VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Rognog · Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:42 pm Post subject: I can't kill my buzz!

OK, here's the deal. I've spent a bunch of time learning about home recording and how to reduce noice. Here is a room tone sample with the gain at max and the Boost button turned on:

www.tomdheere.com/RoomTone.wav

Here is a sample with the same settings but the mic isn't plugged in:

www.tomdheere.com/NoMic.wav

It seems almost exactly the same to me. It keeps hovering between -48 dB and -42 dB. The only thing that effects it is the gain and whether the Boost button is on or off. Everything else I've done (moving cables, etc.) has had no effect. When I lower the gain or turn off the boost button I can't get my voice higher than -18 dB and that's too low, right? I think it should be around -12 dB.

I think this means there is a problem with either the Presonus Inspire 1394 firewire box or the PC itself. What's the next step?
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Tom Dheere - The "H" is Silent, but I'm Not!
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anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

Rognog · Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject:

Forgive my ignorance but I don't entirely understand all the questions. This is my biggest problem right now: technical inexperience.

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

donrandall · Guest

www.answers.com/topic/balanced-audio

Balanced audio connections are extremely important in sound recording and production because they allow for the use of very long cables with reduced introduction of outside noise. The most common balanced connector is the 3-pin XLR, which is used with microphones because of its durable construction. Many microphones have low impedance (low-Z), which makes long microphone cables susceptible to some forms of outside noise, and a perfect application for a balanced line, which cancels out most of this outside noise.

Connectors

While XLR connectors are the most common balanced connector, quarter-inch (¼" or 6.5mm) TRS connectors (tip-ring-sleeve) are also commonly used. Many hybrid jacks are now designed to take either XLR or TRS.

On TRS plugs, the tip is "hot" (positive), the ring is "cold" (negative), and the sleeve is ground (earthed or chassis). If a stereophonic or other binaural signal is plugged into such a jack, one channel (usually the right) will be subtracted from the other (usually the left), leaving an unlistenable L − R (left minus right) signal instead of normal monophonic L + R. Reversing the polarity at any other point in a balanced audio system will also result in this effect at some point when it is later mixed-down with its other channel.

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

mcm · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:46 am Post subject:

Anthony, you said, above, "start here". Where is "here"?

Rognog · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:26 am Post subject:

Don's post hurt my brain!

The mic, XLR cable, Firewire cable, firewire box, and firewire card are all brand new. I arranged the AC cables properly. Even before I did there was no difference in quality. That's the thing that freaks me out: everything I've done has had no effect. It may be my PC making the noise . I think I've eliminated everything else.

How do guys have your PC set up in relation to where you record? Did you get any of those "Quiet PC" products? Are they necessary? My PC is almost five years old. Could that be the problem?
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Tom Dheere - The "H" is Silent, but I'm Not!
www.tomdheere.com

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

Rognog · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:54 am Post subject:

All of my PC cords are plugged into a brand new power strip. The power strip is plugged directly into a wall outlet. Nothing else is plugged into that wall outlet.
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Tom Dheere - The "H" is Silent, but I'm Not!
www.tomdheere.com

anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

Frank F · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:58 am Post subject:

Hey Guys (and Gals),

You are doing just fine without me.

My sugestion: unplug everything, but what you need to fire up the computer. MAKE SURE THE PC POWER IS NOT ON THE SAME CIRCUT AS YOUR PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT.

Record and listen, if you have buzz, then you know that the sound is coming internally. Check and re-check your Power Supply (huge culprit of noise and BUZZ on some PC's) .

Now IF you are not geting buzz - start with the Presonus - plug it in - do not add power to it yet.. and record. Buzz? Then you know it is somwhere in that section... maybe a bad firewire card. No Buzz, Good - move on. Plug the Presonus power in. Buzz, look into finding another firewire audio card to test. No buzz, move on... And so on... all the way through to the mic.

Do you have flourecent lights in the house? Check ballasts.

There are so- many things to isolate, that you need to start somewhere... just do it and isolate as much as you can from everthing else.

Good luck and Toodles

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

Rognog · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:11 am Post subject:

So...I spent the morning running around my apartment with a nite lite after I turned off everything and figured out which outlets match up with which breaker. Then I went out and purchased a thick extension cord plugged my PC power cord into a separate circuit than the peripheral PC equipment. There was NO CHANGE in the noise level.

This is how it sounds without the mic plugged in:

www.tomdheere.com/NewRoomTone.mp3

What's next?
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Tom Dheere - The "H" is Silent, but I'm Not!
www.tomdheere.com

donrandall · Guest

Tom - I suggest that you record a thirty second spot. Hit the "Record" button and allow it to run a few seconds, then open the mic, but be absolutely silent for a few seconds, then go ahead and record the spot.

Once you post that, we can listen and determine just how bad the problem is and perhaps even get a handle on some possible causes and cures.

I use a mixer and if I remember correctly, if I run the master pot too hot while the pot that controls the output from the mixer that feeds the soundcard, I generate a bit of a noise that is not recorded, but shows up anyway. I believe what happens is that this allows the signal to to do more than simply pass through the mixer - it is actually recirculating the signal internally, in effect becoming what is a regenarative circuit. In other words: Feedback.

When you playback your track, try using only the pot that controls the playback from your soundcard - and of course, the mixer's master ouput. Shut down any and every other pot - try it and see if that helps.

CWToo · Guest

This is so stupid but it happened to me.

We moved and all my audio stuff was packed in a box somewhere and my new Pro Tools system arrived. I needed a mic cable so I ran to a local music store and asked for a 6 foot mic cable. The guy behind the counter handed me a cable and I ran home with it and plugged it in.

The input level was really low and noisy... panic ensued until I figured out that the moron at the music store gave me a hi-z instrument cable instead of a low-z mic cable. A quick trip to Radio Shack (I was in a hurry) fixed the problem. The signal was clean as a whistle.

What kills me is that the guy at the music store was the pro audio manager. The guy at Radio Shack just left his job at Wendy's.

This lead me to create White's Law: When you have an audio problem, check your cables FIRST.