recording and excessive mids

I'm certainly no authority, but it seems to me that after you've changed your interface and mic, and the problem still continues, that it might be a combination of your technique (are you too close to the mic?); and the fact that maybe your room needs some treatment.  Others can offer you more detailed analysis.
 
Good luck!!

Hi. What size is your room, and where in the room do you record? Is it acoustically treated somehow? Do you sing close to, or far away from the mic? Do you record hot, or with plenty of headroom? 
Best of luck.

Are you sure you're not singing into the backside of the mic? Alternatively, are you using some kind of low cut anywhere in the chain? Have you tried switching cables?

Compression can cause apparent mid bunch-up.

Sanderxpander
Are you sure you're not singing into the backside of the mic? Alternatively, are you using some kind of low cut anywhere in the chain? Have you tried switching cables?

No, not singing into the back.  Not using any kind of low cut.  I have tried a new cable.   I'm at a loss.
 
Thanks!
Greg

Zargg71

Sanderxpander
Are you sure you're not singing into the backside of the mic? 

I did this the first time I tried my Røde NT1a
Could be worth a trying..

Oh, I've done that before.   :)     But not this time.
 
Thanks!
Greg
 

I have not tried recording in any other room.   I would like to solve this issue in my little room, if possible.
 
Thanks!
Greg

New interface, new microphone and same problem...presumably using the same software and no fx...by process of elimination that pretty much leaves acoustics.
 
Try this as an experiment: drag out your heaviest winter overcoat from the closet and wrap your head and microphone within it. Record a test clip and compare the tone to what you normally get. If it's significantly less peaky in the mids, then you'll know it's a midrange resonance.
 
Your room is 10x12'. I'll assume an 8' ceiling. If your mic is in the middle of the room, you'll have nasty stacked resonances starting about 200 Hz and up, including right up through the "honky" frequencies.

Maybe refurnishing... Or if you`ve changed the position of the mic placement, like Kalle is suggesting..?

I hope you don't mind if I jump in on this conversation as my theory's might not prove much but just something else to add.
I've switched interfaces...and microphones before. there is a lot of mind games that happen.
its almost as if you have to retrain your ear all over again. especially if your previous interface was a cheap one.
 
this has happened to me a few times in my life, back in 1986 when I first started recording (no old jokes please=I was a young teenager) I had an old Tascam 4 track reel to reel and the highs were spectacular. so much I got used to cranking the snot out of them leaving all my mixes baseless. no low end at all.
 
it wasn't till 1991 I got a nice desk and a very helpful engineer (Ed McGee from Boston) helped me train my ear all over again. then it happen again in 2000 when I bought my first audio interface for a computer when the digital audio movement started. I bought a crap interface with crap converters. when I finally got a good converter (interface) I had to retrain all over again.
 FIRST-Re trace your whole signal path. from your speakers back to the input. if need be, plug in your old interface to compare. take special note to what you are using to monitor on, the speakers, headphones. are they plugged in to the same jacks as your old set up.
 
what you might be experiencing is the mic pres that adds some color to your signal.
a good color. you need to learn to dial that color in. this new Mid range that you are hearing can very well be what your old set up was missing, your just not used it.
 

chuckebaby
what you might be experiencing is the mic pres that adds some color to your signal.
a good color. you need to learn to dial that color in. this new Mid range that you are hearing can very well be what your old mixes have been missing, your just not used it.
 I don't know I could be wrong but at this point, anything is worth listening to. re trace the path.
 

I understood the OP so that the enhanced mids occurred just suddenly, using the old setup in the same way as always, and continued with the new gear. ("I got a new interface. Same issue..."). Odd.

Dig out an old project, one where the vocals were "right". Take a look at the vocal track(s) eq plot in a meter (quadcurve eq, Span, whatever).

Compare that to a metering of a recent vocal track that is "wrong".

If they are essentially the same eq plot then the problem/change is most likely something to do with your monitors or your hearing has changed for some reason.

To address everyone's comments (and I thank you all for helping me):
 
I used to record vocals with an Auralex Mudguard.   I stopped using it after I thought I was done recording vocals.  I took the mudguard off.   Then I began to notice some places where the vocals weren't quite what I wanted them to be, so I began redoing some vocals (this is about a year later I thought I was done with the vocals).   
 
And that's when I started thinking something was off with the sound - too much mids.  So I think the issue may very well be acoustics.   At the moment I don't have a condenser mic (I just ordered one and should have it by the beginning of next week).   Then I can test my theory.
 
Someone suggested that maybe a cold or flu might have triggered my hearing to not be right.  I have been dealing with allergies, so that also might be a contributing factor.
 
I have been using 2 sets of monitors, so  that's not an issue.   
 
As for a spectrum analysis of a recorded signal, I wish I were that smart enough to know how to do that.
 
Thanks, everyone!  I really appreciate all your comments.   I will record vocals again when I get my new mic, and then I'll report back.
 
Greg
 
 
 

Hearing struck me as a possible issue because I had a heavy cold a few summers ago which left me with "motorboating/humming” tinnitus in my left ear.

Usually my brain just filters it out and it isn't a problem at all. Unless a mix/track has too much low-mid in it, when even at fairly low overall volumes my ear begins to hum. I've discovered this increased mid sensitivity is a very reliable indicator that I need to take a look at spectrum plots and re-think the eq around 200-600Hz, so while tinnitus is annoying in some ways at least it has an up side of sorts.

And everyone's hearing gets worse as they age, there's no way to avoid it.

Edited to add - the presence or absence of the Mudguard may well have something to do with the amount of mid being recorded, especially if the change became noticable when that was removed. Anything near a mic can make quite a difference to its frequency response (as the well known SM57/58 cardoid bass proximity boost demonstrates),