Microphone Problem

[ferg]

Hi,

I'm a real newbie at this but lovin it so far. Problem I have is that my girlfriend bought me a mic for xmas -(non powered standard mic) with a connector for the External jack. Guys in music shop said that it was suitable for the Micro BR.

Now I have it plugged in the external jack and am recording but it only comes out in mono on one earphone. I've tried several different variations to no avail . The mic is stereo, and good quality but not powered. The manual seems to suggest I need a powered mic or am I misunderstanding the manual The internal mic works fine.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Ferg

[Pedro]

Hello there Ferg and welcome to the community.   

Did you arm two tracks? When you are recording in Stereo you have to press two tracks simultaneous so that it records in Stereo.

Tell me more about that microphone. Is it a Dynamic Microphone? Like this:




And are you certain that it is stereo? If it is a Dynamic Microphone chances are that is mono. Does the jack plug look exactly like this (two blue stripes):



If it is a dynamic microphone be aware that the Line IN is not designed to have dynamic microphones plugged directly. The mics must be amplified and have the same impedance as the Line In first. This can be done using a Microphone Pre-amp which is something like this.

Sunjess tried to use a dynamic microphone with Micro BR plugged directly, see this topic for his experience.

The powered microphones the manual talk about are the Electret Condenser Microphones. They are a small type of condenser microphones that have to be given 2.5V to work and Micro BR has this voltage at the Line IN. You can read more about this ones at https://songcrafters.org/articles/diy_electret_microbr_microphone.html

[ferg]

Thanks Admin for your most informative response. I think you may be right about the mic its a JTS TX8 -similar to the one that you have in the picture. I assumed that it was stereo.

It has the same jack - as in your picture but it has two black stripes ?. And I have two tracks pressed simultaneously.

So on the basis of this, would you recommend that I change the mic ? I presume that stereo recording of vocals is of far higher quality.

[Pedro]

Thanks Admin for your most informative response. I think you may be right about the mic its a JTS TX8 -similar to the one that you have in the picture. I assumed that it was stereo.

It has the same jack - as in your picture but it has two black stripes ?. And I have two tracks pressed simultaneously.

Your mic is a cardioid moving coil dynamic suitable for vocal recordings and it is mono so that's why it is only recording one channel. That's weird, having two black stripes.

So on the basis of this, would you recommend that I change the mic ? I presume that stereo recording of vocals is of far higher quality.

Vocals are normally recorded mono. Given the fact the vocals are usually centered in the mix the difference from stereo to mono recording is very little to none.

If you want to record vocals I would recommend using a condenser microphone. I usually record vocals mono using a stereo electret condenser microphone I did. This is probably the cheapest way to record vocals with great quality. You can make one for about $10, see this.

But it all comes down to personal preference. Do you like the sound of your vocal tracks? If yes, then stick it this microphone. If no, then give electret condenser microphones a try.

[Mr. Scar]

i would stick with the equipment you have, it's very good. use it for a while, work on getting good results with it. then after a while get some upgrades and your ear will be trained enough to appreciate them. the stock mic and br recorder are more then enough to get started with.

[ferg]

Thanks for all your prompt replies and help. I'll use what I have for the moment then 

[gregcarroll]

hi all, just registered.
i have just got a shure sm57 mic but i cant get it to work with the br and don't know what im doing wrong.
im using the "line in" and get the "over" sign.  tried fiddling the "sens" levels but still cant get any sound out of it......beginning to annoy me now so any help is greatly appreciated!!
thanks

[Pedro]

hi all, just registered.
i have just got a shure sm57 mic but i cant get it to work with the br and don't know what im doing wrong.
im using the "line in" and get the "over" sign.  tried fiddling the "sens" levels but still cant get any sound out of it......beginning to annoy me now so any help is greatly appreciated!!
thanks

You cant hear any signal? Did you check if the LN or EX inputs are choosen on the INPUT window? And what about the Input volume knob on the right side, is it set to maximum?

What is probably happening is that you aren't using a mic preamp. The signal that comes from microphones is very weak so they need to be amplified. A microphone preamp amplifies the signal and converts the inpedance so that you can plug it in any Line Input.

Also, have you tried to plug it on the guitar dedicated input?

Welcome to the forum!

[gregcarroll]

Ok....excuse me being something of a novice.
I've defo got the side input on max.
I tried it on the "guitar" input and it did work (so the mic is fine), bit i presumed this wouldnt be as good as the proper input?
Re the LN EX on the input window.....how do i choose these?....must have missed that in the manual, somehow...been through it enought times!
I get the "over" sign flashing up so presume the signal is strong enough.
Never been on a forum before.....pretty impressed though! I was looking for ages on the web for general troubleshooting etc but found nothing!
Thanks for the advice.

[Pedro]

I tried it on the "guitar" input and it did work (so the mic is fine), bit i presumed this wouldnt be as good as the proper input?
Re the LN EX on the input window.....how do i choose these?....must have missed that in the manual, somehow...been through it enought times!
I get the "over" sign flashing up so presume the signal is strong enough.

The input window lets you choose from which source you want to record. If you want to record using the Guitar dedicated input you choose GTR, for the built in mic you use MIC, for an external microphone you use EXT and for line in you use LIN. (Not LN or EX as I wrote, sorry). So in your case you would EXT. Do you choose the EXT input when you connect the SM57 to the LINE In/MIC stereo input? You can do this by pressing INPUT and then pressing TR3(EXT). When it is uppercase it means it is selected.

There isnt any problem at all by using the guitar input. Try to compare the sound between the Line in and the Guitar in and see which sound better.

Does it only displays OVER and doesn't display any other movement at all, for example when you speak?