USB Condenser Mic Recording Volume Level

[thehitman123]

Hi guys, basically I have purchased a behringer c-1u, of course before I did some research and there were issues with the volume. Now that I have it, I have the same issue that many people with the mic also have, and that is with the volume it records at. In the windows sound mixer the recording level is set to high, however I still have to be really close to the mic to get a decent volume back.

The light on the mic is also green, and according to several sources is meant to be blue to indicate phantom power. I have checked my motherboard website and the ports are USB 2.0 so phantom power should be working, otherwise the mic wouldn't work right?

So yeah I have seen vids on youtube where people have the mic 5-6 inches away and record perfectly without any problems..but for some reason I have to record like 1 inch away and the response will still be low..

Also I am using cool edit pro 2.0, if that is any help..and after recording, I can turn the volume of the clip up without the quality messing up, however being a condenser mic I shouldn't be having to increase volume and recording from an inch away..

So yeah I'm curious to find out whether phantom power is the problem and how I can sort it, and if it isn't then how I can adjust the volumes..

Thanks before hand

 

[thehitman123]

So many views but no replies.. :/

 

[fireberd]

Phantom Power on "standard" P.A. type condenser mics is 48VDC. The USB port does not provide 48 VDC so that mic must be using a lower voltage. Being a Behringer, there is a good chance it's defective. I have some Behringer equipment in my recording studio but it's non critical equipment and "throwaway" if it doesn't work.

I would try the mic on a different PC and if does the same thing, it's defective.

 

[thehitman123]

Yo well it states USB 2.0 is required so it must be able to power the mic? And I have contacted the seller (eBay) an they has said it worked fine for them without any quitness and were able to record from 30cm..
So I'm thinking now it has something to do with drivers or USB port?

Thanks

 

[SmurofNeves]

Did you get any drivers with the device,if so,is there no problems occurring in device manager? Have you manually configured the power options in the BIOS or anything? And Welcome to the Forums.

 

[SmurofNeves]

Post the Model on your next post also give a bit more info on your System spec....

 

[thehitman123]

Thanks man

And yes I looked in BIOS and USB is set to v1.1/2.0

My bad, system specs are as follows

AMD X2 240 2.8 GHz
Crucial 4GB DDR2 RAM
Foxconn M61PMV Motherboad
Geforce 9600GSO
X Power 580w PSU

Also the seller stated they had green light so that's normal however they had
no volume issues..

Thanks

 

[fireberd]

As I noted since the seller says it's "OK" you need to try it on a different PC. If you don't have another PC, try it on a friend's PC to determine if it's working properly. You will never know for sure until you test it on another PC. If it doesn't work on a different PC then obviously the e-bay seller has sold you a defective device.

Behringer does not have a good reputation in the music world. It's known as a "low quality" line of equipment.

 

[thehitman123]

Yes I have an old Dell Dimension 5000, I will try on there

 

[thehitman123]

I have tried on another computer but same problem

 

[fireberd]

That would say that you were sold a "dud".

 

[thehitman123]

Yep even though the seller states it worked perfectly for them and it was fully tested before sending off lmao.

All I can do now is request Warranty information from Behringer and I have already sent them a question regarding this

 

[fireberd]

I would write it off as "lessons learned" and go buy a good brand USB mic such as a Shure or Samson. You will pay more but "you get what you pay for".

 

[thehitman123]

Lesson definitely learnt.. So what would you do with mic? I'm kind enough to not sell it to another victim..

Edit: I took a look at the USB cable and it has lots of words one of them being "30v", could this mean the cable isn't delivering the 48v required?

Nevermind I tried my pritner cable which said 150v and it didn't help, I guess these numbers on the cables meaning nothing..

 

[fireberd]

If Behringer will do something for you, go for it. Since you are not the original owner you may run into warranty problems. From what I hear from other musicians Behringer is tough to deal with and you will have to send it to them for warranty repair.

USB ports do not have 48VDC, they only have +5VDC. If the mic needs 48VDC it is converting it internally in the mic. 5VDC is standard for "computer mics" that use the standard mic port on a sound card.

 

[thehitman123]

If Behringer will do something for you, go for it. Since you are not the original owner you may run into warranty problems. From what I hear from other musicians Behringer is tough to deal with and you will have to send it to them for warranty repair.

Yep and I read on their website somewhere you have to pay for postage and packaging..

The seller has said they have a soundcard..it would definitely be worth investing in one but it is still a problem with the microphone if it doesn't work with onboard audio..as other USB microphones do not have the same issue whether it's with onboard audio or a soundcard

Edit: So how come the mic works perfectly for some people? Also how do other USB mics operate?
And so a soundcard won't help?

 

[Pantsless]

Hey,

I just bought a usb condenser mic yesterday (T.Bone SC440), which is in the same price range, and I also had the volume problem. The quality was good, but the volume was way too low.

As I'm not really a "microphone guy", I simply tried to change the settings everywhere, including the ones in the recording software. I'm NOT sure what did the trick but most likely it was the settings from control panel (using Windows7, 32 bit):
> start -> control panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Sound -> Recording -> select the USB mic as the Default Device, then try playing with the settings. I clicked the mic -> properties, and there are 2 important tabs:
- Levels (you can set recording levels higher)
- Advanced: I played with "Default Format". By changing the values there, I found one that fixed the problem (I think I selected 1 channel, 24bit, 44100Khz - can't remember as i dont have the mic plugged in atm - but I suggest you try them all). Hit Apply and Ok before you test it.

Now, if i set the recording volume to 100% it can even pick me up from a few meters (of course, it's not recommended to record like that). I'm using it at about 30% i think, and staying reasonably close to it while playing mah guitar =p (Using Audacity as a record and edit tool, works awesome).

PS: I know that what I said isn't exactly rocket science, and you probably already did this. I'm not trying to insult you with cheap advice, but I'm thinking it MIGHT help you, so worth a try.

Good luck!

 

[TheMave]

Other solutions for T.bone SC440

I was experiencing the same problem with T.bone SC440, but it didn't turn out to be
the fault of the microphone, but it turned out to be the fault of the generic USB microphone driver:

Although the slider for recording settings was at 100, the recording volume was low.

But after sliding that slider back to a lower value, testing, and then back to 100, the recording level was very good.