Trouble with my Recording (HISS!)

[arch1]

Ok heres the scenario, i just bought a shure SM57 (im a complete noob at home recording) and realized i needed a pre amp, so, strapped for cash i bought the Behringer tube ultragain Mic 200 so i could do some recording. I downloaded logic pro 8 and the set up is as follows.

Shure sm57 goes in to the Behringer Preamp via a XLR-line in cable, the pre amps output goes from the pre amp to my mac minis microphone port (standard soundcard) via a line in to miniphono adapter, i then select inputs 1 and 2 on Logic pro 8 and start recording. The problem is that im getting horrible incessant hissing over my beautiful sounding sm57, the hissing is absolutely ruining it and i was hoping the guys here at this forum could help.

Turning the gain down does reduce the hiss but reduces the volume so much its inaudible, with the volume comes the hiss.

please help guys its driving me nuts

P.S this pre amp does have phantom power (dont know if thats a good thing).

[sparqee]

The problem is almost certainly in your MacMini's audio input. You need to get a dedicated Firewire or USB audio interface.

Oh... wait a minute. You said you were using a beringer pre-amp. Yeah, they're not known for their low noise floor. Still try monitoring your signal through something other than your MacMini input and see how much that might contributing to your problem. If you can return the beringer use the money towards getting an audio interface with a built in mic preamp.

[arch1]

That's great to know, so what would you recommend?

[sparqee]

Check out the "Soundcard Wizard" here: Home Recording Soundcard Wizard / Audio Interface Search Tool

[arch1]

are you sure i need to spend about £100 more on one of these?M-AUDIO FireWire Solo Mobile Audio Interface BRAND NEW - eBay (item 270326853229 end time Feb-05-09 10:35:22 PST) i tried the sound card setup wizard and that is what it produced, surely there is a cheaper option to get rid of that hiss?

[arch1]

i got my behringer yesterday, i could return it i suppose, i got it from amazon.co.uk, so i guess its possible, in your experience do you get your money back with amazon.co.uk? ive never had to return anything before to them

[sparqee]

Amazon.com is good with returns. Don't know about amazon.co.uk. Did you really get it from Amazon or from a seller on Amazon. Just contact them and ask.

[arch1]

i think i got it from a seller from amazon called boomerangsounds, so im not sure, but yeah going back to my original point, is it really necessary to buy another piece of equipment, could i try running my pre amp through my amp and then through the computer? my amp is a roland micro cube

[sparqee]

If you aren't worried about the quality of your recording you can of course use your MacMini's audio input.

Another unfortunate issue with using the Mini's native sound card is that you will likely experience a fair amount of playback latency, so if you want to listen to your previously recorded tracks while recording overdubs you'll have to deal with timing lag between what you're hearing and what you're recording (i.e. if you play in time to your previously recorded tracks your overdub recording will not sync up with those tracks). You can always go in and time shift the overdub tracks but it's a tedious way to work. I think most recording enthusiast will agree that a quality audio interface is a necessity.

[arch1]

ok so i really appreciate your responses so far, i noticed thats what was happening in logic when i was recording an acoustic version of mr brightside, trying to play the rythmn underneath the lead, didnt sync properly, had to do it myself. so, in summary what your saying is that i should sell my Behringer, and by a firewire audio interface to get rid of the hiss and the middle man between my sound card and the mic?