aonindy Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hi all, I got some new recording gear for recording some screencasts. I have an issue and want to know if its standard or I should be returning... Excuse the newbie comments - its the first voice equipment of this type I've purchased... I got this setup: Rode procaster mike: http://www.thomann.de/ie/rode_procaster.htm Focusrite XLR -> USB http://www.thomann.de/ie/focusrite_scarlett_2i2.htm The issue is this ... I plug the mike into the box, have gain turned to zero, and start talking. No more than 1..2 inches away from the top of the mike, the voice does not start to register until the gain knob on the Focusrite is at at least 3pm, and does not come through with any reasonable volume, until I have reached almost 5:30pm (ie, on a scale of 1..10, voice only starts to kick in the green light and become audible at say 8.5/9, and becomes reasonable at 9..10) ... but of course at 10, its just hitting into red ... no I have it seems almost no "play" ... By comparison... if I used my bass head/amp in this manner, I would expect to have sound on the gain from just after the 6pm (1) mark... ie: almost instant.... Is this normal or something wrong you think? ... thanks guys, Allen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 I saw a camera review blog recently where apart from cameras they happened to mention what they used for audio recording (for their blog videos) and the make Rode got mentioned - the model of Rode mic they mentioned needs a preamp so I've just looked for info on your model and if you read the reviews on Amazon a few owners do mention needing to run it 'hot' which is what you're finding. One guy mentions the following: "If you don't own a pre amp you will have to get one for this microphone as its a dynamic and quite allot of gain will need to be added in order for this microphone to shine!" and then "If you want to build a studio or run a podcast and you want to do it all on a tight budget then I'd definitely suggest to get this microphone and the PreSonus 22VSL and a nice PreAmp like the PreSonus TubePre V2, this combo of products will produce a beautiful sound" Reviews/user experience here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rode-Procaster-Broadcast-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B001IPUJJI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 (edited) The Rode datasheet suggest it needs a gain of about 56dB to reach unity. The Focusrite will only deliver about 50 according to the specs. That's why your struggling to get a good signal. Also, budget type preamps deliver most of their gain near the end, thus giving you little play to get an accurate signal. Edited December 28, 2014 by zero9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpdv5000 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=5]Although I have never used a Rode Procaster mic, I do have a Rode NT1 (along with many others) and have a lot of experience with various microphone types and preamps used in film and recording. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 will contain a preamp and while I might say that it does look like it is designed for condenser mic use, it should still suffice as use with a Dynamic mic such as the Procaster. Yes, you may have to turn the gain up high to get the desired sparkle from the mic, but as long as this does not introduce any electrical background noise, it will do the same job as any other preamp. Try not to think in numbers on the dial, just use your ears. Oh, and make sure you don't have the phantom power swiched in unless you start using a condenser mic.[/size][/font] Edited December 29, 2014 by umpdv5000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Thanks guys, extremely helpful! ... I am wondering in instead of sticking something else in the chain (between mike and USB interface) to make the mike "hotter" (eg: a pre-amp like the "PreSonus" mentioned), if it might make more sense to go a few quid up and get a small mixer that would replace the Focusrite USB interface by virtue of having both inbuilt preamp plus USB interface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpdv5000 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=5]Adding a "small" mixer can be useful for certain appliations, but you would need to add the word "good" small mixer to have any advantage and they're not so common. You may also find that you will need to turn the mic gain up on a mixer just the same and the result will be one of you just spending money. My home recording mixer is a Roland VS1680, which is a stand alone 16 track digital recorder and desk. I have to turn the input gain well up on this too for some mics, but as long as it's peaking when you do that, it's as good as you'll ever get (you can go overboard).[/size][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks again guys, much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgano Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I noticed the Focusrite has 'Line' and 'Inst' switches - these may affect the gain of the XLR input so make sure that the one for the channel you are using is in the 'Inst' position for maximum gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Surely, the line and inst switches don't apply to a microphone, when using an xlr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 have tried on both inst and line and no difference I can hear or see! .... have located effects -> normalize and leveler in audacity - sounding much better/fuller after these are applied! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 [quote name='zero9' timestamp='1419937140' post='2644043'] Surely, the line and inst switches don't apply to a microphone, when using an xlr. [/quote] No, the switch doesn't affect the mic inputs. From the manual: "Note the Scarlett 2i2 has no “Mic/line” switch – the Focusrite preamplifier stage is automatically configured for a microphone when you plug an XLR into the input, and for a line or instrument when you connect a jack plug" The mic channel max gain is shown as 46dB. I sympathise as I have a Lexicon Lambda with 44dB of mic gain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpdv5000 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=5]Considering that you mention in your original post that you can make the mic peak into the red on 9 - 10 then you are maxing out on the amount of gain that you can use on the mic anyway. Have you also taken into account the Proximity Effect and the volume at which you speak? Dynamic microphones reject intensity of sound the further away the sound source becomes. This means that the louder and closer your voice is to the mic, the louder the output. If you are recording to your hard drive using this system, what is the volume / sound like after its been recoded? [/size][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 The max out is on 9..10, however its not picking up at all until at 8 or so ... which seemed quite low to me. I am voicing max 4" away from the tip of the mike, min 1" (when its too close). The volume after its been recorded is not very high - it only comes up when I punch in "normalise" and "leveler" in Audacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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