4 ms·

Thanks, that’s helpful. I’d seen reviews that the 2i2 could be noisy (e.g. https://www.gearslutz.com/board/newbie-audio-engineering-production-question-zone/10

Thanks, that’s helpful. I’d seen reviews that the 2i2 could be noisy (e.g. https://www.gearslutz.com/board/newbie-audio-engineering-production-question-zone/1069846-focursite-2i2-noise-issues.html https://www.gearslutz.com/board/newbie-audio-engineering-pro... ) but the output from your setup seems good. I guess you probably don’t have the gain cranked up that high. Thanks also for the link to Curtis’s video. I get the impression I’m better off with a good dynamic mic for now. (Using a Rode Podcaster at the moment, which has great rejection of room noise and echo but leaves little control over tonality/gain and really stands out on video since it’s white. My experience with audio software for streaming and other live audio has not been great on macOS – crashes and delay being the main issues – hence why rack-based hardware appeals.)

nickjj 7y ago
Around half way down that thread, someone posted a sound attachment with a bunch of noise. Mine sounds exactly like that if I crank the gain too. I keep the Scarlett at about 35% and do notice a lot of noise as I go above that. It climbs up quickly. What's interesting is the DBX has enough gain on its pre-amp to keep the Scarlett at 0% with the AT2005 mic but I don't do that because I found with the AT2005 + DBX + my personal voice combo things come out a little too boomy on the low end which is weird because my voice is pretty high. So in this case I like having a little bit of the Scarlett's presence come through and at this amount of gain there's no real noticeable noise. The DBX's pre-amp gain is really quiet. I have it at 100%. There's extra gain you can add on the output side too. I keep that one at -8 DB because if I go any higher than that it clips, which is nice because it means the DBX has a lot more power to give for a more power hungry mic. I'm still not 100% happy with my audio. I think from a line noise perspective it's close to as good as you can reasonably ask for but I feel like it's still too boomy and slightly muddled on the low end. I keep the low end completely off with the DBX too (it has an "Enhancer" which is sort of like a basic EQ for highs and lows). I'm not convinced it's a pure DBX issue tho, or a problem with the microphone. For example, this guy has the same AT2005 microphone https://youtu.be/g95hJZlWFwU?t=111 https://youtu.be/g95hJZlWFwU?t=111 and personally I found his sound to be very natural with a great tone. It doesn't feel boomy and it has an even spread across the spectrum. I don't know what pre-amp or interface he uses. Audio is super complicated because your real voice plays such a huge role. That and it's a rabbit hole that never ends haha.
- modernerd 7y ago
  > I think from a line noise perspective it's close to as good as you can reasonably ask for but I feel like it's still too boomy and slightly muddled on the low end. You sound better than most presenters to me, your sound is really clean, and I spent your video listening to what you were saying and not wondering why the noise floor was so high. The OP sounds excellent too and his post, videos, and work are great but I had the same reaction as you to the noise level, particular for the channel intro post which does not seem environmental to me. I agree with others that most won't notice, though, and I think I only did because — like you — I have spent some time obsessing over such things in the past. So I wouldn't worry about tweaking your sound too much. (He says, heading to Thomann to fill a basket with a DBX 286s, an Aston Stealth, and a bunch of other things to start tending my audio rabbit warren again.) I imagine you've experimented with mic placement such as talking into the barrel of the mic more directly? I notice you use it off-axis in the video you posted, but a more extreme off-axis rather than just slightly angled, presumably to reduce pops/breathing and so it doesn't block line of sight. In the “pick of the week” video that you liked the tone of you'll notice the presenter is talking into the barrel of the mic and it's only slightly angled at times; his voice is still going into the mic rather than past it. I used to own a bunch of dynamic XLR mics but came away disappointed because of the noise floor at the gain I needed to get a good signal, so I sold almost everything to buy the Rode Podcaster USB mic that just works out of the box. I didn't realise at the time how much hardware and software processing people use. I expected to be able to get great sound with an XLR mic and USB interface alone. Few people used to talk about what they did _after_ they bought the mic and interface; they just said “I use an SM7B and a Scarlett Solo” or whatever, neglecting to mention they also had a Cloudlifter/Fethead in the line to boost the signal, bring down that gain, and reduce the noise floor, as well as a whole rack of stuff or software to tune their sound. It's great that people talk more openly about their setups now. But spending hundreds on mics at least taught me that some cardioid dynamic mics have a very consistent sound regardless of placement and gain, but others (mostly mics with larger diaphragms) have a little off-axis coloration. I wonder if it would alter the sound quality for you at all to talk directly into the mic, even at the risk of more plosives and breathing sounds. Not saying this is true of you, but I think a lot of people go through phases of buying new mics when really they just need to learn how to place and adjust the one they have better. It's certainly been true for me at times, although there are other times when switching mic has made a huge difference (I would never go back to a condenser mic after using dynamics, for example, unless I had the luxury of a treated room). I wish more audio pros would offer paid home setup advice; I would pay for someone to check out an audio/video clip, see photos and screenshots of my settings and say, “that's an end-address mic; you should be an inch closer to it, talking straight down the barrel, and then you can pull back on the gain by 10%” or whatever.

nickjj 7y ago

Around half way down that thread, someone posted a sound attachment with a bunch of noise. Mine sounds exactly like that if I crank the gain too. I keep the Scarlett at about 35% and do notice a lot of noise as I go above that. It climbs up quickly. What's interesting is the DBX has enough gain on its pre-amp to keep the Scarlett at 0% with the AT2005 mic but I don't do that because I found with the AT2005 + DBX + my personal voice combo things come out a little too boomy on the low end which is weird because my voice is pretty high. So in this case I like having a little bit of the Scarlett's presence come through and at this amount of gain there's no real noticeable noise. The DBX's pre-amp gain is really quiet. I have it at 100%. There's extra gain you can add on the output side too. I keep that one at -8 DB because if I go any higher than that it clips, which is nice because it means the DBX has a lot more power to give for a more power hungry mic. I'm still not 100% happy with my audio. I think from a line noise perspective it's close to as good as you can reasonably ask for but I feel like it's still too boomy and slightly muddled on the low end. I keep the low end completely off with the DBX too (it has an "Enhancer" which is sort of like a basic EQ for highs and lows). I'm not convinced it's a pure DBX issue tho, or a problem with the microphone. For example, this guy has the same AT2005 microphone https://youtu.be/g95hJZlWFwU?t=111 https://youtu.be/g95hJZlWFwU?t=111 and personally I found his sound to be very natural with a great tone. It doesn't feel boomy and it has an even spread across the spectrum. I don't know what pre-amp or interface he uses. Audio is super complicated because your real voice plays such a huge role. That and it's a rabbit hole that never ends haha.

modernerd 7y ago
> I think from a line noise perspective it's close to as good as you can reasonably ask for but I feel like it's still too boomy and slightly muddled on the low end. You sound better than most presenters to me, your sound is really clean, and I spent your video listening to what you were saying and not wondering why the noise floor was so high. The OP sounds excellent too and his post, videos, and work are great but I had the same reaction as you to the noise level, particular for the channel intro post which does not seem environmental to me. I agree with others that most won't notice, though, and I think I only did because — like you — I have spent some time obsessing over such things in the past. So I wouldn't worry about tweaking your sound too much. (He says, heading to Thomann to fill a basket with a DBX 286s, an Aston Stealth, and a bunch of other things to start tending my audio rabbit warren again.) I imagine you've experimented with mic placement such as talking into the barrel of the mic more directly? I notice you use it off-axis in the video you posted, but a more extreme off-axis rather than just slightly angled, presumably to reduce pops/breathing and so it doesn't block line of sight. In the “pick of the week” video that you liked the tone of you'll notice the presenter is talking into the barrel of the mic and it's only slightly angled at times; his voice is still going into the mic rather than past it. I used to own a bunch of dynamic XLR mics but came away disappointed because of the noise floor at the gain I needed to get a good signal, so I sold almost everything to buy the Rode Podcaster USB mic that just works out of the box. I didn't realise at the time how much hardware and software processing people use. I expected to be able to get great sound with an XLR mic and USB interface alone. Few people used to talk about what they did _after_ they bought the mic and interface; they just said “I use an SM7B and a Scarlett Solo” or whatever, neglecting to mention they also had a Cloudlifter/Fethead in the line to boost the signal, bring down that gain, and reduce the noise floor, as well as a whole rack of stuff or software to tune their sound. It's great that people talk more openly about their setups now. But spending hundreds on mics at least taught me that some cardioid dynamic mics have a very consistent sound regardless of placement and gain, but others (mostly mics with larger diaphragms) have a little off-axis coloration. I wonder if it would alter the sound quality for you at all to talk directly into the mic, even at the risk of more plosives and breathing sounds. Not saying this is true of you, but I think a lot of people go through phases of buying new mics when really they just need to learn how to place and adjust the one they have better. It's certainly been true for me at times, although there are other times when switching mic has made a huge difference (I would never go back to a condenser mic after using dynamics, for example, unless I had the luxury of a treated room). I wish more audio pros would offer paid home setup advice; I would pay for someone to check out an audio/video clip, see photos and screenshots of my settings and say, “that's an end-address mic; you should be an inch closer to it, talking straight down the barrel, and then you can pull back on the gain by 10%” or whatever.