weak mic signal

jay_isaacs

jay_isaacs

November Phoenix
Right everyone,

heres my latest problem! I need to record some vocals however the problem I have is that I am getting a virtually non existant signal from my mic (my setup is phantom powered micmic>lexicon lambda>pc) even with the gain turned up to full i get a faint signal. is there some way I can boost the signal from my mic without splashing out on a pre-amp?

J
 
jay_isaacs said:
Right everyone,

heres my latest problem! I need to record some vocals however the problem I have is that I am getting a virtually non existant signal from my mic (my setup is phantom powered micmic>lexicon lambda>pc) even with the gain turned up to full i get a faint signal. is there some way I can boost the signal from my mic without splashing out on a pre-amp?

J
Click to expand...
You're using one of the preamps on the Lambda? Are you using phantom power supplied by the Lambda? Which microphone is it?

if the answer to the first two of those questions is yes, one possibility is that the phantom power signal is too weak to power the mic. If that sounds likely, can you measure the voltage on pins 2 and 3 with a multimeter? Some mics need more juice than others, so that's why I'm asking what mic it is.
 
the answer to the first 2 questions is yes. apparently according to my research, because the lambda is usb powered it struggles to power phantom mics. the mic i'm using is an akg mic (not sure which model) but that is probably what the problem is. Is there an easy way around this? please dont say 'yes. buy a new mic!'
 
jay_isaacs said:
the answer to the first 2 questions is yes. apparently according to my research, because the lambda is usb powered it struggles to power phantom mics. the mic i'm using is an akg mic (not sure which model) but that is probably what the problem is. Is there an easy way around this? please dont say 'yes. buy a new mic!'
Click to expand...


There would be no need to say this. clearly the problem isn't the mic but the interface.
 
buckkillr8 said:
There would be no need to say this. clearly the problem isn't the mic but the interface.
Click to expand...

point taken. i realised that but what I meant was the option of buying a non phantom powered mic to try and get around it. a new interface is not an option either.
 
I have two AKG C414s that use more power than my bus-powered interface can supply. I use a separate dedicated 48v phantom supply for them. These are usually less than $50. I recently bought a two channel supply (from drbill on the board here -- thanks again!) so I can use both C414s with the interface. To hook these up, you need an extra mic cable for each mic, since the supply goes between the mic and the interface, and has standard male/female XLR connectors.

I also have some AKG C451e mics that are plenty happy with the meager power from for the interface.
 
Agreed about the external phantom power supply. I have a battery-powered phantom box that I use when I need phantom power out of my Panasonic camcorder since it doesn't provide phantom power (unlike my new Canon, which does, much to my amazement).

A small word of caution: the Art Phantom II is great, but unless you want to provide a steady supply of 9V batteries, you'll probably want to buy the power supply to plug it into the wall. It doesn't come with a wall wart.

That said, before you spend money on something like that, you should find somebody else with an audio setup that has phantom power to make sure that it really is the low phantom voltage and not something wrong with the mic. :)
 
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