Low Recording Level?

Gear & Tools Talk šŸ’» Hardware, Software & Recording
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Hi All,

Just a question for those regularly recording via Shure SM58s or similar.

Whilst I realise that these mics are somewhat ā€˜get up close and personalā€™ I tend to find that anything less than it being right in front of my mouth or the guitar strings and I seem to need my input on the UMC202HD at around 70% full vol and this still barely hitting the -18 on the Reaper track level.

The actual volume when listening back seems pretty good and of course can be boosted with the Reaper controls but iā€™m surprised that I seem to need the AI input dial consistently so high? :thinking:

If anyone has any experience with this would love to hear from ya :+1:

Just FYI, the AI is set on ā€˜Lineā€™ and the ā€˜Padā€™ button is out. However I have played around with the Line button and donā€™t see much difference if any.

Thanks in advance :wink:

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Iā€™ve got an SM58 but donā€™t use it too much for recording mostly for this very reason. As far as Iā€™m aware this is a design feature - itā€™s a mic really designed for live stage use, so itā€™s trying not to pick up any other ambient stage noise.

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No single mic is suitable or optimal for all applications. I would use a SM58 exclusively for micā€™ing an amp. I have a Behringer knock off for this purpose. For vocals into an audio interface I use a dual diaphragm condenser mic (Behringer B-2).

I recommend buying a number of different types of microphones. This is same recommendation that I would make for any gear to be honest.

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Hi Clint, I saw this thread from last year and it fits a question I have. I am considering a purchase of an amp to use with my wifeā€™s bass amp. I tried a direct connection to the Audio Input but it has a lot of noise. I see that you mention using a Behringer C-2 mic which is about a quarter of the price of an SM57. Is this what you use and are you happy with it?

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Yes, itā€™s a good little mic (Behringer XM8500 - $20 US). I used it in this video for singing:

If you check out my videos I used the B-2 more often, which is the better (and more flexible) of the two mics.

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The XM8500 is a vocal mic, what is the ā€œBehringer knock offā€ that you use to mic an amp?

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Iā€™ve used it to mic my amps. I suppose you could experiment with taking the grill off and determine which way works best. I never tried it or took the time. Iā€™ve read of players using SM58s on amps, so Iā€™m not sure there are hard and fast rules. The same logic applies to the XM8500 or any other ā€œvocalā€ mic.

https://service.shure.com/s/article/sm58-to-mike-my-guitar-amp?language=en_US&region=en-US

From Behringer:

ā€œThe XM Seriesā€™ cardioid pickup pattern captures the source signal, such as a guitar amplifier or vocalist, while shunning off-axis sound.ā€

YMMV.

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Ok, thanks!

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You are welcome. Your question was valid and hopefully players will muck around a bit more with mics. One of the players that I read about somewhere (years ago) that was known to use an SM58 on his amps was John Mayer.

The best argument against using a XM8500 on an amp is that it isnā€™t a SM58 and I ainā€™t no John Mayer. LOL

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Well, I ordered one yesterday. :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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