Hey everyone, I recently got an sm57 to be my catch-all mic after working with an unbranded chinese condenser for some years. I'm running it into a Bheringer UmC22 and I need to crank the gain to get a good level, but there is a lot of hiss coming out. I'm guessing the interface is the problem, right? What would be a good interface to run an Sm57 without noise? I'm guessing it would need great preamps

 

Why would you guess it is the interface, if you were using it with a different mic before you got the SM-57? Did the old microphone hiss too?

Maybe you just got your second chinese mic, and this one just happens to say SHURE on it? It could be quite a few things, even just your gain adjustments. Did you have phantom power enabled when you were using the condenser mic? You probably had to, and haven't switched it. Try turning it off, the sm-57 is dynamic and doesn't need it enabled.

 

Last edited: Sep 27, 2024

For Dynamic Mics I have been using this "preamp box" with no issues and finally got some much cleaner signals from dynamic mics without having to crank up the Interface on the Behringer preamp dials.

****h--ps://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869156549.html****


Alctron MA-2 Mic Amp Dual Channel

 

The 57 needs much more gain than the phantom powered condenser. I no longer need it as my RME UCX II has enough under the hood to boost a hungery dynamic, but I used a Triton Audio Fethead which gave me about perhaps 18 dB of clean gain when I used it. Something like that should cure the noise from that Behringer prosumer preamp.

This is the first review I came across. Good luck.

 

this sounds to me like a somewhat behringer shenaningans, cause their gain stage is not that long

 

I got the SM57 from Sweetwater, I don't think it's a fake. The other mix had a lot of hiss and noise too, but I used to think it was the mic. And yes I switched off phantom power

 

Thank you, I'll take a look. Wouldn't it be better to save up for a good interface instead of getting a preamp?

 

Sure it would, save up for something with better converters for sure...but until then...The Fethead is just basically a transformer but can tide you over so you can use your SM57 right now (if you can swing the cash). The 57 is a great, versatile mic and is used in every single professional studio in the world.

 

Did you disabled phantom power with SM57 plugged ?

 

Most Behringer interfaces have a button on each input for Line/Instrument and also a PAD button
Make sure if it's a mic to set to INS (for instrument) and see if hitting the PAD button settles down the hiss.

The UMC 22 does not have those buttons so most likely you having USB grounding noise coming into the Interface, in this case you may need a USB grounding isolator

A product similar to this



Be aware these things may add some latency. The best thing to do is what I was doing years ago using a DC to DC power isolator patched into the power leads on a USB cable. This is basically what guitar pedal guys are using to isolate ground loops from certain pesky pedals. This allows the interface to interact with the drivers without issues since all you are doing is isolating the power lines through a transformer and not touching the data lines.

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

What is your budget? That being said, if you just need a few inputs a used RME Babyface or even a UCX can be had for 300 bucks or less. They sound good and the RME drivers will be supported until the end of time.

 

Never mind.

 

Until the end of time,
Never Mind.

Endings are beginnings.