1 (edited by Groovydude 2021-05-04 17:32:39)

Topic: hum when recording acoustic guitar

hi

today i tried to record an acoustic guitar with 2 neumann 184 and the rme fireface ucx. unfortunately there is a recognicable hum which i find very disturbing. so my question is: is there someone experiened out there who can help me with this problem? the mics are brandnew. i also tried to record with a laptop (without fan) and im in a very noiseless room. i turned off everything i could. speakers monitors..... nothing.

please ignore the bad playing (was first try) and the fretnoise and also the click was too loud i know.

what would be a workaround? something wrong with the rme?

here is a link to the guitar snippet.

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/917836 … 756/b7e5f7

many thanks to all who have a good advice for me.

Re: hum when recording acoustic guitar

May be it is time for me to visit a ear-test.
I can't hear that hum.
The strumming guitar is recorded precisely, the KM184 are my favorite alrounder mics.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

Re: hum when recording acoustic guitar

turn the volum up you will hear it. its like white noise......

gruss aus schwitzerland too ;-)

4 (edited by fl 2021-05-06 16:25:32)

Re: hum when recording acoustic guitar

"Hum" doesn't seem to be the right word - perhaps "hiss" would communicate what you mean more precisely, if I may make the suggestion.

Playing back your recording, it seems as though the mic pre-amp level on the UCX was set pretty high, as the performance peaks at -2.4 dBFS. Any pre-amp will get hissy when it's set at its higher levels, even those in the UCX.

How are you monitoring? Headphones? Every imperfection is far more noticeable over headphones - hiss, finger noises, metronome bleed... How objectionable is the hiss when you play it back over speakers at a comfortable listening level? Playing it back here over my speakers, the hiss isn't particularly noticeable, let alone excessive.

What I do notice, however, is the very close microphone placement. Try a mic position that is 10 or 20 cm. further away and see if you like the results. There's nothing like a little distance to make finger-noises, body shifts and other human sounds become much less of an issue, and can also make the performer feel like they're a little less "under the microscope", if you know what I mean. And don't aim to get the loudest possible recording - peaking anywhere between -10 and -20 dBFS is perfectly acceptable, especially if you're making 24 bit recordings. And I bet the hiss will be much less of an issue.

Frank Lockwood
https://LockwoodARS.com
Fireface 800, Firmware 2.77
Drivers: Win10, 3.125; Mac, 3.36

Re: hum when recording acoustic guitar

What Frank said.... No significant noise here, but the mic placement is far from ideal.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

6 (edited by cigame 2021-05-06 16:01:03)

Re: hum when recording acoustic guitar

I can hear the click between chords when I hear with headphones.
Also a lot movement noise from clothes, but nothing wrong, technically.

My advice would be to get good isolation to the floor because these mikes are extremely sensitive for rumble on stands without shock mounts.
I once recorded an acoustic guitar player with these mikes.
He brought them, but he did not have shock mounts and as soon as he tapped his foot, the converters were overloaded with low frequency.

UFX+, FireFace 802 FS, Digiface USB
12 Mic, M1610 pro, Micstasy
MacBookPro M1
Logic Pro X