Protools..volume Take 2...?

[slimcharm]

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful help again. However, I still am not happy with the volume. I can record and it just sounds somewhat muffled to me.I have 48V on..I have the mic plugged in. Jessica is singing close to mic with pop filter.I have the mix in the middle and the vol. on the microphone turned 3/4 of the way up. I have the fader up on Protools. Headphones are in the middle to up.Yet when she records...the sound is not as crisp as what I could get on my $19 jobbie. Its not crisp and clear..its a little muted sounded. It also does not get loud unless we push it. Any more thoughts?Is it possible the microphone is flawed..or do you all think I am missing something here.

[mani]

Is she too close too the mic by any chance?? She should be anywhere from about 8 to 12 inches away from it when she's singing.

[slimcharm]

WHOA! I thought you were supposed to be "eating" the microphone..right smack against the pop filter?It just sounds like there is something muffling the sound.I have the RODE NT1 ANNIVERSARY mic..This is hard because as a novice I dont know what it should sound like ..I sent it to one person and they said it sounded low. Is there a way to check the mic?

[nomiyah]

Are you using a preamp on the microphone?

[mani]

Quote:WHOA! I thought you were supposed to be "eating" the microphone..right smack against the pop filter?It just sounds like there is something muffling the sound.Only when you're singing live and trying to be heard over a heavy rock band! Not in a studio with a cardioid condenser microphone. If she's singing that close to the mic it'll definitely muddy up the sound badly.Get thee 8 - 12 inches from the microphone girl!

[slimcharm]

Momiyah..I am unclear what a pre-amp is..I told you this is all new to me. Mani..We will try that..BUT when we are eating the mic..is when it sounds muffled..not loud just muffled. Shouldnt it just sound loud?Is there a way to check the mic?Meantime I read the mic book again and realized it said that the gold dot was supposed to be in front or you are off axis..What does that mean? Would that make a difference?

[nomiyah]

I had a similar problem with low level recording on my mic until I got a preamp.Basically, the mic goes into the preamp which boosts the signal and also allows you to edit the quality of the sound depending on what kind you get. Then the signal goes from the preamp into whatever you're recording on.I'm not the kind of person who recommends buying every piece of equipment on the market. I prefer simplicity in the studio and tend to work with whatever I have. However, I couldn't get commercial sounding vocals until I got my preamp.Nomi

[slimcharm]

Well first off it does sound louder now..Hello I turned the mic around so the gold dot is in the front.Now what is a preamp? Is this something I could get for my mbox2 and if so what do I get?And what is the learning curve for figuring out how to use it!!!!

[mani]

Quote:Mani..We will try that..BUT when we are eating the mic..is when it sounds muffled..not loud just muffled. Shouldnt it just sound loud?No. The closer you get to a cardioid mic the more bass frequencies you get. It's called 'proximity effect'. A small amount of it can make a thin voice sound richer but, in general, if you're eating the mic the amount of proximity effect will make the vocals more or less unusable. Again, read the documentation for the mic. It'll probably give you guidelines on what works best with that particular model. If it doesn't though then as a general rule..........8-12 inches!!Quote:Meantime I read the mic book again and realized it said that the gold dot was supposed to be in front or you are off axis..What does that mean? Would that make a difference?You bet your ass!Quote:Well first off it does sound louder now..Hello I turned the mic around so the gold dot is in the front.You were singing into the back of the mic all this time?! That's hilarious! Quote:Now what is a preamp? Is this something I could get for my mbox2 and if so what do I get?And what is the learning curve for figuring out how to use it!!!!A preamp is anything you plug a mic or instrument into to increase the level of the sound to 'line level'.The MBox is, in effect, your preamp Slim. Could you get a better one? Hell yeah. But the MBox is plenty sufficient to get a good clean sound down.If you wanted to use another preamp, you would plug the mic into that preamp and plug the line out from the preamp into the line in on the MBox.

[slimcharm]

"You bet your ass!"...yea it does sound better with the mic turned around..Laugh all you want. .....I can take it. Heck I didnt know there was a front and back to the mic..looks the same to me. Jessica knew but figured it didnt matter.As far as the mic book..there is one blurry picture of somebody we will try an imitate it. I will let you know how it goes.It does suggest that the EQ be set to OFF or FLAT....Great idea! What is the EQ?