Hi (READ THE LAST TWO PARAGRAPHS IF YOU WANT TO READ WHAT MY PROBLEM IS DIRECTLY, WITHOUT ALL THE OTHE DETAILS),

I currently compose music in my home or mini studio. I really wanted to record songs I made on my guitar so I bought a multi track digital recorder. I connected the output of my guitar to the input of my pedal than the output of the pedal to the input of my amp, and than the output (preamp) of the amp to the input of my recorder. When I use to record I realized the signal is a little more degraded from the original signal I heard. So I did some research on how to record a guitar without using a mic. From the results I got, a direct box would be the solution. So I went and bought a direct box to remedy the problem and it worked perfectly. So I had the same structure but instead of the amp going directly to the recorder, I had the amp output (preamp) go to the input of the direct box and than the output of direct box to my recorder. /*I use a drum machine to put drum rhymes into a song, as well as to specify the tempo of my songs*\

Now all I was missing was vocals to my songs. So I did some research on what mic I should get for recording (also being as affordable as possible). The results I got were condenser mics are more preferable for recording and they need phantom power. The phantom power was no problem since on my recorder there is a phantom power switch specifically designed for condenser mics.

The KSM 27 seemed a like a perfect mic for me. So I bought it. Now this is where my big problem comes in. I simply turned the phantom power in my recorder and connected the ksm 27 directly to the recorder. As with anything you record on my recorder, you have to adjust the volume level in the recorder as high as possible without letting the level meter indicator to light when you play your hardest. Anything that reaches clipping height in my recorder, the sound becomes distorted and undesirable. So I adjusted the volume level with the trim knob on my recorder as high as possible without letting it reach the clipping when I sang my hardest. After that I tried recording my vocals. The problem was the recorded result was extremely low. \*What I usually do is record files than send them to my computer for editing.\* When I exported some of my vocal recording to the computer, the volume was extremely low compared to the guitar recording I did. Just by looking at the frequency of the waves, you can tell the volume was very minimal. The frequency of the wave looked almost like a straight line. If I try to mix that with my guitar, you will not hear my vocals at all. I got really frustrated and thought something was wrong with my new mic I bought. Than I did some research and found in your site a sub section in the live sounds called signal processing. I saw a lot of products called mic pre-amp. I thought to myself since I record the pre-amp section of my guitar and do not record the signal of the guitar alone, the condenser mic I have must work the same way. Maybe I need a mic-preamp to boost the signal of the mic to the line level. Maybe that is why the volume is so very low, even though I adjusted as high as possible without letting it reach the clipping boundary. If I use a mic pre-amp it will make the signal coming from my mic high, and thus the sound that I will record will become high. I REALLY NEED TO KNOW THIS, SO I WON’T BUY SOMETHING FOR NO USE AND WASTE MY MONEY. IS THEIR A PROBLEM WITH MY MIC OR DO I SIMPLY NEED A MIC PRE-AMP TO AMPLIFY THE SIGNAL. If the problem is simply that I just need a mic pre-amp, I will buy one from your site, and I just need a mic pre-amp with one channel cause I’m only one person using one mic. Can you tell me of some good quality mic pre-amps with one or two channels (one is more preferable) if my problem is I need a mic pre-amp?

Thank you very much for reading this and helping me.

we don't sell things on this website


and why dont you contact the store?

__________________

get a shure sm57

__________________

you shouldnt need a mic preamp, your problem lies elsewere, though you might find use in a mic preamp.

If I don't need a mic pre-amp than what do I need than? I have a multi track digital recorder, and I bought a brand new condenser recording mic (KSM-27) specifically designed for recording. My multi track digital recorder has phantom power to turn on condenser mics. Every time I record with this mic the volume is extremely low. I know there can't be anything wrong with my mic because I just bought it brand new. If there was something wrong with it, it wouldn't record. It records but with very little volume, that's the only problem. In concerts the mixers have mic-preamps to give them volume. Every mic needs a mic-preamp to make volume. Maybe my recorder has a mic pre-amp, but a very weak one. When I did some research of some mic pre-amps their purpose was to strengthen the mic signal so you can send it to a recorder, mixer, hard disk and anything in that sort. I need some sort of mic pre-amp, be it from a mixer or solely from a mic pre-amp. What could be the problem if it doesn't need a mic-preamp?

I dont know, im not an audio engeneer. If you doubt me then get an opinion from someone who is. But im pretty sure that you shouldnt need a mic preamp just to get a decent volume level. Does the mic signal sound week when you plug headphones into your mixer, should check that, that would help in diagnosing the problem. and I guess I shouldnt have to mention to make sure all levels are addjusted correclty. If you run to your computer as I though you had mentioned earlier, maybe the recording volume on your comp is turned down. you can fix that by opening the volume control window and going into options and clicking recording, and that will open up your volume controls on your recording devices. then adjust the levels acordingly.

I record my stuff on my digital workstation, and sometimes I send the recorded files to the computer for editing the waves (like cut, paste, trim, etc). I connect my guitar to my amp, than my amp to a direct box, than the direct box to my recorder. For the mic, I connect it directly into the mic inputs. But when I record my voice with my digital recorder with the mic it is very low. When I send it to the computer just to see how the wave looks like, it is very small wave with very low volume. Ofcourse I adjust the volume levels of my computer when I want to listen to audio.

Well, I plug my mic directly into my analog multitrack. My mic cord requires a 1/4" into the multitrack. The guys at the store said that if I plug directly into the multitrack that there would be a loss of signal. True enough. I notice that I have to crank up the volume when I do a play back or something. They suggested that I buy a transformer for my mic to boost the signal back to where it should be in the first place.

__________________

Hi, what's up everyone. Didn't go on this message board for ages. Well I just wanted to say I solved the mic problem. The reason why my vocals were extremely low when you mix it with the instruments was because my digital recorder has an extremely weak mic-preamp. So I went and bought the only available mic preamp I could get in the music store in this country (Behringer tube ultra gain mic200 mic Preamp). It increased the volume by a lot and I was able to mix it with other instruments without dissapearing. But the problem I have with it is that my voice sounds extremely dry. The reason was cuz it is only a mic preamp, and it doesn't have all the other functions used in mics. It is suppose to act as an enhancer to a mixer, than the mixer to the recorder. So I can solve the dry sounding vocal problem with by connecting the mic preamp to a mixer, or buy the seperate functions seperately (like equalizer, compressor, mic effect processor, noise gate, limiter etc), or I can get a versatile combo mic preamp that has the basic mic functions like PreSonus Eureka Pro Recording Channel. So I made up my mind and decided a mixer would be a waste of money cuz I'm the only one singing and all those inputs are a waste, and getting the the mic functions seperately would take too much time and would be a little expensive. So the best choise is to get it as a combo. So I settled to get PreSonus Eurekda Pro Recording Channel. I have to wait till the summer to go to America so I can get it, but its worth the time waiting, and I'll just use the ultra gain for the time being.

Since I have the mic problem solved, I want to enhance my system. I currently have an Ibanez gax70L, trace elliot c200 (they don't make those amps anymore cuz the company closed), Zoom 707II, Korg D1200 digital recorder, Shure KSM 27 condenser mic, ultra gain mic preamp, and a direct box so I can send the processed signal without being degraded on the way from my guitar to pedal than to amp than to the recorder. I have two other guitarist and one drummer and we record our composed music. I sing and play the guitar. I play Children of Bodom style and Cradle of filth kind of vocals. I want to enhance to a stronger sound. What are some extremely awesome pedal that can give powerful sounds and at the same time toneful tunes for lead and rhyme. Should I get multi effect pedals or get them single? My drummer practices a lot with a drum machine. Can you also tell me of a really high tech drum machine that sounds like real drums. Thanks a lot people!

Good deal. For the drum machine, I would recommend a controllable drum module combined with a PC, not an all in one drum machine. Roland, etc... make some awesome modules. Even some of the 8 year old modules sound great and should be cheap to pick up used.

As far as the effects go, I would search through the forum. John Holland just raved about the Line 6 Guitar Port, but I'm not sure if that is suited to your setup...

Are you sure you didn't have the input set to 'line'? The preamps in most workstations have two settings, mic and line; you use the mic setting whenever the input to that channel is a mic, and you set the channel to line for everything else, such as keyboards, turntables and, in your case, DIing your guitar

FYI, DIing guitar is never, ever as good as micing up the amp. An amp and speaker give the sound alot more character than channeling the guitar through a DI box and into the mixer

Yea I know, but at the moment I don't have a good enough instrument mic. Can you use a normal vocal mic, like the one I have to record the guitar?

Considering that guitars and vocals share the same sorts of frequencies, yes you can.

I don't know where you got the idea that condenser mics are more preferable for recording, since many of the cheaper ones can't handle high sound levels without distorting and/or damaging the mic. You'd be best off with a Shure SM57 for micing up guitar, it's a very versatile mic which is also suited to vocals and snares

Yea I'm sure, and in my mic the connection is different from the normal cables. I don't know what it is called, but it has three holes to go in, and in my recorder you can only use those for condenser mics. So yea I'm pretty sure.

Since I solved the low vocal level problem with a mic preamp, I was wondering does this also apply if you are recording instruments or the sounds coming from your guitar amp? When you record your voice you connect it to a mic preamp or a mixer, but if you are recording your electric guitar with a mic do you as well connect the mic to a mic preamp or mixer? I've been getting pretty good results after connecting my combined processed sounds to a direct box, but I heard people telling me it sounds better to mic it. So that will be my next step.

.

__________________

...how much research did you say you've done? Because it doesn't sound like you've done much at all; hose holes you described form an XLR socket. Every single microphone worth it's salt in the recording industry uses XLR connections because the signal is balanced. XLR connections are not used solely for powering condenser mics

If you need to use the mic preamp when recording your voice, then you're going to need to use the mic preamp for everything that involves a mic. It's called a mic preamp for a reason. Always use it with that mixer of yours. If you were thinking of not using it when recording guitar, you would probably find that you need to crank your amp's volume to maximum level just to get a signal into the mixer, but that would overload the mic, causing the mic to distort (bad), and potentially damage the mic (very bad). This is why using a dynamic mic (Shure SM57) rather than a condenser is better for recording distorted guitar, since dynamic mics are generally bombproof compared to condensers