Mic gain question on RME UCX

The summary of the issue is I can't hear my voice loud enough through my AKG headphones when I speak to the at2020 mic connected to the UCX.
I end up turning the gain in totalmix to about 1 o clock n also push the mic fader a little below max. But when I do this I hear a lot of environment sound along with my voice.I hear far off sounds n low cpu fan sound amplified to distracting levels.Do I need an headphone amp or better mic or cable or just sound isolation in my studio or is it something else? Thanks in advance

Jim Roseberry
This isn't a gear related problem.
 
If your studio's background noise is super audible/distracting when setting the mic's gain high enough for actual recording, you've got to fix the problem (noise) at the source.
 
A mic like the SM7b will pick up less room noise than a condenser... but it won't eliminate it completely.
 

Ok that is something I wanted to confirm.
I know it's subjective but how high is the mic  gain set usually for recording.I dial in around 40 to 45db on the gain knob in totalmix to be able to hear my voice (while the mic fader is set  almost to the top)

Don't forget the built in expander and compressor on the UCX. Use the auto level to set the gain. Raise the level and suppress the noise with the FX.

SF_Green
Do you have phantom power turned on for the channel you're using?

Yes I do.
<p>

Jim Roseberry</p> <p>This isn't a gear related problem.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>If your studio's background noise is super audible/distracting when setting the mic's gain high enough for actual recording, you've got to fix the problem (noise) at the source.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>A mic like the SM7b will pick up less room noise than a condenser... but it won't eliminate it completely.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />

<br />Ok that is something I wanted to confirm.</p> <p>I know it's subjective but how high is the mic &nbsp;gain set usually for recording.I dial in around 40 to 45db on the gain knob in totalmix to be able to hear my voice (while the mic fader is set &nbsp;almost to the top)</p>

RishiS
I know it's subjective but how high is the mic  gain set usually for recording.I dial in around 40 to 45db on the gain knob in totalmix to be able to hear my voice (while the mic fader is set  almost to the top)

How much gain do you need? As much as it takes to get a solid level without clipping into your DAW and not a dB less. How much gain you need depends entirely on the mic you're using and the sound pressure level of the source you're recording.

If you're getting a good level into the DAW but its got too much room noise on the track, you've either got to quiet the room down or move the mic to a quieter room and record from there. When I rebuilt my DAW computer, I spec'd everything in it for low noise. The power supply is fanless. The OS and plugin library drives are solid state. The audio drive is a traditional spinning hard drive, but db level was one of the considerations when I bought it. The CPU choice was compromise between raw horsepower and typical operating temperature which allowed me to use a fan that's all but silent most of the time.
 
Right now the hum from the display on my old A80 is the loudest thing in the studio. I just shut it off when I'm using live mics in the room. 

Apologies but I'm not quite following. What do you mean exactly when you say you're satisfied with the recording levels? Does that mean they're where they should be i.e. the loudest parts stopping just short of 0db? Or does that mean they're loud enough to give adequate signal level on the track for anything you'll need to do with it during mixing but not necessarily as loud as it could be in the track?
 
I'm confused because in theory anyway, if the level were where it should be and you then added more gain, you should probably then end up with some signal clipping. Since this doesn't seem to be the case, I would suggest that your signal level probably wasn't where it should have been to begin with.

This further leads me to speculate that if your recorded material was sitting fine in the track at that lower level with no noticeable room noise, I would go ahead and set the gain at the higher level where it really should be. Then just pull the track level back during mixing and most of your room noise should fall back below the noise floor where it was when when you were recording with less gain. If any little bits are still creeping through, you should in most cases be able to control that with a noise gate during mix down*.
 
Of course if you're trying to record something like an acoustic guitar or a ukulele or even a voice that will be out front with no other instruments behind it during part of the track, you may find the only way to really get that down is to find a quiet room somewhere else in the house, get some long cables and run your mics and headphones there. Having someone else engineer for you is pretty much a requirement in that case but the results are usually worth it.
 
 
 
 
 
*I'm not a fan of using gates during tracking. Its way too easy to think you've got good stuff down during the session only to realize later during mixing that your gates were closing too quickly and you've lost important parts of the performance which you can now never get back.

https://youtu.be/NVa3AyUNGuI
 
I made a video looking at how to use TotalMix looking at only a single Mic input.

The issue really is low levels of my own voice in the headphones when I'm trying to record. Raising the gain n fader levels on the mic input in totalmix makes a lot of environment sound like cpu fan audible.
I tried the expander technique mentioned by gswitz...it does solve the noise issue.Im curious to try what tlw mentioned about free mode in total mix.
Thanks to all for the great tips !

An extra trick is to route your ADAT out to the ADAT in if you don't need it otherwise. This enables parallel compression on eight channels. You can stack EQ and compression. Possibilities are huge.

You end up with three eqs and compressors per track and one on the mains.

What average signal level are you getting to the record track on the DAW before you raise the gain?
What average signal level are you getting to the record track on the DAW after you raise the gain?
 
So far the only answers you've given to similar questions have been vague anecdotes like signal is 'ok' or 'enough'. Your DAW has meters. Those meters have numbers. I want numbers. 

I have encountered some mics that look just so identical both sides with only the slightest difference and that was almost impossible to see. Except the cardioid pattern was obviously still working better one side than the other. Even the wrong way around if you are close enough the source will still get picked up except the background noise is quite bit louder.
 
Not taking away the op's technical abilities at all. It can be a very honest mistake and I have done it myself on a few occasions.