Hello Guys ! I am facing issue with recording vocals. My setup is: Shure SM58 with M-Audio interface. I use Cubase or Audacity as DAW. My problem is that the recorded vocals are very low in volume. If i try to amplify, it induces lot of hiss noise. Any suggestions for getting decent dB level for vocals without any noise?
keep the recording volume fairly low and amplify in the DAW itself. every DAW has a function called "gain" somewhere either as a direct effect or a plugin... i think in cubase it should be under "utility" in the plugin menu.
there's a difference between analog and digital amplification. the amplification that is happening in your preamps will pick up more noise if turned up high and *less if turned down low.* once you record with lower noise, you can boost the signal within the DAW. from my experience this has worked pretty well with an SM57 as well as the rode NT-1a on vocals. turning up the gain on my presonus firebox preamp was much noisier. you will have to use a noise reduction plugin though - keep in mind the gear you and i are using have very basic mic preamps, not $$$$ studio worthy preamps. you will need to work around it a bit, i have to as well.
maybe i shud record late nights with little background noise.. and ya i think the gain shud be set low... lemme try again..
How much background noise can you possibly have? I usually set my mic volume to about 10-20% to the extent that the meter doesn't move unless I speak fairly close to it.
