I love Neumann... I've used mostly all Neumann mics... I love the silk soft high end.. I've owned U47's U67's, U69's. U87's, TLM 102 and 103's (All matched pairs). And we had bunches more in the studio where I worked... I recognize anything recorded with a Neumann... Congrats on the partnership.. It's a good one!

Congrats on the partnership with Neumann. That's a heavy hitter company.

My noise problem isn’t inside the room, it’s outside, random noises like birds, sirens, motor cars. Condenser mics pick it all up, dynamics I get away with.

Yes, this is ALL very important, especially the avoidance of digital clipping, because especially to an audiophile ear, that sound is extremely harsh and "grating", sometimes even rather painful to listen to, even for a split second! (Not to mention it's also terrible for your speakers, especially the tweeters!) Unfortunately though, many, maybe even most average everyday people, and even some less experienced "sound engineers" don't even REALLY know what digital clipping even sounds like, either because they haven't been taught what exact sound to listen for AND avoid, or else they just simply don't pay enough attention to the overall music or sound to even notice OR care in the first place! It really almost seems like a "lost art" nowadays in many modern recordings, to actually listen for AND AVOID digital distortion and clipping, because I hear it more and more often in many modern recordings, especially any of the ones who have been an unfortunate result of the "loudness wars", especially among more popular and mainstream music!... It's really actually kinda sad, that more recording engineers DON'T seem to pay enough attention to digital distortion and clipping, because it can pretty much totally ruin an otherwise amazing recording and/or music artist in any specific song(s) that have digital clipping in them, songs that, if it wasn't for the extreme levels of distortion, oftentimes even to a level of masking or totally destroying the clarity of the lyrics of the song itself, would otherwise be an absolutely amazing and awesomely beautiful track or song!... One example of that very unfortunate result of extreme distortion in the vocals is on the Billie Eilish album "When we all fall asleep, Where do we go?" I was thoroughly appalled by the audio quality in some of the songs on this album, and IF only it had been mastered better, with more attention to clarity, and watching the levels of extreme bass vs. the vocals, and NOT allowing all of the rather extreme digital clipping distortion to totally destroy her vocals in many spots, this album definitely COULD have been really awesome, because of her raw vocals and lyrics and unique music stylings, however, I personally just remember that album mainly as being one of the absolute WORST SOUND QUALITY albums I've EVER heard in my life, even though in every OTHER way, I really liked it! After hearing that album in it's entirety, I was just thinking to myself; "Damn, what a shame! If only it wasn't for that annoying extreme distortion in certain parts, this would be an absolutely awesome and amazing album!" It almost even makes me think that Finneas and/or Billie decided to make it sound that way ON PURPOSE, JUST to be "extreme" or "different" from the norm... But I still haven't heard about or found any conclusive evidence to that point, one way or another... And I would certainly like to believe that an otherwise quite good artist like her (and especially her brother/producer/Finneas!), knows better than to let the recording get saturated in the way that album experiences, but I'm not sure about that either... I guess IF I ever get to meet her in person then I can and probably will ask her about all that, but otherwise I can just hope for better sound quality from her in any of her future albums she may come out with!

man i hope streamers and tubers find your video, as a consumer i have experience so much bad audio quality on mainly noticable on voices. your video sounds so much better as the majoirty of video's i watch

Slightly off topic question here - Recently I have heard of a recording method using two microphones attached to each other, but pointing in opposite directions in order to eliminate all noise coming from more than two feet away or so. It was called differential microphone. I would like to learn about that and I know no way other than intruding here ….

About mic positioning, what I learn by experience through the years is, if you deal with for example a kick, the wavelength in the air will easily reach 1 meter. So bringing your mic at the wider amplitude zone is very different than at a node. Therefore, it's not really by positioning a mic closer to the source that can reduce noise, but at the max amplitude of the wavelength of the source. Then you don't have to push the gain really high for a great input resulting in a low noise capture.

Great video! Timingly, I am exploring in miking my Boss Katana mk2 100 solid state amp. I'm using Shure SM57 and connect it to my Behringer UMC404HD audio interface. I hear the noise when I'm pushing the gain knob of the audio interface at around 3 o'clock. If I back it down to 12nn, the noise isn't there but the signal suffers. Meaning, I'm getting low output from my amplifier to SM57. In this case, I tried gain staging the SM57 at around 1 to 2 o'clock and adjusting the volume of my amp and specific volumes/level of my overdrive pedals, until I can no long hear the noise or if I hear it in the mix, I can onlt hear it on the quiet parts of the track, which can be cut in editing from time to time. Also good to note that my small modest home studio isn't acoustically treated.

Concise as always thanks!

Audio University - the best place to learn professional audio on the internet!

Well explained. Most of my recordings are outside a studio (like audio for my videos) and since I normally want to record accurately what's heard in real life as possible - background "noise" isn't a problem in most cases. But the importance of the noise floor of the recording device it self (the last step) shouldn't be underestimated for such recordings For highly dynamic sounds like fireworks, hammer strikes in a quiet environment or for example just a loud vehicle in a quiet environment where it start out close, then is recorded until it's so far away that the sound falls below the environment (where the gain is set low enough for the peaks to not clip while still getting all the quiet echoes and sounds from the environment without getting bothered by hiss from the AD-converter and/or analog circuitry of the recoding device it self), just the difference between a noise floor at for example -100 dB and -110 dB can be significant. Same applies for 16 bit vs 24 bit. Also electrical noise has been quite a bit of a challange as many of my recordings are in environements, such as close to power lines (mostly railway power lines when filming trains), high magnetic fields and (what have given me most head ache) somewhere with a cell phone base station nearby. Balanced inputs doesn't help very well against noise caused by pulsating microwaves from those either - it do help against relatively low frequency electric and magnetic noise, such as that coming from power lines - but for microwave problems (usually in the GHz range) the cable just act as the antenna and the part where it get modulated into unwanted audio, is in the microphone capsulea or audio circuitry it self (which act as a reciever). For example the small FET transistor used in condenser mics tend to modulate pulsating microwave signals into an audio signal. The only thing that helps angainst this, is heavy shielding of particularly the contacts and where the cables enter the microphone capsule/casing. Lucky for me, I have also built both my microphones my self (using Proimo EM273 capsules) and my preamp (I using the ADA4004-2 and a custom built DC/DC-converter to get dual voltage - so I can run it on just a 9 V battery) I finally managed to get rid of the problem using copper tape and aluminium foil in the right places. Thise one is pretty much impossible to get rid of, if not building or modifying the recording gear your self and I have heard that characteristic noise many times on other peoples recordings and even on stuff they record on TV

Well, I think for this information about noise. I am saving this to listen again. I truly understand why using cables of a quality cost is important. Have a great day.

We have a pair of KH310's and we *love* every moment we work with them !

I have the SM7DB with a Mogami platinum cable and a solid-state logic audio interface. The preamps on that audio interface are OK. I love the platinum mogami cable because it has literally no noise at all. Just got the cable today and I was so shocked when I listened to the recording and there was no hissing at all at least not from the cable.

Excellent thank you!

The part of the article you didn’t read says:buy the microphone that fits your budget!! Unless we’re talking harmonic distortion in for example a ribbon mic ; The electrical self noise (aka noise floor) produced by both condenser and dynamic mics will be no where near the volume level of the source material and the room noise combined. If the self noise is louder you either have a lemon or you’re recording a lemon. And if you’re trying to capture room tone, don’t. what’s in the box will sound 10 times better and cost 11 times less than the room tone you’re going to record in. If you gain the mic up to the source and you can see room tone in the waveform, the source is too quiet, probably get the mic closer . If you gain the mic up to the source and hear the noise floor, someone sold you a faulty mic, get your money back

you always be helping the most bro 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

That same form of common mode protection is used in automotive communication circuits. Modules talk to each other on two wires, typically wound together, with opposite polarity. Interestingly they have a 120 ohm resistor at each end, so you can check circuit integrity with an ohmeter by showing the parallel resistance between lines is 60 ohms.

great content!

Great video as always. Like that you touched on dynamic range being one of the factors that determine the quality of a converter. Assessing the quality of different converters is very mysterious to me. I would love to see a video where you explain all the factors that go into what makes one converter better than another and how to read and interpret those specs, e.g. why is Lynx's conversion better than an Apollo's and an Apollo' better than a Scarlett's? PS Everyone get off his back about the Neumann sponsorship! It's still super thorough, high quality, and reliable free information and he deserves to make a living from the benefit he is providing to so many people! No other channel I am aware of that has this high quality of information. Neumann is a great company and he wouldnt be saying that stuff about their mics and interface if it wasnt true

Very informative! Thank you! Here’s a quandary I’ve been wondering lately, why do some boards have unbalanced ports? Shouldn’t everything be balanced? Is it just a cost thing? Is there any advantage to unbalanced besides saving a buck?

Check this one for a really quiet microphone: "GRAS 40HF 1'' Lownoise Microphone System"

The magic thing to remember in sound to get good quality recordings is phase.

I only have 3 mics but get by just fine with them for my simple aduio needs 😊

Yet, in lo-fi hip hop these noise is desireable. At least tasteful amount of them

I was missing a description of dithering, as this can seriously affect the perceived noise .... ?

i made my purchase of a dynamic mic because of that "myth" that it's better for noisy/echoey rooms, as well as being passive.

my room has a bit of reflection, I want to get closer to the mic but I already have a naturally boomy voice and the closer I get, proximity effect exaggerates that boomyness and it doesn't sound right scooping out alot of low mids. waves clarity dereverb is pretty great but are there any other more natural solutions?

Wow! I know you set up front that this video was sponsored by Neumann, but I didn't realize that the whole video was simply going to be an advertisement for their products.

you really had to use lo-fi hip hop with artificial vinyl noise added in for the background music in a video about minimizing the noise floor huh

Thanks for the tutorial 🎉🎉🎉 but please you Can make a tutorial on the mixing vocal in DaVinci résolve please 🎉🎉🎉

You mention "long" cables a few times and I assume signal degradation is worse with a weaker signal. So from a practical view, when is a cable considered "long" in a mic / line / speaker connection? 1, 3, 5 meters as a typical (home) studio situation? 10-50 or more meters on a stage? I understand this depends from many factors, so the answer can´t be super precise. But from a practical point of view and your experience?

Sorry to ask, but you said 3dB is a doubling of power. I learned that a 6dB increase is a doubling in power... Or did I misunderstand what you said?

I have my whole band recording setup in my basement and even with the furnace, the washer and dryer, and a dehumidifier I still dont have any issue with noise. Lucky I guess.

Hey Kyle, technical info spot on as always. I do hope you're not going to become too wrapped up in the sponsorship thing though... it introduces suspicions of bias?

Would a USB Condenser mic have the same noise level as an XLR?

Decent basic info wrapped in a Neumann ad. Pretty much if your gear is reasonable., even most budget stuff is really good lately, and you don't do something stupid with your gainstaging your gear really shouldn't be giving noise issues. It really comes down to your room and like the video says close mic'ing certainly can help a lot with that. Most audio interfaces have very decent micpreamps and digital conversion, just be careful of small handheld recorders as many still have fairly lousy micpreamps that can introduce noise especially with dynamic mics when uses on quiet or distant sources.

Little bit of a joke that you talk about room noise while using a tlm 2 which picks up every little sound in a 1 km radius😂

Shalom Thank you this was so helpful ,Yah bless

...and it is NOT a myth that dynamic mics are better in noisy rooms than condenser ones. In mere practice it is so. If you go deep in scientifically, yes, then you can say it is not so straightforward. Otherwise, generally it is true.

(full disclosure i am a guy on the internet) Its interesting how we've seen a shift in advertising to be from so heavily sponsor focused, to an independant reviewers opinion and word of mouth, for better and worse. Now we think that any amount of money you have tied into something illegitimizes your opinion, which as we all know can be true, however inversely especially for more humble internet personalities (such as this channel), staking your income to a relevant source isn't actually a bad thing. We try to separate bias from advertising but in actuality i personally want a specific persons bias or opinion, that is whenever they aren't a paid actor who's reading a horribly out of touch script in a poor attempt for marketing. Essentially, i'm not against sponsorships or marketing, i'm dissinterested in lousy ones, and the top dogs in these fields like google for example are there not because they're quality, but rather because they've bent their way into profits (often shadily but even that being aside), the big dog isn't necessarily the skilled... Dog? And so of course everything influences us, which isn't necessarily bad it just can be weaponized, but unsure of the sponsor i certainly do appreciate the pitch, its relevant and presented in a good way in my opinion... I uhh... Don't normally don't say these things at all... And i think i'm rambling... But nevertheless those are my thoughts that are irrelevant 😛

there is a difference btw reducti ad absurdi and myth. the dynamic=better for bad rooms thing is right except and yes in a million usecases there will be 3 where this is not true and two of them are rooted in the fact somebody wants to break out of usual. in 99%the cases the person mixing(is beginner) the person performing(also beginner) is the same person. a mic that fits without use of EQ will take one of the tasks from that person and from the cpu. if i take a joe and make him perform multiple dubs in a mic and then save and export the file, he will have way less problems with a dynamic. and yes, its more complicated but when one understands how much more complex it is, he no longer needs that crutch, while, tbh, most times i dont see any significant benefit from the condensor and the "easieness of mixing" makes the performinhg also more fun and i am more flowing and creating. it´s an provonking statement at best, a good meant starterhelp in my view but not a myth. youtubers buy condensors and then make "Not amping keyboard clicking" a qualityaspect. thats like using a flamethrower for lighting a cig and "not melting in the face" is now aspect of a good flamethrower. no ft is for burning and lighter is for precision to avoid burning. and not start about the aspect of holding a mic for the vocalist and the proximity effect. a dynamic mic is an instrument itself if used right and of course you can manipulate a condensir creativly like recording backings behind the mic to make em duller but really good lifevocalists still use only handheld dynamics. like you need a manual car for rallly. the act of shifting yourself makes you more precise in shifting.

Wow

8:45 no, six

isn't 6dB = twice as much?

"This" destroyed all my things

And don't record soft acoustic guitar parts with the flu, unless you want labored breathing in your mix.

My room sounds like a hall and i record with blankets 🫣

Looks like a Neumann advertisement..

My advice to new audio engineers is to let the music’s dynamic range breathe and avoid participating in the Loudness War

By far the longest Neumann marketing commercial I've seen... Nothing to see here

You’re talking about reducing noise using a microphone that doesn’t even come with a shockmount.

advert

What about active and passive DI boxes? Dont they clean the signal and reduce noise? And how about Noise gate pedals? dont they reduce noise as well? This just seems like a neuman ad.

This is too much of an ad for Neumann, however good they may be.

You've become a salesman..

Cheers.

I used to enjoy your channel for the useful, unbiased information you provided. It's too bad that you decided to go down the sponsorship rabbit hole and your channel has just become a rolling commercial☹️

Good video although I didn’t particularly connect with the Neumann sales pitch. I am betting that 90% of your viewers’ wallets won’t connect either. Just sayin’.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Zzzzzz. Neumann makes AD’d Well Neumann ain’t even Neumann anymore. People buy cuz they heard the name. IMO all BS except for the new M49V Those TLM 102s and 103s are awful. The glory days of U47’s, M(50s, SM69s KM 53/5;4, 56s is long gone.