hi. ive been recording vocals for years simply plugging in my microphone to the back of my sound cards input. crude perhaps but it has worked mostly fine. I'm somewhat aware that having a mixer/preamp is supposed to enhance your signal or clear it up somewhat (i think, right?) so recently i picked up one of these xenyx 502s. it hisses. it sucks.
no matter how low i turn the gain down or the master level up or down there is an additional *hiss* added to the signal. why would anyone want to use something so useless? I'm back to plugging my microphone straight in to the sound card again (which produces NONE of this irritating hiss). All i want is something to be able to record some instruments (guitars/etc) and also vocals with that will be an improvement to simply plugging something into my sound card. that said, i dont want to spend hundreds. I dont need 8 channels. I dont need reverb fx or expensive compression or anything. the only reason i picked this up is it seemed like a cheap 40 dollar solution that would allow me to do what i want. apparently i was wrong. and now I'm left with another piece of junk to return or resell. fun. does anyone else get this hiss? ive read some about it on the internet but I'm not sure. i also just bought a digitech vocal 300 preamp/fxprocessor and that hisses like crazy too... though i have read that many of those have faulty circuitry out of the factory even and require being serviced. I'm so annoyed at this *affordable* gear which seems to sound like sh*t. its making me really frustrated
any ideas suggestions solutions are appreciated for something affordable that works. all i want is something CHEAP that sounds better than plugging into nothing before going into my soundcards input. i guess that doesnt exist? help me out, thanks for reading
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Before you throw away the mixer, you want to make sure that the
Before you throw away the mixer, you want to make sure that the gain is "staged"- set - this will minimize any background noises that the mixer will generate. You probably should consult the owners' manual of the mixer as well.
Also, it sounds as if the mic is plugged into the mixer, than the mixer's line output is going into the soundcard? If the levels are not set correctly, you can generate excessive noise by cutting back the gain at the wrong stage, boosting the gain at the wrong stage. Be sure that the input on the soundcard is designed to accept LINE LEVEL - as opposed to MIC LEVEL - sources. That alone will make a huge difference in performance. Do NOT plug the mixer into the same input on the soundcard as you were using your mic !!!!
its junk. ive heard from a million other people cheap products a
its junk. ive heard from a million other people cheap products are cheap. it sucks. ive had to return everything. apparently a friend uses some kind of usb/interface and gets great results. i think it retails for around 300. sucks but i guess thats what you need to have. i cant believe they sell this absolute JUNK for cheaper prices -_-
as for doing vocal fx live thats going to cost even more. looks like a tc fireworx is the only solution to satisfy what i need because i want pitch shift... with additional effects. 600 used. i suppose i could go the pedal effects route but ehhh, it really sucks because this vocal300 floor board has everything i need... and for live usage the pedal would be excellent for fading fx levels and switching it up instead of having to squat and adjust knobs on a rack. why cant they make a good version of the vocal 300 or cheap mixers like the behringer xenxy that doesnt have the horrible noise floor. i am so agitated. why do they even make affordable gear if its ****ing unusuable. world is retarded -_-
I have a Behringer Xenyx X1622USB mixer that does the same thing
I have a Behringer Xenyx X1622USB mixer that does the same thing but only on vocals (I haven't figured that one out yet). One thing you might want to try that is about $80 is the M-Audio Audio Buddy [url=http://www.m-audio… - Audio Buddy - Budget Microphone Preamp[/url]
Its very clean, has phantom power and just works. very simple.