My mic is too quiet through my audio interface

Shut. Up.

I am certified. I am the most certified.

I am the head trainer.

You are not certified. You should abstain from your false remarks.

I'm sorry, you ranting like this only makes me think that you are not certified.....

what exactly are you certified in?

I have electronics certification 1978 and from 1987 both of which are still current

I have been making cables since 1977, I have been building amplifiers since 1978, I have been building speaker cabinets since 1981.

Never check the data sheet. Always read the correct manual.

Anthony Lowery army official

Sometimes the company only prints/publishes a datasheet for their product so it is the manual as well

It is the same cable I used when I connected the mic to the amp and it produced no noise. I also connected an electric guitar to the interface through the instrument input and it also produced noise when I added distortion. This happened with every interface I tried though.

the guitar adding noise could be any number of things but almost certainly traced back to you using a single ts-ts guitar cable for connectivity - i.e. it is the nature of guitar cables to pick up extraneous rfi noise - without audio for comparison I cannot offer more than that

Looking at it now I think the cable could be the problem because the light on the interface that is meant to show that it is connected flickers when I move the wire. However I just connected the mic to my amp again with the same cable and it still works with no flaws. Could there be some way the cable works only with the amp but not interface?

the fact that you get it to flicker when you move the cable is an indication that there is something wrong with either the cable or the socket in the interface

what amplifier are you plugging the microphone directly into??
 
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It is quite an old one, I looked it up on google and it's called the Kustom Profile One PA System. The cable I used to connect the mic was the same one I used for the interface. Also the problem persisted between 4 different interfaces so I don't think the sockets were at fault unless I was extremely unlucky.
 
I know of the Kustom gear - have a few bits and bobs of theirs myself

now I want you to test the cable when plugged into the Kustom head by shaking it (the cable that is) and report what happens to the sound
 
do you have access to a regular dynamic microphone?

try that without the phantom power (do not want some current going through your lips among other things) and let us hear the results as per your last video: low gain and gain all the way open
 


There it is with a normal mic w/o phantom power. Looking at it now I think the flickering light is actually an indication that the interface is picking up audio as opposed to it meaning that a mic is connected. When I recorded the audio with this mic the light was on while I recorded but it flickered and faded away as the audio cut off.
 
good; we have now eliminated your cable and your interface from the equation at one level

now we come to the vexing question of what the phantom power levels actually are on one of these: the interface receives power from a 5V@2A USB buss line It then converts this power to not only run the interface but then to create a 48V source; Phantom Power is usually only required to provide a few mA of current but some mics need more than others.....

is there any way you could got a music store and check your mic on one of the their wall powered interfaces? - at this point we need to eliminate a damaged microphone as well as an underpowered microphone

if it turns out that the issue is the lack of current/voltage on the phantom power, you may need to consider one of the following solutions

iSK UPM-1 Phantom Power Supply | USB Audio Interface | Swamp - it's Australian but should be able to found elsewhere (it's really Chinese) note that it uses its own power source not the USB buss

ART Phantom II Pro | Sweetwater.com

ART Phantom I | Sweetwater.com - ART Pro Audio

Whirlwind MicPower 2 | Sweetwater.com

Audio-Technica AT-8801 | Sweetwater.com - AT8801 Single-channel 48V Phantom Power Supply || Audio-Technica US

more here Phantom Power | Sweetwater.com

Nady SMPS-1X Phantom Power Supply Black | Musician's Friend


read these for more on what phantom power is and what is required for it to work well

Jands - Phantom Power and Bias Voltage: Is There A Difference?

Phantom Power
 
Wait so were my results from the non phantom powered mic considered normal? Because the sound can barely be heard with the gain turned all the way down. When I plug in a guitar I can still hear it with the gain turned all the way down.
Unfortunately there are no music stores near my area, the last one I knew of closed down about 2 years ago because everything is online now, it is quite annoying that we are no longer able to test what we are buying before we actually buy it.
Is the lack of power required for phantom power a fault of the interface or my power outlet? I called up the guys over at avid and they told me the interface should support my mic.
 
This is very annoying, I have bought 4 different audio interfaces and the same problem occurs. When I connect my Audio Technica AT2020 condenser mic to it I barely get any sound when recording. If I turn the gain all the way up the recording is still extremely quiet but now has a very loud white noise along with it. I connected the mic to an amp and the worked fine. I connected it to a different computer and the problem still occurred. I am using a 2012 Mac Mini running Yosemite, but I tried it on a imac running Mavericks, and a PC running Windows 7. I tried using an Avid Fast Track Duo, Solo, and Presonus Audiobox and I got the same problem on all 3 with phantom power turned on. I tried using, Pro tools, Logic, and Audacity but it's still the same. I connected it using an xlr to xlr cable, I used the same cable to connect it to the amp and it worked fine.
What can I do?

Have you considered the possibility that it might not be too quiet?

During the recording stages, your mic levels should not be coming even close to 0dB at all.
In fact, you should treat -20dBFS as though it were 0dBFS during the recording stage.

Something to consider. ;)

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
Wait so were my results from the non phantom powered mic considered normal? Because the sound can barely be heard with the gain turned all the way down. When I plug in a guitar I can still hear it with the gain turned all the way down.
Unfortunately there are no music stores near my area, the last one I knew of closed down about 2 years ago because everything is online now, it is quite annoying that we are no longer able to test what we are buying before we actually buy it.
Is the lack of power required for phantom power a fault of the interface or my power outlet? I called up the guys over at avid and they told me the interface should support my mic.

it just may be a gain problem period; as in your gain structure inside of your daw may not be what it needs to be.......

do you have any friends who have similar gear? maybe they can help you out by at least running some tests on your dubious gear with their known working gear.......

what I heard on the video of the second mic seemed fine to me - clear and clean, if a bit hot

and to clarify what salem just wrote:

0dbfs should be considered +20dbRMS i.e. 0dbRMS, your average 0 level (what we called 100% modulation in the old days), is the same as -20dbfs, if (and only if) you have your monitors set to produce 83dbSPL for a -20dbfs output from your daw - this is the k-20 system of monitoring/metering which gives you a total dynamic range of 103dbspl.

there are 3 k-system metering setups

k-20: 0dbRMS = -20dbfs = 83dbSPL with a total dynamic range of 103db
k-14: 0dbRMS = -14dbfs = 83dbSPL with a total dynamic range of 97db
k-12: 0dbRMS = -12dbfs = 83dbSPL with a total dynamic range of 95db

NOTES
SPL = sound pressure level
RMS = Root Mean Square, approx 0.707 x peak level
 
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The only thing I can think of which might possibly be a difference between the amp and interfaces is perhaps a phase reversal that might somehow allow you to use a shitty cable with the Amp by not the interfaces.
 
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