Rode Nt1-a Noise

[Laza1]

Hi guys!

I record vocals through focusrite 2i4gen, but there is a problem, noise, noise gets stronger when I raise the gain knob on the sound card to 80 or 100, it gets stronger as the increase, 70-75% gain microphone emits this noise about -40db, it Should it be?

it's noise itself, I'm raising the level gain
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NWW44 ... P2zpmo-0cN

[Wonks]

It just sounds like background noise to me. The mic should produce far less noise than any room sounds. Rooms are a lot noisier than you think they are as your brain filters out a lot of the normal background noise until you really sit and listen. Computer in the same room as the mic?

Do you get the same level of noise with other mics? Or is this your only mic? And what are you trying to record, as you shouldn't need to set the gain on the Focusrite very high with that mic for say vocals or guitar.

[Laza1]

It just sounds like background noise to me.

hello, thank you for the answer, I also think so, just feared,yes the computer in the same room as the microphone,and this is my only microphone,when I need to record a voice so that it sounds velvety, juicy, and close, I raise the gain, for dynamic songs I reduce the gain and keep the distance from the microphone, I accidentally noticed the noise, walked away from the microphone and put on the headphones, and heard this noise, began to fear,
so the room has bass traps, in the corners and sides of the wall, I close the computer with a blanket, but this is not enough:D

[ef37a]

That is mic generated noise IMHO not 'room' or computer noise.
Right Mark Analyser shows it to be almost perfect "white" noise with a touch of 100Hz.

There is also an awful lot of it! Tops out at -20dBFS. I would expect the noise floor for even a basic LDC for a 'one foot waffle= -18dBFS' to be down below -80dBFS? So, faulty microphone is my bet but DO check you have some phantom power!

Dave.

[James Perrett]

I'd have to disagree with Dave - to me it sounds mainly like room noise although it might have helped to have some speech there just for reference. I would expect to hear more high frequencies in the noise if it was electronic noise.

[ef37a]

I'd have to disagree with Dave - to me it sounds mainly like room noise although it might have helped to have some speech there just for reference. I would expect to hear more high frequencies in the noise if it was electronic noise.

I defer to your hearing James and vastly better kit!
The plot was of the standard 'tilt' you get for white noise, certainly could see no blips for fan drones.
And, I think the 'MP3'ing' removes much of the HF?
Dave.

[Drew Stephenson]

It just sounds like background noise to me.

hello, thank you for the answer, I also think so, just feared,yes the computer in the same room as the microphone,and this is my only microphone,when I need to record a voice so that it sounds velvety, juicy, and close, I raise the gain, for dynamic songs I reduce the gain and keep the distance from the microphone, I accidentally noticed the noise, walked away from the microphone and put on the headphones, and heard this noise, began to fear,
so the room has bass traps, in the corners and sides of the wall, I close the computer with a blanket, but this is not enough:D

Just to check, what kind of levels are you aiming for when you're recording? I rarely need to get my 8i6 over halfway on the gain knob when using an LDC, for vocals or guitar. That comfortably puts me in that -18dB ish range.

[James Perrett]

I defer to your hearing James and vastly better kit!

Just a pair of HD25's plugged into the laptop's headphone output - and a little experience of what a noisy input sounds like (if you want noisy inputs try an MM mixer).

[Laza1]

friends thank you for your thoughts!I think that this is really a computer fan noise, as well as vibration from a vehicle, or a refrigerator: D
links to noise
50 gain https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zgKFG ... O6JO5-J5vj
75 gain https://drive.google.com/open?id=19PgB3 ... zV7V19KeyP
100 gain https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xlwro ... OiCniNEdfq

[Laza1]

Just to check, what kind of levels are you aiming for when you're recording? I rarely need to get my 8i6 over halfway on the gain knob when using an LDC, for vocals or guitar. That comfortably puts me in that -18dB ish range

I record the guitar or voice within -12, -10 db,with a voice in another situation,if I move away to 20 cm, my voice loses color, so sometimes I go closer to the microphone to get more color, and sometimes I have to amplify the gain to get the desired result, the noise does not penetrate when I record the voice, it gets in when the microphone just stands and gain knob in position about 80, the higher the gain the higher the noise,I just thought that something went wrong with my microphone when I heard these strong noises at a high gain level, but I think it's all right with him, I hope)

[Ariosto]

When you speak about voice colour are you meaning the extra bass response caused by proximity effect when very close to the mic? This is an exaggerated effect (often overused) to make the voice (especially male voices) sound more masculine.

The sound is almost certainly room sound, as I have a Rode NT1A and I have no problems going though a very good pre-amp set about half way on the input gain and zero gain on the recorder. I have a noise floor around -60dB - the only problem being when a plane goes over close to the house. Then I have to stop and wait ...

[Sam Spoons]

Is it noisy when set at the gain level you would use to record your quietist/most distant source? If not you have nothing to worry about, if it is it may simply be that you are placing the mic at too great a distance from the source in the environment in which you are recording. For example a normally played acoustic guitar with the mic about 12" away should give sufficient level without unusually high gain settings. A quietly played classical a couple of meters away might be a different matter.

[Laza1]

When you speak about voice colour are you meaning the extra bass response caused by proximity effect when very close to the mic?

yes I meant it, when I'm standing close to the microphone, then I get more bass more heat in my voice.You can send me your noise? on the levels of the sound card gain (50-75-100),I will be very grateful.

[Sam Spoons]

What we need is a recording of the noise in context, say with some guitar or speech along with detail about the mic position. The links you have posted only give us an idea of what the noise sounds like but not how loud it is compared to the wanted audio.

[Laza1]

Is it noisy when set at the gain level you would use to record your quietist/most distant source?

I'm not quite sure, I think I still hear some kind of noise
along with voice recording, noise is recorded, but I think it's all the fault of the fan from the computer, I think it's getting into the microphone,the gain level is set to 40, the noise is still recorded, that is, it does not matter in which position the gain,well, I'll try to record the voice along with the noise

[Sam Spoons]

If the noise is something that is picked up by the mic it will get louder as the gain is increased, if it doesn't it's coming from somewhere else further down the signal path.

If you sing close to the mic any fan noise will, effectively, be inaudible (and the correct gain setting will be much lower too BTW).

Any gain/noise level need to have a reference, saying you have set the gain to 40dB is fairly meaningless without knowing a good bit of of other data. Having a recording featuring some silence, and some speech will allow us to see if the noise is at 'normal' levels (all electronic equipment generates some noise) relative to the wanted audio.

[Laza1]

Any gain/noise level need to have a reference, saying you have set the gain to 40dB is fairly meaningless without knowing a good bit of of other data. Having a recording featuring some silence, and some speech will allow us to see if the noise is at 'normal' levels (all electronic equipment generates some noise) relative to the wanted audio.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZM0mW ... UIOGW5BZJE
gain knob on the sound card about 70 %

[Laza1]

I think that this is still noise from the fan, as well as vibration from the floor from the refrigerator or from the transport :headbang:at times there is a low hum, but I think it is extraneous vibrations, not from the microphone

[Drew Stephenson]

Have to say that it sounds ok to me, there's some noise on the long distance example but it just sounds like normal room noise to me. There's certainly nothing I wouldn't expect to get from my set-up (untreated room, 8i6 interface, cheapish LDC mic).

[Laza1]

Have to say that it sounds ok to me, there's some noise on the long distance example but it just sounds like normal room noise to me.

thanks now i'm calm!

[Laza1]

in my room there are bass traps 10 cm thick, height 2 m, and width 650cm, there are 12 of them, the ceiling was not closed, the corners and walls are closed at the sides, but it seems that this is not enough,I thought that the acoustics would be better and there would be less noise...But as it turned out the microphone has become more susceptible now to different noises

[Sam Spoons]

Acoustic treatment will improve the sound of your room but may not do much to remove background noise (the difference between 'acoustic treatment' and 'sound insulation' is not always well understood). It sounds like you have the acoustic treatment side well covered. Removing/reducing the background noise probably means finding a way to isolate the computer and making sure all doors and windows are sealed while recording. High frequencies are fairly easy to contain though so it should be doable.