Hum

Hi,

When i record vocals i constantly hear a hum through my sound. This becomes very anoying especially when i compress the sound.

Its not my mic. Cause i bought a new one. with the same problem. Its not my computer cause i tried in different machines.

Its gotta have something to do with electricity but i dont know what...

Can anyone please give me some suggestions??

regards
Nool

Just my small input. It is possible to get an earth loop. This can happen when a lot of equipment is connected together and they are all connected to the mains earth. This leaves some of the equipment with a double earth connection, its own earth and the earth of the electronics it is connected to.

Graham UK

Thanks for your answer..

I think you're right.
When i screw the mic open and put my finger on a certain wire the hum stops and i get a clear signal.

What is the easiest solution??

Regards

UPDATE:

I have my mic through an old tape recorder before it goes into my sound card.
(The hum isnt form the tape recorder btw)

I do this to prevent me from plugin the mic in the mic input which is lower quality.

WHen i touch the tape recorder on its steel the hum dissappears. When i release the touch the hums appears again....

Sounds like you're picking up an ac hum from your tape recorder. Probably have a bad ground in your tape recorder or an impedance mismatch with your microphone. Make sure the microphone is matched to the input of your amplifier. I would suggest not using a tape recorder, they usually have poor amplifiers in them, but using an audio amplifier designed for what you are using the mic for, such as singing or speaking.

Peter

Thanks for your answer

but its not the tape recorder because when i put my mic straight into the computer i have still the same problem.

Get a different mic.

Peter

Nool ... As Catsailor said, get a different mic... or at least have this one checked out ... I don't think you should be able to put your finger on a certain wire and have the hum disappear unless you are creating a 'ground' that should be created by something else... I would also ask if you checked the polarity on all the equipment ... Sometimes that can be a problem ...
Good Luck....
t.

Thanks for the reply.

But its not my mic since i recently bought a new one because the old one had the same problem.....

Is your mic balanced or unbalanced? The input to Yamaha keyboards is unbalanced as is the average recorder i.e. one side is grounded. All my mics are balanced about ground so I have to use something with a balanced input and unbalanced output, either a mixer, mic amp or transformer. Something to check - which kind of plug do you have on the mic - tip and sleeve or tip ring sleeve - the latter is balanced.

Bryan

Nool,

All logic dictates that your problem is with the mic. Even a new mic is not necessarily good. Do as Tony suggested, and get the mic checked out by someone at a sound shop. Also ask him the correct way to hook up the mic and what the mic connection requirements are. These items are not necessarily evident to someone who is not a sound technician (which is most people using microphones). Sometimes mics work great, and sometimes they become real bears. Don't give up.

Peter

Catsailor ... Before purchasing a Sennheiser off e-bay (sounds great BTW), I did some shopping around in local music shops ... In one shop, the rep wanted to demo an EV, an AKG and a Sennheiser ... the EV, fresh out of the box did not work!!! ...
I'm no sound tech, but I've learned through years of experience that even the obvious may not be the case...
t.

http://www.ebtechaudio.com/he-2des.htm
This will get rid of the hum (take note any live sound engineers this is the most effective/usefull bit of gear I own !!)
But i really think that if you got one you'd be just be fixing the symptom and not the cause .Smells like a bad earth somewhere in your setp up .
Are all your devices plugged into the same power point ??