Microphone Noise

[videogamingtown]

I tried to use this usb microphone i have (it was a dynamic expensive one) but when i record something even without saying or singing anything im picking up an air-like sound, i've turned everything off in the room except my macbook which hardly makes any noise at all anyway. Why does this happen? Is it just bad quality and ive paid too much , is it the room? or what?

I plan on upgrading to a proper XLR mic when my audio interface arrives.

 

[bandcoach]

no matter what you use there is always floor noise - noise that exists simply because of electronics working. In most situations you can't hear this as it is very low in comparison to the signal, but you may well have the mic opened up so much (aka gain trim non-existent) that the noise is audible.

try changing the settings for the input trim on the mic and record that. if the noise persists, consider recording some of it, phase invert it and use simple acoustic/audio/recording techniques to negate it

 

[hollandturbine]

Bandcoach is right, but you should double check for any environmental factors by isolating the microphone from your laptop's fan or any vibrations traveling through your mic stand.

 

[krushing]

Also take into account that in pretty much any not-specifically-soundproofed urban environment there's going to be a certain level of background ambient noise - we don't really pay attention to it since our ears adjust pretty quickly to it. A microphone doesn't adjust - it "hears" what it hears.

And of course then there's the thing with USB mics in general - I've yet to see an expensive one; they're almost always built out of very cheap parts. Since a dynamic mic is less sensitive than a condenser one, it generally needs more amplification to get to sufficient levels. Combine that with a cheap preamp circuit and as a result they're almost always somewhat noisy.