problem in vocal recording

[singer0011]

Hi!! everyone i am new to this forum !!! this is my first post here so here i go !!!

i use shure mic and i have quad core pc but i am having a problem with recording vocals like whenever i record a song or alaap my voice get vanish in between although i sing continuously.
i just want to know is this problem related to the mic or the pc or sth else???

4shared.com - music and mp3 sharing - download vocal.wav
it's a small clip which i recorded in audacity !!! this one is also having the same problem!!!

if anyone can figure this out please let me know!! thxxxx


regards
singer0011

[Danny Danzi]

Singer, how new is your mic? I would say have someone check the mic at a music store. Try plugging it into a different sound source to see if it does that. In all my years, I've never heard anything like that before. Sounds like a bad mic condensor to me though. Good luck in getting this fixed...wish I could offer more help.

[singer0011]

can preamplifier fix this problem?

[Danny Danzi]

Not if your mic is having issues. It sounds like either a short somewhere or a bad condensor. I let a friend of mine hear your clip and the first thing that he said was "sounds like a bad condensor" followed by "or there is a short somewhere in the mic."

A pre amp will not fix this IF it is indeed a mic issue. You have to go through a process of elimination to determine whether it is your mic, your soundcard or something within your software perhaps. This is what I would do in the order in which I'd do it.

1. Take the mic to a music store and plug into one of their pa systems. See if you get that same artifact. Leave the mic there and have them check it to make sure. If it is a short or something, it may be temporarily acting normal due to transit.

2. Ask if you can rent another mic for the day while at the store. Take it home and see if you get the same results with that weird vanishing sound.

3. If the other mic does not have this issue, try shaking the jack in your soundcard where the mic is plugged in while speaking or singing. See if this makes any difference to where it brings on the vanishing. If it does, you know the issue is in your soundcard somewhere.

4. If number 3 up there doesn't make any difference, make sure to check your windows sound settings as well as the settings in the audio editor you are recording through. There very well could be some sort of mismatch somewhere. It's tough to tell with this sort of test though because most times you either get sound or you don't. But you never know. Make sure you are using the correct settings inside the audio program that work with your soundcard. Most companies that put out recording software have a place on their site that explains what the best methods for each soundcard would be. I'm not sure Audacity will have this on their site, but I'm sure they have a forum somewhere. You can ask there if anyone can give you the best settings for your make and model of soundcard and see if the settings you are currently using are correct or not. I seriously don't think this is a software problem though.

That's the best advice I can offer you for now. I hope you can get this sorted out. As far as your pre amp question, in my opinion a pre amp will help if you are not getting enough sound level. You seem to be getting way more than enough sound from what I hear. At 0:13 on this wave file, you can hear it clip right before it vanishes proving you are getting enough signal. Best of luck!

[singer0011]

well thanks a lot for your replies Danny !!! but my brother just figured this out that this problem is because of mother board's sound driver's noise cancellation.

this all happened because he just turned that noise reduction function on !!!!

well once again thx for your replies !!!

singer !!!
composer

[Danny Danzi]

Oh wow Singer, I never even thought to check that as most times it is off by default. I'm so glad you figured it out! My laptop has that option as well as most Vista machines, but by default all mine have been turned off. Now that you mention it, I DO remember hearing that same artifact when I was experimenting with noise cancellation off and on. Learn something new everyday! Glad you've fixed it...sorry I couldn't help on this. You taught me something though as I will remember this if anyone else experiences this problem. Take care.