Recording My Celllo using a Condenser Mic

[Giselle]

Hello, I have never tried to record anything on my PC, and I got stuck trying to set it up.

I got this microphone:
http://www.akg.com/site/products/pow...nguage,EN.html

and a battery pack:
http://www.akg.com/site/products/pow...nguage,EN.html

Then I just plugged the output from the battery pack into my PC's microphone input. The problem is - it doesn't sound very good. The sound seems warped and there is a ton of hard to remove noise. Am I missing a component? An amp maybe? Pre-amp? I am not sure what I need... so any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I would also love to have an amp setup which would just allow me to play my cello through speakers! How would I know what to look for? What params are important?

Thanks for your patience!

[sabianq]

honestly,
you should get a dedicated USB or Firewire audio interface...

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/compu...io_interfaces/

if you want a good pre amplifier, i would suggest a channel strip or an analogue mixer.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StudioChan/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/802VLZ3/

[Giselle]

Hey thanks for your help!

So I got this thing:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB.html

And cannot hear *any* difference in the sound being recorded... well maybe it's louder, but it still has that metallic / mechanical sound distortion especially when I play louder.

Any idea what else it may be? The cello I am using is very cheap, ($200 value), but still sounds very very nice compared to what gets recorded.
Any idea how to trouble-shoot this?

[keyjslider]

Buy preamplifier, also play with your gain/output settings (more gain, less output) - both soundcard driver and preamp, the led meters must never get red, always record 24 bit (to increase headroom), use compressor (soft- or hardware). And also check distance - it should't be less then 15 inch from your mic.

Sorry - just looked through your gear - it does not deliver 24-bit sound and honestly, is mostly intended for instrumental input, not mic-recordings. Play with gain, if does not help - substitute gear accordingly to advice of Sabianq.

Also the problem might be your room reflections, adding metallic character to the recorded sound - also read this:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/...oom/#more-2224

[keyjslider]

Originally Posted by Giselle

I would also love to have an amp setup which would just allow me to play my cello through speakers! How would I know what to look for? What params are important?

You will have to set less input gain (to avoid feedback) and use a min 40-100Hz High Pass Filter (HPF) applied directly to input signal (to block ambient noise-floor).

But better monitor through headphones.

[sabianq]

hmmm..
the first thing i would do is bypass the battery pack (take it out of the loop)and use the phantom power of the interface to power the microphone (if you havent done that, try it)

dont worry about bit depth, yes a 24bit recording will give you more head room to play with. but honestly, you can learn how to play within the parameters of the limited dynamic range.
a 16 bit recording is fine. just keep a close eye on the meter and avoid clipping..

the microphone you have attaches to the body of the instrument and picks up the vibration from the body. have you tried relocating the mic and expirmenting with different body locations near the bridge?
Try placing the pickup literally on the tail side of the bridge under the strings...

if you want to use the pickup for sound reinforcment, it should work fine.

i would suggest using a mixer or channel strip.
I have always had great luck using a Mackie VLZpro (i like the 1202)

but try the phantom power thing.

dont get all caught up with processors or compressors or expanders or whatever. a straight shot from the mic to the interface to the computer should give you a good accurate reproduction..

(the reason i suggest using a channel strip is due to my personal belief that the microphone pre amplifiers in most of the A/D D/A's are glichy when it comes to microphone level signal amplification and phantom powering.)

i personally think that interfaces should be line level only and manufactures should put more emphasis on the wordclock and the A/D D/A's.. but that is my personal opinion..


hope this helps
cheers!