Improving Recording Quality

[sunglassesatnight]

As the subject says, I want to improve the quality of my recordings. And by that I mean get the hiss in the background the Hell out of dodge. I am at a loss as to how. I'm using a Nady mixer into an Audiophile 2496 card with Adobe Audition. At lower volumes, the hiss isn't so audible, but when it is turned up much at all, it becomes a distraction. I guess it could be the effects I use, but I've almost had my fill of toying with those when I thought I had the sound fine. It's frustrating, any suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks guys.

[Brock]

What kind of a pickup are you using?
Does it record hiss when you have nothing plugged into the mixer but volumes up?
Could you post a sample of what kind of hiss you're getting, perhaps with playing and then just regular background hiss if you can get that?

[Trippin Hillbilly]

What mic do you have and do you have a mic preamp? A good mic preamp will probably cut out alot of that hiss.

I just got myself one of these off ebay at a reasonable price..

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/DMP3-main.html

[sunglassesatnight]

What kind of a pickup are you using?
Does it record hiss when you have nothing plugged into the mixer but volumes up?
Could you post a sample of what kind of hiss you're getting, perhaps with playing and then just regular background hiss if you can get that?

http://www.takamine.com/?fa=elec_tk4nt
That pickup, somewhat junky.

It's not the card either, being that if nothing is plugged in, there is no hiss. When the mixer is on, so is the hiss.
Thus, I believe it to be the mixer.

An example

Tad at the beginning, most at the end. Volume must be up a bit.

[dmbguitar718]

That's normal.

[Delicate Genius]

It's been over a year since I did a real, multi-tracked recording, but I'm planning some recordings and I've been thinking about this very thing, because that's what got me on my old recordings. I record just mic -> PC, no mixer.

What I'm planning on trying is setting my microphone's reception volume (dunno if this is the correct term) really low. As in, the microphone is way less sensitive to noise. However, to make sure I get a good recording, I'll just crank my amp louder than I normally would, so I get a good volume recording, but since the reception volume was so low, the mic didn't pick up all the hiss. I'm assuming your hiss is background hiss, though, and not amp hiss. If it's amp hiss, try turning off things in your room. My PC monitor reacts with my pick-ups and makes hiss, I think, so I turn it off when recording.

I'm technologically-challenged, though, so maybe this is obvious. I know nothing about arranging gear, production, mixing, etc. I just know how to play (and sing somewhat).

[thejoe]

i would avoid using the mixer.. everything from nady is poorly made

get mic pre's as miguel said, or a better mixer
but there will always be some hiss

[sunglassesatnight]

i would avoid using the mixer.. everything from nady is poorly made

get mic pre's as miguel said, or a better mixer
but there will always be some hiss

That would be impossible. Unless I avoided recording at all.

[Brock]

That's normal.

Yeah, that's pretty normal with a mixer like that, no matter what brand it is. Depending on what recording program you're using on your computer, there usually is some sort of noise cancellation filter, or even a noise gate might work if you find the right settings for your hiss. I would try out the noise cancellation filter first.

[sunglassesatnight]

That's normal.

Yeah, that's pretty normal with a mixer like that, no matter what brand it is. Depending on what recording program you're using on your computer, there usually is some sort of noise cancellation filter, or even a noise gate might work if you find the right settings for your hiss. I would try out the noise cancellation filter first.

I'm using Adobe Audition, and there is a hiss reduction feature, and it works reasonably well.