quote:

---

Originally posted by mark_h_newman
For some time now, I have been trying to get that lovely rounded sound that you hear on the vocals of professional recordings. No matter how loud the singer sings, the high notes sound clear, unclipped and not harsh.

To this end I recently invested in a Nova Studio Condenser from M-Audio assuming that recording with my Dynamic Mic, as I have up till now, was part of the reason for the naff vocals.

However, I was dismayed to find that the problem has followed me, despite my upgrade in microphone. Yes, all the Ss's and T's are now crystal clear but the moment I hit a high note and give it some power, it's almost as if the microphone cannot cope and the signal clips very slightly, just enough to give it that harsh sounding quality I was trying so hard to get away from. I tried turning the mic input down, thinking that maybe the input was too much for my sound card -no, it wasn't the sound card, I tried standing further away from the Mic -but then I just sound off mic, I tried putting a piece of paper between me and the mic and although it did soften the harshness, it made the vocals as if someone had put a low pass filter on them (which is exactly what the paper is).

What am I doing wrong? Will adding a Pop filter help?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mark_h_newman
Thanks for the tip. My Microphone goes straight into the sound card (a SW1000XG) without any pre-amplifier, so I set the soundcard's gain to MIC level.

As a result of your suggestion, I changed the input level of the soundcard to LINE and tried again. Of course this recorded the mic very weekly and I knew I'd have to amplify the signal digitally afterwards, which would amplify noise too. However, disregarding the noise, I still got this same clipping.

I realize that there are many faults with my experiment and that all the post-recording amplifying must have also played havoc with the signal. I remember reading somewhere that recording at LINE level gives you much more dynamic range (which is what I'm looking for) but this probably means I need some sort of pre-amplifier. (All I have at the moment is a 48V power supply powering the MIC)

What is the recommended path for the MIC signal?
Should it simply be MIC > Preamp > Soundcard, or is there some better setup? Maybe I need some sort of analogue limiter too before the input to the Soundcard.

How far away from the MIC should I be standing?
I'm standing about an arms length away at the moment. I've been in studios where they record the soloist very close the mic, but that just causes too much clipping with my setup!

How does the singer's distance from the MIC affect the tone of what is recorded?
I assume there is more bass in the signal the closer you stand.

Thanks for the advice.
Mark.

---