Hisssssssssssing on vox tracks

Hello,
I've been trying to get rid of the white noise (is that what you call it?) from my vocal tracks and it stays unless i completely nix the high end. That seems impractical.
Is there a toy i can download (i have digitalfishphones stuff) that can lesson the hiss on the vocal tracks.
The vocals themselves are not too hissy just the background noise.
Thank you.

Hi Beag,
The only thing i'm missing on your list is the Gate Compressor.
It looks like i'm okay with the rest.
I will insert it in the audio effects pane and hope to salvage some recordings.
thanks a bunch,
rick

ORIGINAL: Beagle

you really shouldn't be getting much noise if you have all the gear hooked up like I mentioned, tho. tell us about your signal path (the hardware).

I have a MXL 990 condensor mic into an ART Preamp into an E-MU 0404 sound card.
I use the cakewalk delay(mono) and the ambient soft reverb and the classic eq on all vox. There is tremendous hiss coming from something in this path.
I also add an effects 'send' to the vocal tracks because it makes them louder so i can hear better what i'm singing.(i'm old and deaf!)

What do you think it could be?

Rick,
I'm inclined to suspect cables. Even though your E-MU has unbalanced inputs, it should be very quiet.
Also, listen to your room. I discovered that my room basically sucks, and the mic was picking up all kinds of background noise that I didn't consciously hear.

It's not really off - subject, but he shouldn't be getting that much noise with the signal path he has. something is amiss.

Rick, another thing that will help us is: insert a new audio track and set it for the mic's input path and arm the track. turn on your pre and then without making any noise yourself, look at the meters and turn on the PEAK if you haven't already done so and what is the PEAK input of the mic without any other sound being input?

ORIGINAL: Beagle

It's not really off - subject, but he shouldn't be getting that much noise with the signal path he has. something is amiss.

Rick, another thing that will help us is: insert a new audio track and set it for the mic's input path and arm the track. turn on your pre and then without making any noise yourself, look at the meters and turn on the PEAK if you haven't already done so and what is the PEAK input of the mic without any other sound being input?

Beag, the meters on patchmix are definately registering sound before i make any. It's all hiss and noise.
I haven't listend without effects yet but i suspect they are not to blame. I will check tonight.

hey Beag,

It's the: "Art tube mp Project series".
I have the phantom button pressed and the volume to 12:00. That's it.
Should i have the limiter pressed also?

Also: I tried the GATE/COMPRESSOR you recommended. It got rid of some vocal "Puhs" from singing words with "P" in them but not the hiss.

rick, you can try those things, but if it were me, I'd be more concerned with eliminating the noise before it gets into the track. It really is important to keep the noise out of the system from the beginning if you can.

with the equipment you have, there is no reason you should be getting a high noise floor.

ART's website doesn't have the manual for your pre right now (broken link), but it has the spec sheet, and I can make some guesses from that as to how you need to have it set.

The +20dB switch should be ON since you're using a MICROPHONE thru the pre.
The impedance switch should be set to LOW.
The spec sheet doesn't say exactly what the filter is for, so I don't know how to set that one, but you can try both ways and see what works.
phantom power should be ON
LIMIT, again, I only have a spec sheet, not the manual, so I'm not sure, but I would guess this is similar to the OPL of my ART TPS II. If it is, then it won't matter if it's off or on, neither setting should cause your noise floor to be high.
Phase should be set to NORMAL

Your input gain controls the amount of tube response you get (if your pre is like mine) and the output gain controls the amount of signal being sent to the sound card.

you need to adjust those two controls so that you are not getting noise in your EMU Patchmix panel AND so that you are not clipping the signal when you start singing. these have to be adjusted for EACH USE. You'll hear folks talk about a "LEVEL CHECK" - that's what they're doing. Making sure that the input and output levels are set for the singer/instrument being performed for that particular set/song. for recording, you need to adjust it for each session you do.

The +20dB switch should be ON since you're using a MICROPHONE thru the pre.
The impedance switch should be set to LOW.
The spec sheet doesn't say exactly what the filter is for, so I don't know how to set that one, but you can try both ways and see what works.
phantom power should be ON
LIMIT, again, I only have a spec sheet, not the manual, so I'm not sure, but I would guess this is similar to the OPL of my ART TPS II. If it is, then it won't matter if it's off or on, neither setting should cause your noise floor to be high.
Phase should be set to NORMAL

I'll check the +20dB and the Impedance but the rest is already there.

you need to adjust those two controls so that you are not getting noise in your EMU Patchmix panel AND so that you are not clipping the signal when you start singing. these have to be adjusted for EACH USE. You'll hear folks talk about a "LEVEL CHECK" - that's what they're doing. Making sure that the input and output levels are set for the singer/instrument being performed for that particular set/song. for recording, you need to adjust it for each session you do.

I keep the 'gain' on the art tube off. How/where do i check for input controls? I make sure the patchmix is not in the red when i sing but that's about it.

Okay. The song is already recorded. There are no mics plugged in. The preamp is off and still there is a constant hisss coming from the project- it's not even playing!!!!! the hiss is just there.
what is it?

what about if you disconnect the preamp completely? you could have a ground loop problem.

but you said that the noise is evident in your patchmix panel - your plugins can't affect your input to the sound card. now if your noise is not in the patchmix, but it IS in MC, then your plugins CAN and WILL cause noise on your tracks. that's why I asked you earlier to remove all plugins from your tracks and see if the noise went away.

Well, you guys have been busy.
Rick, I just tried to duplicate your scenario as much as possible, but got no appreciable hiss. I maxed everything out at 12db. What other plug-ins were you using?
For future reference.
Let the meters in Patchmix work for you. If the meters in the input strips show activity, the noise is coming from something before it gets into the computer. If these are quiet, but the Main Mix meter shows activity, the noise is coming from something inside the computer, be it software(plug-ins) or hardware.
Some plug-ins are noisier than others, and you may be able to pin down the culprit by bringing them in one at a time.

When you are recording, how does the audio track meter look? Where is it peaking?

I unplugged the preamp and it went down some more but still there is disturbance showing in patchmix.