annoying sound when i record audio

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adrian

Post by adrian » Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:15 am

hi

i am using sonar 2.2 (about to upgrade to sonar 3). i have a decent condenser mic and a cheap mixing desk "folio notepad" to provide the phantom power. when i record audio, i find it hard to get rid of a very quiet, but annoying high-pitched tone. i think it must be coming from the mixing desk?

i have the computer's basic sound-card, and am thinking of upgrading this soon to a card with a decent mic input and a midi input. do you agree with the possible source of the sound, and what card / interface do you think i should get, so i can bin the mixing desk? (i don't want to spend more than £200).

thanks
adrian


GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:52 pm

are you recording close to your monitor? try moving your gear around sounds like a interfence issue. also - try using a good issolated power supply for each piece of your studio. may be ac interference

CraigarS

Post by CraigarS » Tue Feb 10, 2004 4:42 pm

I've had a similar situation and I think GretsGuy is onto it. I've added shielding to my guitars and power conditioning to my rig which has helped quiet everything down (along with making sure my power was all from the same circuit - eliminating phase differential).

My solution to eliminating 'all' RF intereference has been to make sure I had programmed in my most useful key bindings. Then, once I got my levels set and was ready to record, I'd turn off the monitor and use the key bindings to control it. Once I finished recording, I'd turn on the monitor and go through playback/editing. Granted, it's a clunky solution, but it works.

Just a thought,

CraigarS

adrian

Post by adrian » Tue Feb 10, 2004 8:58 pm

thanks, that sounds like good advice.

a couple of questions...

what is "shielding" and "power conditioning?"

wasn't sure if you meant i should use different power supplies for each bit of kit, or use the same supply for each one?

thanks
adrian

CraigarS

Post by CraigarS » Tue Feb 10, 2004 9:39 pm

Adrian,

Shielding is a method of blocking external interference and block, as much as possible, 60-cycle hum. You can get shielding kits from places like Stewart MacDonald (for guitars). What I used was a thick, nickel suslpension 'paint' to coat the inside of the guitar (pickup holes, control cavity, etc.)

Power conditioning is usually handled through a 1-U rack unit that allows for numerous (8, I think) power cables. The conditioner, depending on model, will monitor incoming power, clean it up and boost it, if it's low (or cut it if it's high). It makes for a quieter recording experience. Furman is a big player in that field.

Hope this helps,

Craig

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:20 pm

Just a small note:
Flat Panel monitors don't hum like crt screens. I am still using crt's but I find that if I move my chair a bit I can usually cut down on hum.

Take your rig apart and inspect your cables. Buy some small cable ties from Home Depot or Lowes. They cost about $6.00 for a few hundred.

Get all your audio cables together and straighten them out. Put cables that go together next to eachother and cable tie them.

DO NOT run power cables with audio cables. This will cause hum. If you have cheap cables - go out and buy some decent ones. I know not everybody can afford to wire a room with Monster or Mogami.

I got good cables over time. Everytime I would buy a new piece of gear I would buy a nice cable for it. Over time - all my cables got replaced.

Best Buy sometimes has fantastic deals on opened audio cables too, so check the racks there.

Make sure the outlets you are using are grounded. Just becasue you have a three prong outlet doesn't mean the ground is hooked up. If you don't know how to do this - ask a friend who is handy around the house or an electrition.

Don't plug lamps or other things into the power strips you are using for recording. Keep your recording gear together. Plug your amps, lights, etc... into different outlets!

Once you have everything all neat and straightened out - your system will probably be much quieter and there will be less clutter. If you have a cableing problem it will be much easier to solve.

Good Luck!

adrian

Post by adrian » Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:44 pm

that's great advice.i'll look into making those changes.

any advice re soundcards? i basically want to aim to get a perfectly clear sound, recording audio - mainly acoustic guitar and vocals.

so far, am just using the multimedia soundcard that came with the pc. as i said previously, i have a fairly good mic. any ideas?

thanks
adrian

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