Wanted to start a thread so all the peeps can figure out the best way to reduce noise in their recordings.

I know nothing about this and I'm hoping the masters of mastering will come out and play.

My preamp manual states it is best to set the Level control to 0 (goes from -40 to +15dB)
and then adjusting the Gain control to the proper level.

Any accomplished takers?

right ok...it depends very very very much on the equipment u are using. This will determine how much excess noise you are recieving and how you can get rid of this excess noise. I cold talk for hours on the different ways of recording but it all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

Personally i hate to use microphones because A) my own mic is crap and produces loads of hiss and B) Mics generally tend to clog up the sound unless your really do know what ure doing.

If im recrding instrumentally i always go in through the soundcard on my pc because I have a failry good one and it makes the sound much easier to edit. I use a GT6 as my preamp/effects base so i like to get my sound perfect coming out of that before plugging into the pc because it saves a hell of alot of messing around with EQ's etc in the editting stages.

ok

to play devil's advocate:

i almost *never* run direct because the resulting sound is flat and lifeless

if you do have such a good sound card but no good mics then that makes me "wonder"

go get a Shure Beta 58A - you'll be amazed, and you can find them for about $150 USD

oh and needless to say you'll need a good preamp to go with your mic

I don't like to use mics either for guitar bc I don't know what I'm doing. But obviously if you have a good mic and know what you're doing I think it sounds better than plugging directly into *shudder* your sound card. A good mic, like Enth said, Shure's are the best, I think, will give the intimate picking string and fret sound, which I love.
I hope you are talking about micing guitars Atre. Please don't use a computer mic for vocals either! *shudder*

But Shure 58a is a dynamic mic, right? wouldn't you try and go for a condenser to mic yr accoustic guitar? Dynamic mics are only good for recording electric guitars played through an amplifier.

If you want some cheaper mics without much compromise on the quality (I realise that there will be some compromise, however) I'd go for SAMSON Q7 (dynamic, with noedymium coil which gives you a bit stronger signal then the usuall mics, app $90) and Behringer C1 (comdenser, app $40), but you have to take into consideration the fact that they will always be the cheaper option.

Jim

uhhh... no that's quite a bad misconception...

dynamic mics can be and often are, better than condenser mics

the problem is that you don't start to get *good* condenser mics until you start paying over $1000 for them but you can get amazingly good dynamic mics for a few hundred dollars.

i've got a $200 condenser mic and this $150 dynamic mic and this dynamic mic just blows the condenser mic out of the water - it's amazing really

and ewwww! gah! i can't say enough *bad* stuff about that Behringer mic... gross! no offense mate, but stay *away* from the cheap condensers - esp Behringer

the common misconception is that condensers are somehow "better" for recording and dynamic mics are somehow "better" for live applications... this is really not true. it might have been true years ago when the technology wasn't as advanced but it's certainly not true anymore... i see condenser mics on the stage all the time... Anthony Kedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) recorded all his vocal tracks with a dynamic mic - forget the exact one - but i could find it if anyone cares (iirc it's the Electro Voice RE20)

so far, i'm *more* than happy with this dynamic microphone and it will be a long time before i go and invest in a condenser again

oh, and before i forget

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_to_noise_ratio

I do agree that what you get really depends how much you want to pay. As for the Behringer, I only gave a cheap option - I do not own one, and I probably wouldn't buy one.

I also mentioned condensers for guitar micing simply because they have wider frequency which is what you somethimes need, and you don't have to stay as close to the mic when recording.
I don't use dynamic mics at all, I prefer condensers -
(the vocals http://forum.bandamp.com/Audio_Review/1400.html have been recorded on one, app $250).

When I have enough spare money I am definitely going to get a good dynamic - maybe the Beta Eth mentioned.

hey all ...I use a audiophile 24/96,,,with sonar3.0...a drum machine.j-station and thats it
I would like to get a discusion on...limiters...why .when..what do they do?
same for compressors...i use headphones and ive found it hard to mix my bass  im not getting atrue taste of the mix,,,i do everything strictly by ear if I knew what these tools were supposed to accomplish and how they do it. it may help me tweak the settings
those in the know could listen to my tune ...way two long,,,it was done in my living room no mics all direct ins soooooooo   any books on the subject?
thanks in advance ..love this site....ill be watching
buzz....aka   rick

buzz, DaveUK has a post here about compressors already just look around

Thanks

Ummm...JBP if you don't own one and wouldn't buy one, why would you suggest one

I chose wrong words for mentioning two cheap mics practically everyone can afford. My mistake - do not go for Behringer. As for Samson, I have one and it's doing quite good, despite its low price.

haha come on give me some credit :P

and i dont have SUCH a good sound card, but it just gives a nicer sound than my mic does, its not really that good...

i would like to get a really good (non buzzy) mic but i cant really afford one as im still in school, my one costs about 30 quid but is probs worth alot less lol. My friend's parents just bought him a £100+ mic, some ridiculous shure one....bastard....

re: recording

    buzz wrote…
    hey all ...I use a audiophile 24/96,,,with sonar3.0...a drum machine.j-station and thats it
    I would like to get a discusion on...limiters...why .when..what do they do?
    same for compressors...i use headphones and ive found it hard to mix my bass  im not getting atrue taste of the mix,,,i do everything strictly by ear if I knew what these tools were supposed to accomplish and how they do it. it may help me tweak the settings
    those in the know could listen to my tune ...way two long,,,it was done in my living room no mics all direct ins soooooooo   any books on the subject?
    thanks in advance ..love this site....ill be watching
    buzz....aka   rick



Compressors squeeze the frequency to give more sustain and attack without distortion and limiters simply what a top end and bottom end limit on the output so it stops anything from going too high or too low. Limiters imo suck because they cause it to be kinda unnatural but the compressor on my gt6 is awesome.

Well...if he's a good friend and if he thinks you're a good friend, he might let you borrow it...There's always a letter to Santa, too

for me, i have some good mics, but i like to record straight to sound card, becuase A, it sends the best unprocessed signal for mixing effects and B, mics do hiss, and require a great deal of noise while recording
in my opinion, it is a lot of the guitar and the player that makes the tone

plus i feel that i get pretty good tone from a cheap amp and a comp mic
listen to my newest song element, and listen the guitar tone there, its all a 15 watt peavy and a 15 dollar computer mic, with a standard mexican strat.