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Voiceovers/recording help


L7NirvanaLove

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I was in my school studio recording a voiceover and two things are very concerning. The studio uses pro tools 11 hd. I set up a mic 416t with a converter to phantom power. First problem I encountered was that I had to boost the gain either all the way up or close to the limit in order to achieve levels that were close to -12db which caused plenty of hiss in the recording. Second problem was that on one of the recordings it sounded as if I clipped but the on the meters and even playback it didn't ever show that I clipped or that the levels got above -6db. When I went into another editing system i checked the recording and it showed I clipped. Any ideas why this would have happened with the recordings?

 

The talent was not speaking softly for me to have needed to raise the gain so much. And does the mkh416t with converter add a lot of hiss or is there alot of signal loss with the adapter?

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What converter did you use for the PH to T powering? I use the PSC "barrel" adaptor and it works very well/ Things to look out for: are your mic cables properly wired? are you providing 48volts for the phantom power? you don't mention what typr of preamp you are using as the front-end to your Pro-Tools rig. does the phantom power on yout preamp work with a regular P48 mic? A properly working 416 has a very hot signal,

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The sound you describe sounds a bit like the levels don't match. Check everything is correctly set to line/mic, as aproppriate. Also, monitor the signal directly off the preamp to try and locate the error. Since you are in a school, is there no supervisor or teacher who could help you?

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Shouldn't matter, but where are you inserting the SC 48-T adaptor? ie: between the mic body and the adaptor, or is the adaptor at the preamp end? The reason I ask about the cable is that T power, unlike phantom uses the ground wire (pin 1) in the powering scheme (I'm pretty rusty on this, so other group memners please correct me if I'm wrong). If there is a ground loose on the cable could be possible cause. just fishing here. try another cable?

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Second problem was that on one of the recordings it sounded as if I clipped but the on the meters and even playback it didn't ever show that I clipped or that the levels got above -6db. When I went into another editing system i checked the recording and it showed I clipped. Any ideas why this would have happened with the recordings?

 

I know you're asking about why you clipped and not why you didn't see it, but anyway; in DAWs, NLEs and analog gear you have to be careful with where you measure the signal. I know a bunch of people who complain that they can hear distortion but can't see it. Well in PT for example you can set your faders to read pre- or post-fader. So depending on how you route the signal you can clip it at one of several stages, then because the fader - and possibly at other points - drops the level, you no longer see clipping indicated in the meter.

 

So it's crucial to select the most appropriate point in the signal chain to monitor it.

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Yeah I believe the adapter is a PSC barrel T to 48 Phantom Power. The pre amp is a type of 192 from digidesign not sure which model. Yes I providing 48v and it does does work with a regular P48 mic I have used the regular Phantom power mic in that studio before.

You mean the PRE? that is controlled via PT

have a mic that need phantopm to work to test the line/pre?

also the PRE has an insert that is switched in/out, if switched in but not wired in it could cut the level

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I know you're asking about why you clipped and not why you didn't see it, but anyway; in DAWs, NLEs and analog gear you have to be careful with where you measure the signal. I know a bunch of people who complain that they can hear distortion but can't see it. Well in PT for example you can set your faders to read pre- or post-fader. So depending on how you route the signal you can clip it at one of several stages, then because the fader - and possibly at other points - drops the level, you no longer see clipping indicated in the meter.

 

So it's crucial to select the most appropriate point in the signal chain to monitor it.

Okay I will check how it is monitored.

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