Why are my levels always so low? Do I need a preamp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MeanMrMustard99
  • Start date Start date
M

MeanMrMustard99

New member
Hopefully some nice person can steer me in the right direction here...

In all of my recordings the signal strength is to weak.

I'm using a Shure 58 and 57 to record vocals and electric guitars. My interface is a ZoomR24 which runs into my iMac using Garageband.

Now the problem is no matter how loud I turn up the gain on the interface the signal I capture is weak? I have to turn the gain up so loud that the hiss is overpowering.
Would a preamp help boost the mics signal and help me get closer to a proper level??? or should I be using a different mic?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
 
I'm not seeing any specifications, as to the input gain of the ZoomR24. However, I would question what it is you are considering a weak signal. Recording digitally, your input meter should 'ideally' be around -12 dbfs. Looks low on the meter, but it is different from typical analog recording. Output volume is usually controlled later in the mixing/mastering process.

I am not familiar with the Zoom, so I really cant give much detail here, but you should be fine regarding input levels from the 57 or 58, as long as the source has any kind of volume.

Cheers back at ya! :)
 
The levels of my recorded signals are always very low on my DAW (Garageband). For me to have the levels captured at a reasonable level on Garageband I have to turn my interface gain up full and then the hiss becomes very noticeable.

I hope this makes sense...thanks for the help
 
MeanMrMustard99 said:
The levels of my recorded signals are always very low on my DAW (Garageband). For me to have the levels captured at a reasonable level on Garageband I have to turn my interface gain up full and then the hiss becomes very noticeable.

I hope this makes sense...thanks for the help
Click to expand...

It doesn't. Terms like "very low" are essentially meaningless. We need hard numbers. What are your peak levels in dBFS?
 
My DAW (Garageband) doesnt seem to have a measurement of dBFS on the tracks. The tracks that I have recorded barely bounce up or form "waves" at all from the original flat line
 
MeanMrMustard99 said:
My DAW (Garageband) doesnt seem to have a measurement of dBFS on the tracks. The tracks that I have recorded barely bounce up or form "waves" at all from the original flat line
Click to expand...

Maybe you can use something like Audacity to measure the levels. I don't know Garage Band, but it does sound like the signal may be low.
 
So my next post will be my 10th and let me post an example lol
 
Don't listen to anything the guy in that video says. He is very confused.
 
so everytime I post a link to a youtube video with an example of my signal strength it is removed.

So lets say my signal strength is low, would a preamp help boost the levels and getting me a louder recorded signal???

Cheers
 
Am I to understand that your recording app doesn't have scale numbers on it's meters?

Maybe another way to get a handle on what's what- Do the record level meters on the Zoom agree with GarageBand's?
Play or sing a constant note at some number below full scale (some convenient mark in the meters around -20) and one hot just at full scale. Now compare in GarageBand.
You want to be hanging out around -20 or so for the average' level. (Room above is for peaks.

note- If you're comparing while GarageBand is in record the faders don't matter to the meter's levels.
If you're comparing them in playback make sure all the faders are at zero', no other things (plugs', eq, what have you) are off/zero'd out so they are not messing with the level for this experiment.
 
Last edited:
MeanMrMustard99 said:
So lets say my signal strength is low, would a preamp help boost the levels and getting me a louder recorded signal???

Cheers
Click to expand...

Just to kill this part of the conversation...You already have a preamp.
Your interface has preamps built in. If it didn't you wouldn't get any audible signal.

A higher quality preamp might result in lower noise levels compared to the signal, but you almost certainly don't need one.

A guitar amp is a suitably loud source for a 57/58. Any half decent preamp should be able to get you a decent enough recorded level.


A few people have said it already but you need a number before this can be diagnosed.
If garageband doesn't have meters, download a free daw that does (Reaper/audacity).

If you came back and told us your recorded guitar wav was averaging -12 on your software meters, we'd be telling you there's no problem.

Vocals are a different story; That can be a much quieter source and a condenser mic or higher gain preamp might be a good investment.
Still, no one wants to send you to the shops without hard facts.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Don't listen to anything the guy in that video says. He is very confused.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice.


bouldersoundguy said:
The "really weak" signal looked exactly right to me.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.



A friend of mine uses garage band. The meters have the green line thingy that bounces up and down when there's signal, but there's no scale. The waveform appears like it would in anything else, again - no scale.

I'm not familiar with the Zoom, but it should have some metering capability. My buddy's interface is an M-Audio something or other. I've told him to set levels so that when you check the mics with the loudest possible input signal, crank the gain until it starts to clip at the interface. Nevermind what Garage Band is doing just yet. Then back the level down enough that it won't clip.

This should put the signal at around line level.

It doesn't make the meters in Garage Band jump very high. The waveform that gets recorded does not fill all of the space, but you can clearly see a waveform fluttering around the zero line. There are occasional transient peaks that jump higher. This is a normal line level signal and it's not nearly as loud as a modern commercial CD.

If there's hiss getting to that point I'm not sure why. Could be something like a +4/-10 setting somewhere that's not right. Testing it with Audacity or something that has better metering would definitely help to understand what's going on. Somewhere around -18 dBfs average, or peak values that go slightly higher is around the normal range.

From the sound of what you're describing Mr. Mustard, I think everything is working as it should. If it's very quiet compared to a commercial CD, it's normal. Commercial CDs are smashed to oblivion by something that we call "the loudness wars".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top