Can't hear my singer?

[oniman7]

I'm not sure if this is exactly the right forum, but it seemed to fit.

Anyways, I bought a vocal mic from a local guitar shop for $25. The cable that came with it has a mic out on one end, which plugs into the mic itself (if you get what I'm saying) and a 1/4" jack on the other end.

The first practice, we ran it into my bass amp. My amp's an Acoustic B200 with a 15 inch speaker and 200 watts of power. We had the amp at 9 with 7 gain, and we still couldn't hear her at all. There was also massive feedback when she let the line go slack, when she moved around too fast, got too close to any amp, etc. Never again will I do that. My bass was literally on the edge of 0 volume.

So the next practice my guitarist brought a Harbinger PA system. It's got a 4 channel mixing board with two 80 watt speakers. We plugged the mic in, and it was still really quiet. We had the line volume at 5 and master at 7. Any louder and we got hideous feedback squeals. At this point, we could barely make out about half her lines when she cupped her hands around the mic and brought it right next to her lips.

We also tried several other mics, although they were either cheap karaoke mics or a few from the video game Singstar. All had roughly the same effect. Is there a better kind of mic? Do we need to run her through an amp or power amp first?

 

[puddin tame]

your problem is that you spent $25 on a mic

 

[lowfreq33]

Get a Shure sm58.

 

[oniman7]

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I'm sad now. It just occurred to me to look up the mic I bought, and it';s listed at $34. I can't find any place charging more than $20 for it. That's what I get for buying out of the random used mic bin.

 

[39-Bassist]

SM58 would sound fine

 

[gumtown]

You get what you pay for, i wouldn't use a mic valued under $150, and your vocal P.A needs to be in the 150 watt range.

 

[oniman7]

Sm 58 is more expensive than I was looking for. I guess it's one of those necessary expenses, though, and I'm loving the reviews it's gotten. Before we go that far, though, I'm going to bring both the mic and my amp tomorrow and run it through the amp first to see if that works. Then we'll spring for the 58 when we need a good sounding one.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[oniman7]

We're a bunch of high school kids who have been meeting together for a little over a month now. Money doesn't come so easily our way.

On the other hand, the drummer's mom (aren't moms awesome?) offered to help buy whatever equipment we needed, and the two things we brought up were a PA system and a better microphone. Do we have to have a vocal PA? At the very least, most places we'd play should have their own vocal mics hooked up to sizable speakers, right?

 

[Muzoid]

It's the mic that's the issue.

I agree with SM58

Maybe see what Behringer has to offer

 

[MuzikMan]

You need your own microphones. No place that I know of in the small market supplies mics for the band (unless you are renting). You also need at least competent PA for vocals. You can't count on the venue having one and you need one for rehearsals anyway.

 

[Vege-mity-mite]

If the Acoustic B200 is a bass amp, I don't think an SM58 will work either (the mic level signal is 'quieter' than the bass output level).

You need to test the microphone with your PA system or one in the shop, or run the mic through a mic preamp.

 

[cableguy]

+1 on the Shure SM58 if you can afford it. Also beware of used mics. If they're dropped it can affect there performance. I would also look at Carvin. They have mics starting at $50.00 and small PAs for a good value. For practice a keyboard amp may work as well.

 

[Bufalo]

Is she singing loud enough? Before you go dropping money because people on the intarwebz told you to, make sure she's actually singing. Sometimes it's difficult the first time someone hears her own voice coming through speakers to really project and sing fully. If you're getting feedback, then you know at least the microphone and PA is working. Cupping her hands around the microphone will only serve to increase the feedback, and she should always be singing with her lips against it (or very close to it) to ensure everything she's singing is being picked up over the extraneous sound that's in the room when you're playing.

Where are you set up relative to the speakers? Are they behind the microphone or in front of it? There are lots of things that can be done to improve your current situation besides buying a new microphone.


Also, I think a Sennheiser e835 is a better choice than an SM58 for the same hundred bucks, but that's just me.

 

[hbarcat]

The problem is you are using a cable that is the wrong impedance for a microphone preamp. You say it has a 1/4 jack on the end like this:

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With this end, you're forced to use it as a line level source into an amplifier line-in (as you said you were doing with your Acoustic B200) This will make the microphone really quiet. Don't use it.

You need to have a cable that has two XLR ends (male on one end and female on the other).

Get a proper XLR cable:

They're typically about $10-$15 each. You can usually get them in 3 packs at a discount.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?c=4521



Of course this assumes you have a mixer with an XLR preamp to plug into. Your 4 channel Harbinger system with the mixer should be adequate.

 

[MIJ-VI]

OP, what's the exact make & model # of that $25 mic?

What's the model # of the Harbinger PA?

This info will allow us to look up specs and make the best $uggestion$.

 

[oniman7]

It's an Audio Spectrum AS-400

I don't know about the Harbinger. I don't have it with me.


The XLR cables are a great suggestion. The guy at the shop mentioned something baout impedance, but was clueless about it. The only problem is, during our after school practices, I can't bring my mixing board, and my guitarist most likely can't bring the PA. We'll have to come up with a better solution for those days. But at least we'll have something for our weekend practices.

 

[MIJ-VI]

It's an Audio Spectrum AS-400

I don't know about the Harbinger. I don't have it with me.


The XLR cables are a great suggestion. The guy at the shop mentioned something baout impedance, but was clueless about it. The only problem is, during our after school practices, I can't bring my mixing board, and my guitarist most likely can't bring the PA. We'll have to come up with a better solution for those days. But at least we'll have something for our weekend practices.

Is this the PA in question?

Harbinger HA80 Portable PA System
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If so then getting the proper XLR cable hbarcat suggested would be the next step.

As for using a low impedance XLR mic with a high impedance 1/4" music instrument amp? You'll need something like this:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Player's Choice XLR Female - 1/4" Male, Low Impedance to High Impedance Adapter / Transformer - SKCA316
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

BTW. I'm not familiar with any of these brands.

 

[Pacman]

Moved to Live Sound.

 

[hbarcat]

It's an Audio Spectrum AS-400

I don't know about the Harbinger. I don't have it with me.


The XLR cables are a great suggestion. The guy at the shop mentioned something baout impedance, but was clueless about it. The only problem is, during our after school practices, I can't bring my mixing board, and my guitarist most likely can't bring the PA. We'll have to come up with a better solution for those days. But at least we'll have something for our weekend practices.

If you can't use a proper mixer with a mic preamp then you're stuck using the 1/4" instrument input and you need an adapter.

MIJ-VI showed the adapter/transformer you need in post #17:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Player's Choice XLR Female - 1/4" Male, Low Impedance to High Impedance Adapter / Transformer - SKCA316
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]


It's not the ideal solution but it'll get you by with enough volume for your practices.