Low volume using UR12 with SM58 mic in Audacity

Steinberg Hardware UR Series
1

First-time Steinberg user.

I recently got a UR12 and paired it with a Shure SM58 mic. I’m trying Audacity for the first time, and I’m finding that I have to be way up on the mic (close to touching it) and have the gain cranked at least half way to start getting decent volume recorded. The gain has to put to near max to get me north of -12dB recording levels, even with me almost against it.

Meanwhile, I’ve seen plenty of videos where people are using the same mic but are talking casually 10-15 cm (4-6") away from it, and are crystal clear at a comfortable volume.

Any idea what’s happening? Is this something with the interface, or maybe how it handles a dynamic mic…? Could the mic itself be faulty? Is there audio somehow tweaked in post to bring it up that loud even with them that far away?

Any insights are appreciated.

2

It’s normal that you need to turn the gain knob up for a dynamic mic.

Check the input level in Audacity and also in Steinberg dspMixFX to make sure it’s you are not reducing the signal gain.

Maybe install Cubase AI that comes with the unit, it will be a bit easier to help troubleshoot, since this is the Steinberg forum.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the feedback. Wasn’t at all sure what Cubase AI even was, as the packaging insert just says Thanks for buying this hardware, here’s how you download the full version of Cubase AI.
That’s it.
Zero info about what that software is, so I figured I’d put it aside for the time being. But yeah, sounds like it may be handy.

Thanks again.

4

Certainly would be!