Why is my microphone input so low?

[fishmonkey]

huh?

[jlgrimes]

Hello,

I don't have much technical knowledge although working on it!
I am playing around with Ableton and a microphone.
I understand the equipment is quite good quality but I don't understand why my microphone input signal is soooo low. After recording I can play the clip but the volume is very low, I have to add 'utility' with gain very high to reach the expected level (and it does not sound clean).

I use:
- Ableton
- Sound card: Steinberg UR22 (input 1, pot at 90% - going over adds background static dirty sound)
- Microphone: Sure SM58 'dynamic'

-> Maybe there is something missing in the chain or something to be configured in Ableton?

Thanks in advance.

Dynamic mics have fairly low output level compared to condensers. Most audio interface preamps only have about a 55 db gain range which is usually not enough for a dynamic or ribbon but perfect for a condenser.

There are signal boosters you can buy such as the Cloudlifter cl-1 which will boost your signal by 20-25 db which usually is enough.

Also keep in mind that you can usually get away with recording a low signal and boosting in the mix. If you are peaking between -30 to -20 dbfs on your recording turning it up in the mix shouldn’t be that much of an issue.