Mixer Setting Up: can someone guide me for recording from mixer?

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Swoosha-B

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Mixer Setting Up: can someone guide me for recording from mixer?

okay, I just bought my Behringer Eurorack UB1002 Mixer like 4 days ago. Hooked it up.
http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--BEHUB1002
Mixer>soundcard>comp. It works really good. don't have that much hissing at all. The only problem is that...When I record something, it doesn't have that propfessional/clear/Audio feel. I compare to Commercial audio and it seems too airy. Like I was talking 20 inches away.
I rap 5-10 inches away. (usually around 6)
Now...All I need is a guide on setting your mixer settings.
I don't know how much gain I should put. Or what the level should be, etc.
For Example...
Tell me to start raising the gain until this happens or the gain should be no more than....
Or the level should be....etc.
I was thinking...have the level lower than usuall...and speak a little closer to the mic. So you get a clear upclose Warm and clean sound.?
anything?
 
What microphone are you using? And are you using a pre amp? What soundcard are you recording to? A mixer is only part of everything, all your other components matter also.
 
The most important part of any audio signal is it's gain structure and , like Sleepy said, without knowing your gear and how you have it setup, it's hard to advise where the problem sits.

The most coomon mistake people make is to not calibrate their equipment to show and work off a nominal signal.
Your mixer must be legended at 0dBu, your s/card and your host application (sequencer) must also be calibrated to 0dBu. If they are not then it's usually the s/card that needs tweaking which can be done in it's control panel. Setr your mixer's main stereo outs to 0dBu.
The next step is to have your signals 'Hot' at the input stage on your mixer so that it maxes at 4-7+ dBu on the master outs. This level is the best optimal level without clipping or distorting. If everything is calibrated correctly, then this figure will show in your sequencer as well. You could work off 0dBu all the way, but you will find mixers have a good headroom and you can ride the signal all the way just before it starts to clip/distort.
If your mic is working off a weak signal and you boost the s/card's gain or ride the sequencer's channels up, you raise the noise floor and reduce the headroom.
 
koo...I have a
-Audigy 2NX soundcard (24/96khz) yesits good
-Shure SM58 mic
-Then my Mixer
(The mixer has 48v phantom power equipped on it) works good

anything else
 
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Set your level to 0 and your gain to slightly above the middle. Anything higher than that and you'll get a lot of noise. The other thing that you can do is to get yourself a pre-amp to drive the microphone.

Make sure that the recording line input on the audigy control panel is almost all the way up also. Mute any other input that you are not using. You may have to mute the output for that but it can help even though it may not have much to do with the actual recording.

And the Audigy 2nx is okay, but not good. The 1/8" input on that is probably creating a lot of noise also. Another thing is that you don't need phantom power to drive an SM58, phantom power is for condenser microphones.

Keep in mind that studios that do a lot of work for commercial albums use microhpones that are worth a few thousand dollars, so it's hard to computer with many home studios. You can however get decent quality with what you have now.
 
sleepy said:
Keep in mind that studios that do a lot of work for commercial albums use microhpones that are worth a few thousand dollars, so it's hard to computer with many home studios. You can however get decent quality with what you have now.
Click to expand...

...is it possible that my crappy mic REALLY sounds great if it werent for a crappy preamp?
 
A good mic pre can dramatically effect the sound quality of the mic. However, the mic must be matched accordingly to the pre to get the best possible result.
 
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