Hiss

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
1

More hiss than instrument

2

hi sorry if this has been asked before but I did a search and nothing came up

I’m using a Soundmax audio card and a LP copy. When I record sound or play live with ntrack I get more hiss than sound. I realise this is probably the humbuckers pickig up interference from electrical stuff ie the freezer etc but rather than switching the freezer off ( which I did on christmas eve sorry dear ) how can i eq the hiss out without losing my high notes ?

3

hey polar,tidings of comfort and joy to you an yers man,sounds like ya mite be plugged into the mic hole on the card,if so,switch to line in ,hope that does ya,if not write back

4

which model Soundmax are you using, there are a few of them ?

what size are the input sockets ? -

for guitar (without using a pre or DI box) you should use the MIC IN socket, but guitars have a 1/4 inck jack and most soundcards only take the smaller MINIJACK, so you have to use a reducer, the reducer has to be a MONO type, a stereo reducer will not screen the input correctly -

generally you should always use a DI box when using a guitar with a PC -

Dr J

5

Line in !!!

How stupid do I feel now :stuck_out_tongue:

Have to look into this DI box thing as well, thanks Doc

6

a guitar effex box works as well for runnin into computer,or a mixer of somekind,

7

Yup, a guitar Fx box does work good as an impedance matching device, but usually a mixer on its own doesn’t.

The problem with a guitar is the very high output impedance, around about 100k or so, and using the old engineering rule of thumb, load impedance should be approximately ten times higher than source impedance.

So that means you should be looking at about a 1 Mohm load. A normal mixer input is line impedance which is much lower (10k - 50k typically), as is a soundcard line-in input.

So, a DI box is a good thing, but a guitar Fx box set to clean works well too. :)

As for which soundcard input to use:

The mic input is even lower impedance, but, because it has a built-in preamp it will give you a higher level, so it might sound better.

But not really. The preamp will probably be low quality and noisy, and the gross impedance mismatch will make your guitar sound thin and crappy.

So for the best results, go:
guitar -> DI box (or equivalent) -> mixer (optional) -> soundcard line-in.