What sound card do you have in your computer? How are you connecting the XLR-Pro to it? What inputs on the sound card are you using? Have you tried adjusting the sound card's input levels?

DSE, thanks for the heads-up RE: the pre-amp.

Chienworks, the XLR-Pro goes straight into the sound card via the mic input.

I think the sound card is a Creative SB Live.

... it's a very common problem with consumer cards like Soundblaster ... but for VO, they're OK ... I bought the Audigy Z something with front panel inputs...the mic input got a volume control and if you jack it up, you'll get a decent signal but keep an eye on the monitor levels..... even with this, Vegas will usually show the waveform as tiny... me, I normalize after the recording and all is OK... if you don't have the knob, make sure you got the 20db gain box checked off in the Windows recording control and make sure the volume slider is at its max and that the Mic input source is checked off... should help....

I agree ... it's most likely the volume setting on the mic input of the sound card.

I've got an SB-Live card in one of my computers. I can plug an XLR mic into the mic input using a simple adapter that shorts pin 3 (-) to ground (worst case scenario) with no transformer and get very hot recording levels. If i use a transformer i get about 6dB gain and have to turn the mic level way down.

In this case, i'm not sure that the XLR-Pro box is really giving any advantage over a simple adapter or transformer, unless it's also supplying phantom power to an electret. Speaking of which, i suppose i also should have asked what type of microphone it is.

... another thing ... I hope the VO is mixed with a music bed or other sound ... I wouldn't touch a Sounblaster for pure voice without a bed to bury the flaws and noise... better to pay a few bucks and record in a sound studio if all they'll hear is a voice...

>>asked what type of microphone it is<<

... yeah, me too .. could be using those ten buck jobs that come bundled with systems under $500 ... but even those ain't bad if you know how to work the equalizers and the voice is floating over some heavy rock 'n roll... :-)

This MIGHT assist. The way I do it is:

1/- Make a VHS visible timecoded cassette of video for V/O.

2/- Give V/O artist the VHS remote

3/- Point my camera AT the TV screen with the VHS running.

4/- Have a boom mic under the V/O artist's nose . .. well not that close! And run the sound BACK to my camera.

5/- Let the V/O artist operate the VHS cassette and make as many takes as it . . er . . TAKES! And keep the camera running.

6/- Now I can "bring" the V/O track from the camera back to the original VIDEO track within VEgas5 and select the actual TAKE that is best!

Recently used this method and it was just so simple and easy to manipulate, control and manage all the V/O audio AGAINST the actual video.

Going straight to Vegas would drive me nuts! But that is me . . .

Grazie

Guys, thanks for all the input so far.

The mic is an Azden SGM-2X. You can detach the long barrel, thereby changing it from a shotgun into, uh, SOMETHING SHORTER. I experimented with all the various permutations and figure this sounded the best (though the Ps pop a lot more and the Ss can have a bit too much "ssss" to them, the diminutive windscreen notwithstanding.)

Fortunately this is only a practice / learning session, not a VO I have to have.

I run it through the XLR-Pro simply because that's the adapter I had on hand to go from XLR to mini, or whatever you call the small jack that goes into most camcorders and my sound card. I also experimented with my other mic, a Shure wireless. The jacks are the right size on that one, but it sounds a lot worse for VO work than the Azden, with the same low level problem and the hassle of messing with a transmitter / reciever

With both mics I have to play around with EQ and add the smallest bit of reverb to get it to sound OK.

Grazie, I like your idea and may use it if ever I need to make a VO or commentary track against existing footage. I thought of simply plugging into my camera, then transferring the tape to computer. As DSE suggested, the camera must have a preamp built in because I get good levels when recording straight to the camera...

Obviously the best bet would be to invest in a sound card and mic specifically for this purpose. I can't pop for these $5000 mics I hear about, but a SM 58 or something like that would be within reach.

As for the adapters, I imagine Radio Shack or someplace has them, huh?

Thanks again for all the suggestions, and if you can recommend a better VO mic for under $150, let me know. Same with sound cards.

My low-budget workarounds are kind of Keystone Cop-ish, but a fun challenge nevertheless.

Wow,
talk about making an 8 course banquet our of a simple snack!
This is a piece of cake to do in Vegas.
Drop your vid on the TL, add an extra audio track. Mark out a looped region around your vid.Config 2nd audio track for input from mic. Arm second track for record, hit master record.
Now Vegas will continue to playout original audio and video and record the matching audio in sync with each recording as a take.
When the talents finished you can play it back to find the take you want using T to switch.
You can feed the original audio to cans for the talent along with track being recorded mixed in so he can hear himself.
Piece of cake old son. Better yet, the talent can see the cursor on the TL to give him a cue or you can add 3 pips at the start for him to sync his brain to.

And you're using a camera to record audio, shame on you!
Bob.

"And you're using a camera to record audio, shame on you!"

Yeah, just some observations, I'll listen to a lot of you video guys in this forum arguing about cameras and calibrated monitors until the cows come home. Then I'll hear your audio recording setup and the tecniques used and it usuaaly makes me cringe and then I laugh at the irony.

And you're using a camera to record audio, shame on you!

Nothing wrong with using the cam to record audio with, as most cams have halfway decent DACs in them, but it's still a little inconvenient. Of course, it won't sound as good as a good pre and a quiet soundcard, but if your sound card is noisy, you can ignore that by going straight from the cam audio to Firewire, and ignore the soundcard altogether.
You can get a decent audio-only recording on a camera if it's reasonably isolated, close to the mouth (6-12 inches) and the room is marginally decent. We had a piece sent to us recently that the voiceover was done on a little TRV cam in a closet, and it sounded decent. A little tube emulator EQ on it, and a smattering of compression, it came out pretty good.
Definitely don't be using that Azden for V/O unless you've got it very close and the room is very dry. Losing the barrel is a good plan, as it then becomes a mid reach hyper, and will give you better results.

Thanks again for the wisdom, guys.

All things considered (budget, equipment I already have on hand, etc.) I suppose I'll do the voice work as I described, straight from the Azden, through the XLR-Pro, into the computer, and then normalize the audio to bring the levels up and tweak with EQ, reverb, etc. from there.

The VO for the project I have in mind needn't be in perfect sync with the video in any case, just approximate----i.e., I have 10 seconds to say what I need to say, and it'll be dropped in at marker 23, etc.

When $$$ and neccesity start to equalize, then I'll invest in a good card and mic.

Thanks again for all the food for thought.

I've got to agree. Sure you can get away with an aweful lot, even using a camera to record the VO track but from my not very profound experience once you start trying to do anything with audio recorded that way it starts to fall apart, if you're having to dial in 20dB of gain on a 16 bit recording it's not going to sound too pleasant and if you then add some compression it'll get even worse.
Bob.

What about just hooking up a good lav to them and powering that into the mic in? Seems pretty reasonable to me, and probably not too expensive overall -certainly not $5K. A good AT898, or something like that should run less than 200 (something like 150 or so - unless you go local like I did) (I paid 225, but now I have a guy I can go to with problems and I won't have to keep bugging Spot ;-) ). There are small Powering deals for these that are made to be ultra portable, and output a 3pole mini jack 3.5mm to be used with I-Rivers etc... (). the small one only runs 50 I think - that should put you in a good spot for about 200 and be able to record into your mic input with a decent sound quality etc...

I hope this helps - I'm not audio expert, I've just recently spent a good chunk of $$$ in the audio dept. latey.

Dave

I thought when he said using the camera to record, that he was running the audio into the camera. not recording directly off of the camera's mics. There's nothing wrong with that in my book. Especially if the cams XLR/phantom powered.

Dave

Right, I have no intention of using the onboard camera mics.

If ever I use the camcorder as an audio recorder, I'd certainly use an external mic in as pristine a recording environment as I could find.

Obviously there's no substitute for having decent equipment! But as I've said in previous posts on other topics, poverty and / or circumstances often force creative (if not ideal) solutions.

Indeed - what's your budget? (below 100? below 200? below 500? / above 50?) don't mean to prod, but it could help people trying to help you ;-)

Dave

Believe it or not, a 6.00 computer mic from Walmart (stick on kind, not the wand kind) placed in the right place, will sound wonderful.

WHAT!, YOU MEAN I DIDN'T HAVE TO SHELL OUT A COUPLE HUNDRED FOR MY AT898!!! ;-)

Oh well, what are the stick on kind? and where's that placement?

Dave

PossibilityX, i don't want to beat a dead horse here, but i'd still like to know if you've gone into the input (recording) mixer control panel for your sound card and adjusted the mic input volume or not. You haven't said whether you've checked that yet. I'm still guessing that that level is set too low and you could solve your problem by increasing it.

On the lapel, with a good rubber double stick. It takes work in post though, keep that in mind.
A 6.00 mic isn't gonna be nearly as robust as an 899 will be, but you can make it sound very, very good if you know how to play with good EQ's. The Toubat piece that won the Berlin was recorded in part with a cheap, walmart/compusa mic. Lotsa noise reduction....lotsa EQ. Many VASST attendees have heard the noise reduction demonstration with audio recorded with this mic. It's very good. But it took a lot of work to get it there. What's more valuable? Your long-term time, or your short term pocketbook?

Yeah I agree with Chienworks check your mic input/mixer level for your sound card .

Jon