When i sing into a mic it sounds lifeless than without one...

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kratos

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Basically when i sing openly i like it (obviously).

But when i sing in to my SM58 it somehow makes my sound dead and lifless...
I connect it directly to the line in section of my pc. With Fl Studio i dont really need a preamp as it automatically removes background hiss and amps it up on input.
Do i need to get a better mic, preamp ?
 
kratos said:
Basically when i sing openly i like it (obviously).

But when i sing in to my SM58 it somehow makes my sound dead and lifless...
I connect it directly to the line in section of my pc. With Fl Studio i dont really need a preamp as it automatically removes background hiss and amps it up on input.
Do i need to get a better mic, preamp ?
Click to expand...



you need an audio interface...not the line in...for starters


then you need to look at where you are recording....

Id suggest doing a wee bit of reading before your next recording and working out a budget for an audio interface...once you know how much you can spend folks can help you make a choice

it needed be very expensive or take much to really improve on what you are doing now
 
I had the same problem.
I honestly think that SM58 pretty much sucks the life out of your vocals when recording songs. I think they're best for doing live performances, imo.
 
The SM58 is not a bad vocal mic, granted, it's not great either but, you should be able to get decent and usable vocal tracks out of an SM58. Going straight into a Line In, however, does not allow the mic to perform to its best. In fact, I'm surprised you're getting any signal at all. You need a mic pre-amp for sure, and you should also get a real audio interface.

Luckily, a lot of interfaces will have a decent mic pre built-in and for not too much money. If you're doing just vocals, then you can find something for less than $100USD.

With Fl Studio i dont really need a preamp as it automatically removes background hiss and amps it up on input.
Click to expand...

I don't know where you get this notion. Because you're running your mic straight into your Line In on the computer and not a preamp, you're getting a lot of hiss and noise. You really DO need a mic preamp.

cheers,
 
Notebook. said:
I had the same problem.
I honestly think that SM58 pretty much sucks the life out of your vocals when recording songs. I think they're best for doing live performances, imo.
Click to expand...

a little EQ, reverb, and it can sound good...if the interface exists and where its tracked is though out


If had fairly satisfying results from a dynamic mic and a walk in closet....it can be as simple as that


(and Im only saying 'fairly satisfying" because I am/was so new to it myself, every track improves technique and gives confidence)
 
Vocals would sound better recorded with a condensor mic.

Ive used dynamic mics in the past however the condensor does a better job (for me it does anyway)

I would get an interface with phantom power and buy a condensor mic.

I actually use an apex 435 for backup vocals sometimes and its actually sounds pretty good for a low priced condensor.

I bought the apex 435 after reading some good reviews on it...for the price you cant go wrong really.

http://www.amazon.com/Apex-435-Wide-Diaphragm-Microphone/dp/B000I00LRO

Or I would look into someting better if you have the budget for it...perhaps a rode NT1 A or maybe An AKG mic.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--RODNT1A
 
I have to row in and give some props to the SM58...I'd go so far as to say that if you can't get a decent sound out of it with a little EQ, it's probably not the mics fault (unless it's a fake). Bono recorded the vocals on U2's 'One' with it. Also, don't rule out dynamics for vocals on the whole; Springsteen recorded all the vocals on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' with a Shure SM7B and Michael Jackson produced some great vocal takes with that mic too.

Set your levels right (peak between -18 and -12). Use some baffling, but not a huge amount; dynamic mics are forgiving, after all. Give it a slight hump arounnd the 3khz mark and ever so slightly again at around 5khz. Compress and reverb to taste, it may not need them.
 
With the sm58, you'll probably have to use an EQ to scoop out some mud between 200-500Hz. Add a little top-end to brighten it up (we're dealing with a dynamic, they're not too bright). Add some reverb, the dryness of the vocal might be deadening it.

Also, what you may be experiencing is liking the sound of your voice in your head, and not liking it when you hear it back. I don't think anybody hears themselves the same way other people do. I myself sound completely different to the way I hear myself.
 
To Pre or not to Pre

An SM58 can be OK as a vocal mic. Depending on the kind of effect you want to achieve, I'd say that about any mic though don't run your life by that because there are obviously better mics than others. Even with a 58, unless you like going through an amp (again, that's the experimenter in me talking), I think you shouldn't rule out a preamp of some kind unless you have a voice like a rhino trying to imitate Barry White..
 
do you have any other way of recoridng your voice?
If you can record yourself on anything else, cell phone, voice memo recorder, answer phone tape and you sound like a vocal genius then maybe there is a problem with the mic/pre/levels etc, if not then to be brutal, maybe that is how your voice sounds right now.

the acoustics inside our heads are very, very different than how our voices sound out free in the air. The resonance insde your head is what you are used to, the sound of your voice without it is quite different and takes a lot of getting used to. There's also a huge expectational bias of how you feel you should sound based on the grammy winning performance you envision you are giving in your head.

When I sing, I think I sound like a pleasing combination of every great vocalist that ever lived, when I play it back I think I sound like a schmuck!

Things you can do

Practice a lot, singing into a mic is not a natural place to be, note what you like and don't like about the sound you are getting. try working the mic in a way that accentuates the good and mitigates the bad.
Try and "Get into the song" again singing into a mic with one ear in the cans is not a normal way to sing and even if you are alone recording yourself in your own room you can feel weird/self concious and that comes through as a dry and boring recording. gotta learn to let go and belt it out (much easier said than done)
Listen to your recorded voice enough so that it becomes just another singer, then you can then more critically evaluate what you need to try and do better, and if it rally us as bad as you initially knee jerk react to.

no offence meant in any of this and no implication that you are a bad singer.

There is always a reaction to your own voice recorded in a song and, until you get used to how everyone else hears you, it's usually a "Man I suck! that can't be how I sound" reaction.

YMMV
 
Get a little single input tube mic preamp maybe with a line for acoustic guitar.

That combo will sound just fine with an SM58 which is a fine mic.
 
IMO the 58 sounds wooly and dull no matter what I run it through.

The trick is to use it on something with HF you want to tame.
 
I have the same problem with my vocalist. And the problem is the audio interface. Cuz I don't have one. The vocal sounds like pushed down. Not come out..
:spank:
 
kratos said:
when i sing in to my SM58 it somehow makes my sound dead and lifless... I connect it directly to the line in section of my pc.
Click to expand...

You are connecting a $100 mic to a POS built-in soundcard with 40cents worth of chips.

The line-in port also does not have a preamp, which is needed to raise the voltage of the mic signal up to standard voltage levels.

.....kinda like rolling a wrecked $200 VW down a hill onto the Indy500 track and wondering why all the other cars are zipping past you....

Go here and start reading:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
 
I actually practice with a condensor mic (NTK) and although it's tough to eq (feedback) it sounds way clearer than a dynamic. I practice at reasonable volumes too (drum machine/guitar/amp/floor monitors) so a full band wouldn't work with it.
You can buy handheld condensors which I hear can handle more decibals. I'm going to buy one some day - maybe a Neumann.
A nice condensor with a touch of compression and a nice reverb sounds great.
SM58 is okay for live but does not have the clarity of a condensor.
 
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