The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Recording => Topic started by: Mr.Chainsaw on August 31, 2011, 08:21:34 PM
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Okay, so I took the plunge and bought myself some proper kit.
Got an acoustic guitar feeding into a rode nt-1a, going into an alesis multimix 4 mixer, then USB straight into Reaper.
The problem i'm having isn't sound quality (the rode is a beaut) but in getting a decent volume level. It's either really good quality but too quiet, or loud enough but clipping/distorting. Some slow finger picking tells me it's too much bass.
Way I see it it's either,
My mike placement (I've tried all sorts of different angles/mike orientations)
I'm strangling the signal chain somewhere (trial and error says no)
The mixer pre amp being too weak (I'm assuming the Gain and Level knobs mean there's an amp built in)
So the question is; do I need a pre amp? And do you have any (free ;) ) suggestions to try before I sink some money into one?
Thanks as always!
Peter
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Your multimix should have 2 preamps built in. Make sure you do not have the gtr/lin button selected when using it. Also make sure phantom power is switched on.
If it is clipping/distorting, the gain knob is too high. If its then not loud enough turn up the level knob. Balance them so that neither the clip led's for both the gain and level are not lighting up.
I've no idea of your experience so I'll state the obvious aswell; make sure your nt-1a is the right way round. The gold dot on the side should be facing the sound source.
Thats about all I can think of. You should be able to get the signal to line level with that kit. (Note that raw recorded tracks will always be a couple of Db quieter than 'commercial' recordings which have been mixed/mastered).
Heres some bad news (although I don't think it should affect your ability to get a loud enough signal). You won't get any preamps for free, and to get a quality signal from the mic, a preamp is something that you shouldn't scrimp too much on. Preamps in the multimix aren't great..it only has a frequency response up to 15Khz so you are losing a lot of info that the mic is picking up already. Note that most people can hear up to 16-18Khz, so its not only psycho-acoustics what-nots you are losing but also audible signal. The 16bit converter also means you wouldn't be able to make the final recording as loud as if you had 24bit converters...
The best 'budget' preamps I know would be the golden age projects pre-73, the focusrite ISA One or the True systems P-Solo. The ISA One comes with a good converter aswell. I have the ISA One and the pre-73, both are great.
Too much bass is probably because of mic placement. Try moving the mic further away from the guitar, or lowering it slightly, or both. A good place to start is with the mic around 50cm out from where the neck meets the body. Then adjust the position and distance till you get the right tone.
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Ramshackle I frickin' LOVE YOU!
Read your post and the thing that jumped out was " The 16bit converter also means you wouldn't be able to make the final recording as loud as if you had 24bit converters... "
I checked Reapers preferances and the input bit rate was set to 32bit! Sounds beautiful now!
To think I nearly forked out all that money on a pre amp, when all I had to do was click a button! I think there's a lesson for all of us there; exhaust all the possibilities before splashing any more cash.
Consider my first borns name to prechosen already, Ramshackle
Peter