Too much noise in playback?

[J2800]

Hey guys, this is my first post here, and I hope someone will be able to help me figure out this problem I'm having with my setup.

I'm trying to record my electric guitar with my Behringer 1202FX mixer and am having a bit of an issue with the playback on my computer. There is a lot of background noise in the playback and it sounds like the guitar is going through a distortion filter (which it isn't). The guitar is wired into the first line in, gain is set at 0, FX are off and it is leveled at +10. Main mix is at +5 and the main FX are off, so it can't be an effects issue. I have the main out hooked up to the microphone jack on my computer. I used the "listen" tab of the "manage audio devices" dialog to it through my computer speakers, and there is always noise in the background.

The noise is there when the mixer is off, but it gets louder when it is turned on.

What should I do to fix this?

 

[c7sus]

Guitar > line-input is not a recommended setup.

At the very least you need a DI or a preamp suitable for passive guitar pickups. The output of a guitar is much lower than line level.

A passive DI is probably the cheapest solution. It uses a transformer to match the guitar output to the impedence a mic input would want to be seeing. You plug your guitar into the input of the DI and then use a mic cable to patch the output into a mic channel on your mixer.

Set the gain on the mic channel so you are peaking between -18dBFS to -12dBFS in your recording software. There is no need to record hotter than this. -18dBFS is the same as 0dBVU.

 

[mjbphotos]

Like c7sus said, you need a way to get the low level guitar signal to your system. But better yet, get yourself an audio interface first. Are you sending the audio output of the Behr mixer to your line in jacks on your computer?

 

[J2800]

A passive DI is probably the cheapest solution. It uses a transformer to match the guitar output to the impedence a mic input would want to be seeing. Set the gain on the mic channel so you are peaking between -18dBFS to -12dBFS in your recording software. There is no need to record hotter than this. -18dBFS is the same as 0dBVU.

How cheap would a decent one cost?

And yes @mjbphotos I'm sending the line out of the mixer to the line in on the computer. Is that wrong?

 

[gecko zzed]

I have the main out hooked up to the microphone jack on my computer.

The main out will be at a line level. The computer is expecting a microphone level. This will be the main culprit. If your computer has a line in jack, then use that.

 

[mjbphotos]

Read the stickys at the top of the newbie section - the soundcard in your computer has about $0.29 worth of parts in it and does a lousy job of converting audio to digital. Get a dedicated audio interface.