Valve mic too sensitive for home studio!

H

hemmick reef

New member
I bought a Groove Tubes GT67 for my small home studio a few years ago (6x feet - not good on the acoustics either) , and although I think the GT67 sounds very nice, it just seems too sensitive for home studio use, picks up too much external sound and is just a hassle to use.

I am unable to build screens or add any sound proofing so I am wondering if changing it for a dynamic mic like an SM58 would be better and make life easier, and may even sound better when I have added a touch of reverb?

Due to lack of money I would probably sell the GT67 first though.

Any thoughts please.
 
First, have you tried the cardioid and hypercardioid patterns. If you're getting too many other sound in hypercardioid, then you're room isn't suitable for recording, and most condenser mics will have similar problems, IMO.

Craig
 
I don't even have a dedicated room, much less a treated dedicated room, and I have constant problems with noise. I do live in a quiet neighborhood, and I find that if I'm the only one home, I can turn off the ceiling fans and unplug the refrigerator and turn off the central HVAC, and if I'm lucky and no one drives by and the nearby dogs are contented, I can record with a condenser mic (or a valve/tube mic) and get a good result, provided I've got rugs and pillows in the right places to stop unwanted reflections.

Otherwise, I can edit out some stuff, but the chances of getting through a track are quite small. For that reason, dynamics are more useful to me, strictly in the sense of having more flexibility to record during periods with more background noise. But some applications do better with a condenser, and for those I just have to wait until the conditions are right.
 
I would get an SM7b. It will still give you the quality you want, but it won't pick up all that extra stuff.
 
My room is larger, about 11X9 but not much. I use a TB1 and have no problems with vocals. I found that if I don't try to run the pre too high it really helps. If I turn the gain up too high then I will get the outside noise. My computer and even a tv on in the other part of the house has not kept me from working. I just have them turn down the tv a bit, put pillows around the door, and pray no one goes by with a sub woofer blasting from their car!:D

I think if you were to get something to treat your room, even 1 box (6 panels) of corning 703 you would also loose a lot of that noise.

I built a simple pvc frame, hung a panels on it and then place 1 panel over the top and put the others behind and around me. That all cost about $120. Now I can move the panels around and it really keeps the outside side from getting into the mix.

Of course it all depends on what you are trying to record. I just do vocals and a little guitar when a friend comes overs.

I would think twice about getting a different mic. You may be getting a sound you don't want. Is there someone you could borrow one to try it out? I tried an sm58 on my voice and it just didn't cut it.

Hope this helps!

Earl
 
You might also try singing louder. If background noise in another room is a problem, you are obviously not pushing much air 3 inches away from the mic.
 
I had all the same problems as the original poster but solved the majority of them by building a collapsable gobo.

Here's the hinged frame...

https://homerecording.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=27022&d=1141254608

I filled it with insulation and then put heavy carpet over it.When I fold it out I put a heavy blanket over the top and I play/sing into it with my back facing a dead/diffused wall.This got rid of 90% of the noise I was hearing and what noise that's left is acceptable for a home studio set up.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/attachment.php?attachmentid=27023&d=1141254650
 
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Farview said:
You might also try singing louder. If background noise in another room is a problem, you are obviously not pushing much air 3 inches away from the mic.
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He could also have his gain staging sideways and maybe he is just bringing up his noise floor a ton?

I love my SM7.

That said, what is it exactly we are recording? Vocals? Guitars? Dish washers? Light brites? That makes a big difference in what you want to get.
 
You know, the reason I don't own any GT/ST mics is their inability to reject BG noise. I have auditioned many, and it seems that the off axis rejection just isn't good at all. I would try (borrow/rent/steal) a different mic and see if that makes a difference.

Pete
 
My post was mainly about recording vocals. I use it in hypercardoid mode which is obviously the best setting. I use the bass roll off on the mic which helps.

Thanks for the comments - I will cut the gain on the preamp and try singing a bit louder. I found my SM57 to be ok on vocals for me, but the sound was less open than the GT67 and lifeless sounding, even when I moved to about 10 inches from the mic.

I will also try to build something to dampen the sound reflections.
 
hemmick reef said:
even when I moved to about 10 inches from the mic.
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Back up the cart... so how far are you from the mic typically when you record? If you are too far away, all you are going to get is room sound. Try like 4 inches from the mic.
 
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+1 You are almost supposed to eat a 57. You can get right up on a just about any mic, just use a pop filter.
 
hemmick reef,

You also want to watch how you are tracking your vocals. I use headphones and make sure that I hear my voice cancel as much background as possible. With my TB1, I can sing from 2" to 12" and still keep the voice above all the other noise. I also have to make sure I use the headphone vol to control the overall volume. It's easy to turn up the mic to balance the other tracks but then you can get into trouble with a lot of background noise. What I do is create my basic back track and lower the volume of it, set the mic to ride just above that and raise the overall volume of the headphones to what is good for me for tracking those vocals. If you try to keep the mic up with the louder back track during tracking the vocal, you'll always drive the pre too much. At least that's what I've found.

Do try to get somethings to block outside noises and reflections and then keep record levels down.

Remember, you can always mix the vocal in at a lower recording volume and then up the whole mix.

Hope this helps.

Earl
 
earlwgreen said:
hemmick reef,

You also want to watch how you are tracking your vocals. I use headphones and make sure that I hear my voice cancel as much background as possible. With my TB1, I can sing from 2" to 12" and still keep the voice above all the other noise. I also have to make sure I use the headphone vol to control the overall volume. It's easy to turn up the mic to balance the other tracks but then you can get into trouble with a lot of background noise. What I do is create my basic back track and lower the volume of it, set the mic to ride just above that and raise the overall volume of the headphones to what is good for me for tracking those vocals. If you try to keep the mic up with the louder back track during tracking the vocal, you'll always drive the pre too much. At least that's what I've found.

Do try to get somethings to block outside noises and reflections and then keep record levels down.

Remember, you can always mix the vocal in at a lower recording volume and then up the whole mix.

Hope this helps.

Earl
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips :)
 
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