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Hi Everyone.
This is my first post on this forum and I could do with some help/advice please.
I use Magix Music Maker 14 to record silly songs I share with my mates, nothing serious or at all professional. I used to use the program with my desk top which had a Creative Audigy2 ZS sound card. When recording vocals although the recorded sound was very very quiet it wasn't to much of a problem as I could use elements of the program to turn up te volume. The sounds were crystal clear.
I have now got rid of the desktop and bought a laptop. An ACER 8935G, cost a fair amount £1200. In all respects its a fine and powerful laptop but I am having problems recording vocals.
I am using exactly the same mic as before, a Phillips SBC MD110 and as before the recorded sound is very very quiet. However when I turn it up now there is a very obvious background hissing sound to the vocals nwhich is ruining every song I try and record. The instrument sounds are fine including the man I got from this site.
I know the mic is only a cheap thing but it was fine with my desk top. I have tried switching off the laptops built in mic, I've tried altering all the sound settings for recordings in the vista control panel and tried the mic plugged into every possible port it will fit in. But the hissing is still there.
Does anyone have any clue at all as to what the problem may be and any solution to fix it ?
Any help gratefully recieved.
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Hiss while recording? Are you recording a snake?
Heh.
Are you using a preamp with this mic?
if not, this may be the cause of quiet recordings and low sound quality. |
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Try unplugging your power suply when you record...that could sort it
Chris |
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and running off battery sorry
Chris |
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u may have to record it to no hiss then turn up for final playback etc. u know equalizing
hope i helped till then u gotta due what it due till a
upgrade.
oh keep the wires from mic away from thigs thaT TEND TO BRING STATIC2 1 |
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I had the same problem so i bought a little four track mixer/pre-amp...it just boosts the signal goin into ur laptop and should solve ur problem. |
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Thanks for the tips guys. The mic is plugged straight into the laptop. I am a complete novice so I've no idea what a pre amp is.
I'll try some of the stuff you suggest like recording without the power cable plugged inetc and see how I go.
Thanks again. |
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get an interface with preamp...i have fast track pro..a laptop have two many component working at once, and their soundcards are basic. can can always use audacity or sony soundforge to "clean up your tracks too." also check your levels.. |
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Thanks for the advice but unfortunately most of it was meaningless for me. I am a the most basic of laymen when it comes to this sort of thing.
I have googled pre amp to try and find out what it is and it does look like the kind of thing I need but they all look pretty expensive. I only record for fun and can't justify laying out £100 plus.
Cheers |
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try going in to your eq and flattening the original recording by dropping the highest and lowest frequency below the line of eq. ive notice that will remove alot of your hissing. then render and do your eqing on it again. |
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Hi, here's some options for saving money and sorting out the problem hopefully.
You could buy an Alesis Mic Link from somewhere like Gear4music for around £30 which is basically a 1x1 mic audio interface cable, much cheaper than the £100 ones with other inputs and controls which you probably won't need.
You could also edit and filter the hiss out using a wave editor like Audacity (free)and by selecting only the hiss (in the silent sections), going to the effects tab, selecting noise removal, hitting "get noise profile" then back in the noise removal control panel, place the slider up around 2 or 3 notches and click remove noise. If it is not sufficient, repeat these steps until it is OK for you. Alright it won't be good enough for a hit single, but it will take out enough to make your music reasonable and enjoyable to listen to and save you a fortune! If you need audacity help, I am a bit of an expert and just email me up at thefusionroom@aol.co.uk
Get audacity here for either windows or mac
http://audacity.sourceforge.net |
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Hi I forgot to say, be cautious with EQ alone, lowering the high frequency too much will cause everything to sound muddy and lowering the bass can make the vocal sound too tinny. You could opt for purge's suggestion after you removed the majority with wave editor, it would then sound clean and virtually hiss free without spoiling your clarity! |
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i had the same problem and it was easy to fix...what the problem was for me was that my laptop was plugged in and that caused the hiss....as soon as i unplugged and ran on battery the hiss disappeared...try it.....it might be as simple as that |
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your grounds on your mic or your cable could be "cold-soldered" and are losing their connection?
shrug..
just a thought.
If you are brave, and learnt how to build mics in your woodshop class (joking) try dissassembling your mic and cables, checking the wires themselves?
also
KEEP that thing away from your old monitor? Some older monitors will make guitars buzz and humm, perhaps it could make your mic hiss..
Plus.. you are using a 7.99 euro's mic.
That could be the whole issue in the first place...
hope you get it figured out! |
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Many manyb thanks for all theb help chaps, lots to try. Unplugging the power cable does seem to help a bit, but I will get around to trying the other things when I've got time.
Again many thanks for all your time and trouble. |
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i have to super cheap fix, sadly the one i use too. rockband has a mic with the software built into the cord of the mic. you just plug and play i doesn't need any boosting or powering up. the down side is the quality is low and the more you get loud the more distortion your going to have. i think headphone jacks might be your prob. because there is extra resistance. i have the same prob. hooking up my keyboard via the headphone jack. the rockband mic uses usb. |
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well.. agreed, but disagree..
Everything you put in your line from say
Mic
THEN cable, then interface...
If you have any loose grounds..
buzz
it's the science of the thing
solder goes dry after time. cracks
or its just crap solder.... behringer cough behringer cough cough lol
ON the note of rockband, I was using my rockband drumset after modding it for midi drums, and it was pretty sweet, but the lag was ungodly.... It was fun to play, but my mixes, even with quantization where just too much
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84FJQvg8f0I&feature=fvw
http://benjefferies.com/2008/03/18/using-rock-band-drum-kit-as-midi-controller/
either way
musical equipment is nice in the fact, the more you pay, the better sounds you get (except with USB lol) |
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Hi,
Be sure to mute all playback devices on the volume mixer, some can hiss.
also,
disable everything in the Vista recording drop down menu.
enable and test one record input at a time until you find what works best.
Don't assume the Mic input is automatically the one too use;
try the others, keep in mind that the other record inputs will only record to a single channel. you can fix this with your music program.
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Are you sure the hiss is not simply ambient and atmospheric related, you would be surprised how lightly moving air can record so loud, known as the "noise floor" Google it.
My Best, Sal
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