About Brad Lyons Expertise Anything related to studio recording either home or professional level, live sound, television broadcast, MIDI and Keyboards, Drums, Studio and Live gear of all levels. I'm a real-world audio engineer for both studio and tv broadcast, as well as live sound production. Visit my personal website @ www.theaudioprofessional.com for further background information.
Experience I'm a Sr. Sales Engineer for Sweetwater, the world's leader in professional and experienced sales consultants. I have over 20-years experience in everything audio-related from large-scale touring and recording to church production and tv broadcast. It is my career to know and understand ALL audio gear.
Organizations Sr Audio Engineer for UPAF
Publications several, contact for information
Education/Credentials Studied Music Composition and Theory @ Bowling Green State University and Spring Arbor University, toured as the lead keyboardist for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "South Pacific" and a few other shows.
Past/Present Clients Let's just say I work with some of the biggest names in this business, as well s those just startin out.
I recently bought an Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone and an Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixer. I am new to this but it seems to me that the audio is too low. I can not believe that I would have to turn the level and mic gain knobs up to around the 2'oclock position to get some sound. And even then its still low and sounds muffled with not a good tone.
I took everything back to Guitar Center for them to check and they said everything is working properly. So I don't know what to check in the computer.
I want to record with it and also use it with Skype voice over the internet. I did noticed that when I could record in Audacity, the waveform was shifted partially downward into the negative area.
Any suggestions on what else I can check? Thanks.
ANSWER: The AT2020 is a condenser microphone and requires phantom power, which is not turned on by default. Did you enable phantom power on your mixer to power this microphone?
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QUESTION: Yes I made sure the 48VDC phantom power was on.
What about the type of microphone cable? Since I am an Electrical Engineer I have repaired other electronics. I used my ohm meter to at least check for open wiring in the cable. It checks good.
I know this would be hard to answer, but would you happen to know how much audio loudness it would take to make the LED's hit the yellow ones?
For example if I just speak normal, about 4 inches away from this AT2020, any idea how much I would have to crank the Level and mic gain controls? It seems that I have to turn the level, mic gain, and mix gain up to around 2 o'clock to get some sound. And this is while disconnected from the usb on the computer.
I'm about ready to just return everything. :-( Very disappointing.
You know the Guitar Center I went to just had kids working in there now I wonder if they knew what they were doing when they tested my equipment.
ANSWER: It's possible something could be defective as you should get plenty of signal, however understand these are entry-level products meant to hit the lowest possible price point. You're not going to get the same gain in a pre on that mixer that you would out of say a Mackie Onyx.
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QUESTION: Okay I just did a test recording. I know this might be hard to answer but hopefully you can answer in general terms.
If you talk normal into a mic/mixer with levels set 1/2 way, what type of dbv level should voices be?
I talked with a normal tone and loudness into my mic, about 4-6 inches away.
The settings for the mic input level, mic gain, and main mix gain was 1/2 way, the 1`2 o'clock position.
The db level in Audacity for my voice was -30db. This seems way way too low.
Thanks,
Frank
Answer One thing to keep in mind, it's best to get as close to the microphone as possible. The better the capsule, the better the pickup and amplification---the cheaper the capsule (cheaper the mic), the more you have to be on it. This is ever more so true for dynamic microphones. The other advantage to getting right up on the microphone is playing with the "Proximity Effect". An increase in bass or low frequency response when a sound source is close to a microphone. Proximity effect is distortion caused by the use of ports to create directional polar pickup patterns, so omni-directional mics are not affected. Depending on the mic design, proximity effect may easily result in a boost of up to 16 dB, usually focused below 100 Hz. Vocalists tend to like proximity effect since it fattens up their voice, but a constantly varying bass boost can wreak havoc on headroom and carefully set levels! Obviously, if a vocalist is "eating the mic" to get proximity effect, the Inverse Square Lawtells us that the levels the mic sees are increasing dramatically as well - distortion can easily result, from either mic diaphragm breakup or electronic overload. (You may occasionally see proximity effect referred to as "bass tip-up")
For more information, feel free to visit my personal website @ www.theaudioprofessional.com for further contact information.
