behringer xm8500 issues

[Mctech]

Hello everyone hope y'all are well. I will breakdown my concerns into two parts (1. vocal recording issues, 2. discord issues).

 

My gear: Behringer xm8500 (mic), Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (audio interface)

 

1. In order for me to get my vocals to sound loud, I have to crank up my gain knob to the max (10). I record vocals and want to get into recording instruments into my DAW which is FL studio. This seems to introduce a lot of noise which is hard to work with since I like to add effects to my recording (such as EQ and reverb).

 

2. I also wanted to use my mic for discord or for playing video games with my friends. However, my friends tell me that I am really hard to hear and I notice some distortion. Overall, they describe my mic as if I am doing ASMR even with my gain boosted to 10.

 

I know there are options like a cloudlifter that can boost the gain of my mic. However, is that really necessary? My audio interface has a noise EIN of < -126 dB (A-Weighted). The cloudlifter will be around -130 dBu. 

Overall, I want to increase the volume output of my device while decreasing noise. Thanks!

 

 

[The Flying Sloth]

You're using a dynamic mic on a budget interface, the mic will need to be right next to your mouth and the gain will likely need to be almost all the way up for it to pick up properly. This is why I recommend an inline preamp when using dynamic microphones because cheap interfaces don't really have the overhead to power dynamic mics properly.

[Mctech]

6 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

You're using a dynamic mic on a budget interface, the mic will need to be right next to your mouth and the gain will likely need to be almost all the way up for it to pick up properly. This is why I recommend an inline preamp when using dynamic microphones because cheap interfaces don't really have the overhead to power dynamic mics properly.

thank you for the response. I will look into a cloud lifter then since that is the most recommended. It is a bummer since I thought my Scarlett would do the trick. Also, a cloudlifter is phantom powered so how would that work? I know that dynamic mics cannot receive phantom power so isn't it a bit counter intuitive? Sorry if I am not understanding the ideology behind all this.

[The Flying Sloth]

Just now, Mctech said:

thank you for the response. I will look into a cloud lifter then since that is the most recommended. It is a bummer since I thought my Scarlett would do the trick. Also, a cloudlifter is phantom powered so how would that work? I know that dynamic mics cannot receive phantom power so isn't it a bit counter intuitive? Sorry if I am not understanding the ideology behind all this.

The Klark Teknik is just as good as the Cloudlifter for less dough but if you really want to spend more you can, 

 

Basically, an inline preamp takes the phantom power from the interface and turns it into more amplification, the mic gets amplified more before the signal hits the interface making it louder. The phantom never reaches the mic because it's been used by the preamp. Having said that some dynamic mics do require phantom.power like the Aston Stealth which basically has this preamp circuit built in.

[Mctech]

29 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

The Klark Teknik is just as good as the Cloudlifter for less dough but if you really want to spend more you can, 

 

Basically, an inline preamp takes the phantom power from the interface and turns it into more amplification, the mic gets amplified more before the signal hits the interface making it louder. The phantom never reaches the mic because it's been used by the preamp. Having said that some dynamic mics do require phantom.power like the Aston Stealth which basically has this preamp circuit built in.

Oh that makes a lot more sense... Thanks so much

[Mctech]

3 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

The Klark Teknik is just as good as the Cloudlifter for less dough but if you really want to spend more you can, 

 

Basically, an inline preamp takes the phantom power from the interface and turns it into more amplification, the mic gets amplified more before the signal hits the interface making it louder. The phantom never reaches the mic because it's been used by the preamp. Having said that some dynamic mics do require phantom.power like the Aston Stealth which basically has this preamp circuit built in.

So out of the top three choices, a fethead, cloud lifter, and the Klark Teknik, you would reccomend the Klark? I know that cheaper doesn't necessarily mean worse but the one I found (this link: https://www.zzounds.com/item--KLTMICBOOSTERCT1?siid=271660&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwOz6BRCgARIsAKEG4FXUchNnX1VfELTBb__7PG17575WCBfOO9sYKT0B6V1qyOfM3laXP9caAuVfEALw_wcB) is really really cheap.

[The Flying Sloth]

17 minutes ago, Mctech said:

So out of the top three choices, a fethead, cloud lifter, and the Klark Teknik, you would reccomend the Klark? I know that cheaper doesn't necessarily mean worse but the one I found (this link: https://www.zzounds.com/item--KLTMICBOOSTERCT1?siid=271660&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwOz6BRCgARIsAKEG4FXUchNnX1VfELTBb__7PG17575WCBfOO9sYKT0B6V1qyOfM3laXP9caAuVfEALw_wcB) is really really cheap.

That's right, it's really really really cheap. 
That's why I recommend it over the vastly more expensive options.

[Mctech]

2 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

That's right, it's really really really cheap. 
That's why I recommend it over the vastly more expensive options.

I see.. Thank you once again for your help

[Ahoy Hoy]

Again this is a mix message recommendation. A preamp wont help with poor microphone use.

Keep the microphone around one to two inches form your mouth or 3 to 6cm for civilised world.

THE PRE AMP WONT HELP IF YOU ARE NOT POSITIONING THE MICROPHONE CORRECTLY!

The preamp will just make your problems of poor quality and background interference louder.

[The Flying Sloth]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:43 AM, The Flying Sloth said:

You're using a dynamic mic on a budget interface, the mic will need to be right next to your mouth and the gain will likely need to be almost all the way up for it to pick up properly.

Oh wow, would you look at that, I covered this in my first sentence. If you're going to keep attacking me on every post I reply to at least try to make it somewhat justified.

[Ahoy Hoy]

1 minute ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Oh wow, would you look at that, I covered this in my first sentence. If you're going to keep attacking me on every post I reply to at least try to make it somewhat justified.

Yep I saw that. Seriously the right thing to ask. But he hasnt answered it yet and hes gone down the rabbit hole of getting a pre amp and youve kind of held his hand down it. Pre amp wont solve poor mic placement problems which I know your also aware of.

I just dont want to see the next post in this being I bought this preamp and my audio still sucks. And him them going the microphone is a meter or so away from me.

[Mctech]

On 9/15/2020 at 1:06 PM, Ahoy Hoy said:

Yep I saw that. Seriously the right thing to ask. But he hasnt answered it yet and hes gone down the rabbit hole of getting a pre amp and youve kind of held his hand down it. Pre amp wont solve poor mic placement problems which I know your also aware of.

I just dont want to see the next post in this being I bought this preamp and my audio still sucks. And him them going the microphone is a meter or so away from me.

I put my mouth almost right on to the microphone as if I am about to eat it. And my discord gain is still very very low so I will try to go for the inline pre amp to see if it works