The reason for this is so that ground makes contact before any other terminals.
It's a safety precaution.

 

[calluma]

Hi,
Don't worry about the amplitude shown by the graphic display. It wont be calibrated to mean anything and can be adjusted.
Worry about numbers. Can you give a peak or average reference for one of your recordings?

The third pin is ground and is meant to be longer than the others.
The reason for this is so that ground makes contact before any other terminals.
It's a safety precaution.

Haha I feel a bit daft now! It just had me confused because the male xlr cable ends i have dont look that way - but it makes sense.

I'll be able to get a peak / average tomorrow

Thanks for you help!

 

[Steenamaroo]

Only feel daft if you don't ask the questions.

Any time, Calluma.

 

[ecc83]

Hi Call'.
I had a Fast track pro* (shipped it to son in France) The mic pre amps ARE rather gain shy but you should get good results from the Rode capacitor mic. Couple of things come to mind....

You have not perchance got the 20dB pad on the Pro engaged? Also, Pros are extremely reliable, I have not read of one going faulty in 7yrs or so of forum lurking, but it IS possible that the 48V phantom power has failed low. I note that the NT3 very unusually, can be battery powered, try that.

Now, I know not of macs or GB but do not I think, be put off by the waveform size. You should be looking at average level of around -20dBFS on GB's meters with peaks no higher than around neg 10.

You should certainly be able to get a decent level (for acoustic guitar at least) from the Pro's headphone output.

*Do not ever sell it (or at least give ME dibs!) The FTTP has some near unique features. It is one of few AIs that can run "stand alone", i.e. put 9volts up its jaxy and it will run as a mic/line/guitar pre amp and S/PDIF converter. It is one of few interfaces with inserts on the two input channels.

Lastly, it is a USB 1.1 device. This means it will run on any computer you are ever likely to come across never mind how old and feeble! I had used mine on Vista and Windows 2000 as well as all the other suspects.

 

[calluma]

I feel much more reassured now ecc83, thank you! It's more than likely to be my knowledge limiting me, but that's why I joined here
As I replied to Steenamaroo, i'll check and see what levels I can get tonight and give you some dB answers. (I didnt have the pad button engaged)

 

[BroKen_H]

Welcome to the board!

 

[calluma]

ok guys, apologies for the delay. i was able to get a useable sound which was about -12db, i think thats ok isnt it? the sound waves were still very low but if thats nothing to worry about thats fine

however, when i was fingerpicking or letting notes ring, the hiss could be heard. here's an example (first mic on then i turn it off)
https://soundcloud.com/callumavelingmusic/hiss

At first i thought it was linked to the fact my room isnt in any way acoustically treated (although that could still be the case partially as it was louder with the mic on).. but when i turn the mic off, it's still there. Is this from the usb side of things?


cheers

note: i cant 100% discount it, but I fairly confident the noise isnt coming from the fan

edit: it appears you can only really hear it with external speakers or headphones.. this is embarrassing

 

[maestro_dmc]

The third pin is ground and is meant to be longer than the others.
The reason for this is so that ground makes contact before any other terminals.
It's a safety precaution.

Never heard that one before! Is that specific to Rode mics? I've never used a RODE mic.

 

[ecc83]

That hiss level (except the bump!) is at -75dBFS. Now that ain't bad! About 5dB better than a Studer with Dolby A! And it is a fact that if you crank the gain on any vinyl recordings or master tapes if you could get them, you WOULD hear hiss!

Had you been using Win 7 I would say the internal sound levels need attention but I have no clue as to how these things are done in macs. I do note however that the second track is very hot! It averages about -4dBFS on my 2496 meters and peaks into the red.

Now this MAY not be a problem for a finished piece but if you are regularly tracking that hot, that is part of your problem I bet.
Are you running the Pro at 24 bits and 44.1kHz? Are you averaging around -20dBFS and peaking no higher than -8 say?

Acoustic guitar is a tricky record. They are inherently quiet, a mic at a foot away is only going to be getting 70-75dBSPL when finger picking. Even with a really good cap' mic that only translates to a millivolt or two so you need a pretty good pre amp and the pro is not THAT good.
If you then attempt to reproduce that guitar at "unnatural" levels, unless you were using a Grace 101 or a F'rite Red (e.g.) you are going to get hiss!

So, my conclusion is that the system is about as quiet as you could reasonable expect for its "age" and price. You are "amping" things beyond reality and possibly recording too hot to boot!

Dave.

 

[calluma]

Hi Dave
Thanks for your reply, its about as detailed as I needed to understand

I did boost the master level to accentuate the hiss just for the purpose of this post, but I've since noticed its only audible on my headphones.

When you say second track is hot, do you mean the second half? That is when the mic was turned off

Thanks again, i'll be favouriting this page for reference
Callum