well I've finally taken the plunge and tried to record some vocals..all i can say is my career may lie in instrumentals

any advice would be most welcome...but Im on a budget at the moment as Ive just really purchased everything in the last month so its not the greatest of equipment..

My voice is OKish..I can hold a tune and it has a fair range but it records very thin and weak..

Im using a sennheiser e835 and a pop screen..its a fairly large room but I try to record away from the centre of it using duvets to try and damp some of the rooms brightness/echo...I use a pop screen and have tried the phantom power in my mixer (just a cheap behringer) and the gear box plug in with a toneport

I dont seem to be able to get much volume out of these with turning the gain right up and that just leaves the recording distorted, or hissy

it can also sounds so thin if i dont turn the gain up, and when i try to beef it up with an EQ it doesnt seem to do much to the bass in my voice..

have you guys any homegrown suggestions or advice...it would be much appreciated

Im using a sennheiser e835 and a pop screen..its a fairly large room but I try to record away from the centre of it using duvets to try and damp some of the rooms brightness/echo...I use a pop screen and have tried the phantom power in my mixer (just a cheap behringer) and the gear box plug in with a toneport

Phantom power on a dynamic mic? Not a good thing..

have you guys any homegrown suggestions or advice...it would be much appreciated

Do a seach for "Compressors" on this site.

didnt know that about the phantom power...eek


the pre amps in gearbox come with a compressor...thats the gain Im turning up...will swat up on anything here though

thanks

Sing closer to the mic. This will bring in what is known as the "proximity effect", which translates in to more perceived bass frequencies being picked up by the mic. If you have the input gain up pretty high and it's output is still weak and bass-shy, it sounds like you need to be singing a bit louder and closer to the mic.

ORIGINAL: kcearl

didnt know that about the phantom power...eek


the pre amps in gearbox come with a compressor...thats the gain Im turning up...will swat up on anything here though

thanks

Phantom power has absolutely no negative effect on a dynamic mic. It doesn't do anything to a dynamic mic - as you already know. It will be a problem if you use ribbon mics though. Ribbon mics can be damaged with phantom power applied.

You might be suffering from a generally mediocre signal path. That mic might not be putting out much in the way of a healthy signal. Have you tried a condenser mic?

Phantom power has absolutely no negative effect on a dynamic mic.

My concern was more for the fact he was unaware that Phantom power is not used on dynamic mic's. He really should be at a home recording forum reading and learning the basics of recording.

ORIGINAL: ed97643

Sing closer to the mic. This will bring in what is known as the "proximity effect", which translates in to more perceived bass frequencies being picked up by the mic. If you have the input gain up pretty high and it's output is still weak and bass-shy, it sounds like you need to be singing a bit louder and closer to the mic.

Im about 2 or 3 inches away from the mic...I dont really belt it out but it could be to do with my confidence, never had trouble with that before mind you ;)

I will experiment more though as it'll be the mic i have to use for a wee while..

ORIGINAL: Mr. torture

Phantom power has absolutely no negative effect on a dynamic mic.

My concern was more for the fact he was unaware that Phantom power is not used on dynamic mic's. He really should be at a home recording forum reading and learning the basics of recording.

I maybe a bit of a newb but ive managed to get bass, rythm, lead, keyboard and drums down...I was using the phantom power as I wasnt really getting any oomph from the preamps in gear box or pod farm..

This caught my eye about 48v on dynamic mics as I use it all of the time on SM58s... I'm going to paste what this guy said,

"Will phantom power damage dynamic or ribbon mics?

When you switch on phantom power in some mixers, phantom is applied to all the mic inputs at once. What will happen if you plug a dynamic or ribbon mic into one of those inputs? Will it be damaged by the phantom powering?

Not if the mic has a balanced output, and is wired correctly. Even if the mic is a dynamic or ribbon type, phantom will not hurt the mic.

Phantom powering applies a positive voltage to pins 2 and 3 in the mic, and the ground of the phantom supply is connected to pin 1. In a condenser mic, pins 2 and 3 are wired to the circuitry inside the mic. Phantom current entering pins 2 and 3 goes through the mic circuit, then exits out pin 1 and returns to the supply ground.

In a dynamic mic or ribbon mic, pins 2 and 3 are wired to the mic’s voice coil or ribbon. Normally, the coil or ribbon is floating from the pin 1 ground. So the circuit loop to and from the phantom supply is incomplete. No current can flow through the mic’s voice coil or ribbon if you apply phantom power. Result: no damage.

On the other hand, if one end of the voice coil or ribbon is accidentally shorted to ground inside the mic, several milliamps of current from the phantom supply will flow through the voice coil or ribbon back to the ground of the supply. This current can deform the ribbon or immobilize the mic diaphragm.

In short, if the mic has a balanced output in which the voice coil or ribbon is NOT connected to mic ground, phantom will not damage the mic. If the mic has an unbalanced output because the voice coil or ribbon IS shorted to mic ground, phantom could damage the mic.

Hope this helps...

Bruce Bartlett
Mic engineer"

Sounds good. To second what Larry said, do consider shopping for a condenser down the line. There are no "rules", but it's pretty widely accepted that condensers are typical first choices (over dynamics) for main vocal tracks. You can get deals these days, especially in the second hand market.