How do I eliminate line noise ("buzzing") on my mic connected to my PC?

Question

Hello, I have a Dell Inspiron 530 and I stream music to the internet via a program called SAM by Spacial Audio.

I bought an 24-bit Multi-Engine Effects Processor made by Behringer to connect between my MIC and the computer so I could get some nice voice effects.

Well when I connect it I get a lot of line noise, "buzzing" if you will. How do I get rid of that?

I have made sure the processor is grounded, and using the same power strip the my PC uses. I even tried going to "LINE IN" instend of "MIC". I still get noice.

Well, I have mic boost on yes, +20db, I did that because the volume is too low when I broadcast. I wear headphones when I broadcast so mic to close to speakers is a non issue. I get the feedback as soon as I connect the effects processor, even if I unplug my mic from the processor. Even of the processor unit is powered off. I feel that it is a grounding issue.

Ok, I get what is said about the pre-amp, but I still get noise/feedback connected to "line-in" and I don't even have the mic connected, just the effects processor. Could is be the quality of the cable I am using from the processor to the PC? I am going 1/4 - 3.5MM. It was an $12 cable I got when I bought the processor unit.

Answer 1

You need a pre-amp between your mic and effects processor, which should then be connected to "line in". (** EDIT **) The fact that you need "mic boost" turned on, sort of confirms this.

Effects processors have a high noise floor. This is not normally a problem, because they expect a good strong signal from a mixer's AUX SEND and will put out as strong a signal as they receive (but a little distorted, which is on purpose, and with noise added, which is by accident). Your microphone signal is too weak to overcome this noise floor. The sound card's MIC input is amplifying the noise generated by the effects processor. When you use the LINE IN input, you have to turn up the gain to see the signal from the mic -- and again, you get the amplified noise. The only cure is to amplify the signal from the microphone, so it is much stronger than the noise generated by the FX processor.

(** EDIT **) It certainly could be cable-related. Is the FX processor's output balanced or unbalanced? Mono or stereo?

Take the FX processor back to the store and have them test it. If it is not faulty, then investigate the cable.

HOW TO WIRE IT UP: Use shielded cable for all connections. The outer braid must be connected to the common contact (i.e. the remainder of the plug barrel).

All common sound card LINE IN sockets are 3.5mm. 3-conductor jacks, wired as unbalanced stereo. The tip is the left signal and the ring is the right signal. (Some high-end professional equipment has balanced inputs.) Sound card MIC inputs are 3.5mm. 3-conductor jacks with the tip being the signal (mono -- it gets fed to both channels) and the middle being connected to +5V via a resistor (to supply power to a condenser mic). They may be filtered to reject frequencies outside the range of the human voice. It's best to avoid connecting anything but a cheap mic to this type of input.

BALANCED v. UNBALANCED: A balanced line (common on high-end audio equipment) uses both a positive-going signal and a negative-going signal. Any noise picked up will (hopefully) be added to both sides equally. When connected to a balanced input, the negative-going signal plus noise is subtracted from the positive-going signal plus noise, and the noise cancels out. When connecting a balanced output to an unbalanced input, you have to ignore one of the signals. Convention says use the positive-going signal, just because that is on the tip of a jack plug. When connecting an unbalanced output to a balanced input, you have to connect one of the inputs to ground (ideally through a resistance equal to the impedance of the unbalanced source, but in practice a dead short will do.) This will happen automatically when a 2-conductor plug is inserted into a 3-conductor jack.

The output of your FX processor may be presented in various ways:

BALANCED STEREO: 2 * 6.3mm. / 3-conductor sockets. Tip is positive-going signal, middle is negative-going signal. Connect the tip of the left 6.3mm. plug to the tip of the 3.5mm. plug and the tip of the right 6.3mm. plug to the middle of the 3.5mm. plug. Leave the middles of the 6.3mm. plugs unconnected.

UNBALANCED STEREO: 2 * 6.3mm. / 2-conductor sockets. Connect the tip of the left 6.3mm. plug to the tip of the 3.5mm. plug and the tip of the right 6.3mm. plug to the middle of the 3.5mm. plug. NOTE: A 3 conductor plug will fit a 2 conductor socket, leaving the middle conductor unconnected; so the same lead could be used for balanced or unbalanced.

UNBALANCED STEREO, ALTERNATIVE: 1 * 6.3mm. / 3-conductor socket. Tip is left signal, middle is right signal. Connect like-to-like: tip to tip and middle to middle.

BALANCED MONO: 1 * 6.3mm. / 3-conductor socket. Tip is positive-going signal, middle is negative-going signal. Connect the tip of the 6.3mm. plug to both the tip and middle of the 3.5mm. plug. Leave the middle of the 6.3mm. plug unconnected.

UNBALANCED MONO: 1 * 6.3mm. / 2-conductor socket. Connect the tip of the 6.3mm. plug to both the tip and middle of the 3.5mm. plug.

Answer 2

You might have mic boost on, this sometimes make those buzzing sounds.
If you're using Windows XP:
Click Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices.
Click the "Audio" tab, Under the "Sound Recording" section, click "Advanced" then uncheck the checkbox which states of the mic boost.

Answer 3

Its called "feed Back" U have to many hertz that run on the same frequency or are to close together. Or
The mic you bought could be to powerful for the program. It has a noise filter or volume reducer. Again it all comes down to hertz conflicting or frequencies conflicting....same thing. Talk to the guys at Radioshack. you've got questions, they've got answers.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

your mic may be to close to the computer speakers