Record input meter display and noise level

[Nnud]

I 'm using a KSM 32 condenser mic through the Mbox and no matter how I try to create silence in the room for a vocal record, I still register some noise on the track--If I turn down the imputs or preamp then I have to stand way too close to the mic for any kind of style of singing --should be at least a foot away more like two

should I be using a different mic, less sensitive?

even instruments are a problem although acoustic guitars seem to sound good mic'd closely.

This is a home studio, not completely ideal but not too bad and I have an acoustic recording project I'd like to get really clean for the mix.

I tried the noise filtering plug-in that came with PT6.7 seemed better but I am still registering some sounds--how fanatical should I be about what I see on the input meters if I really want clean tracks for the mix?

[Realizm]

Ideally, you would want to have some sort of isolation happening. I don't know the logistics of your room but it's entirely possible to set something up like a gobo or two. Do you have an air conditioning unit running? Do you live in a relatively quiet neighborhood?? Are you hearing the fans of your PC or external drives possibly?? Noise sucks. Best to eliminate as much of it as possible. The type of music you're recording may also determine how detrimental to the mix the noise will be...Meaning, if you're recording electronics i.e. VSTi, or MIDI instruments, there'll be no noise on those tracks. But if you plan on mic'ing guitar cabinets, or recording acoustic guitar, (or acoustic anything for that matter) every track is going to have that noise on it. And it's going to be a cumulative, messy affair. It's possible to gate it out provided the dynamics of the performance allows. Don't forget tho, if you plan on compressing any of those noisy tracks, what was once masked noise will be less so.

Additionally, 6" to 1 foot distance for recording vox should be fine with your gain adjusted correctly. I mean, two feet? That's kind of far away from a mic and consider that your "space" is not optimal for recording, you're going to get alot of "room" sound. That's something you don't really want on your vocal takes if you can avoid it.

How fanatical should you be? Well, how much of a fanatic are you?

[audiocase]

I dont think you should get rid of your mic just yet,as you'll be facing same problem with a different brand.
Assuming you've isolated or reduced home studio noise pollutants like computer fans e.t.c,

SETTING UP A TEMPORARY DUVET BOOTH
heres the trick: set your mic stand( with mic upside down and a pillow taped to the back of the the stand i.e. shielding the back of the mic.Then set up a triangular booth with thick duvets hanging on the walls(forming a triangle) creating an open both against the walls-so that the vocalist is standing in the booth facing the direction of the noise source.

In addition,try a high pass filter at 85-90 hz to help reduce some of the traffic/background noise.Also, an Expander's Threshold can be set above the level of the background noise.The expander will then raise the volume of everything above the Threshold,but won't change anything below the
Threshold, thereby lowering the perceived background noise.

And no, you shouldnt stand more then 8 inches away from the mic.

Hope this helps.

[Nnud]

Thanks to both replies for just what I needed to hear...didn't know about the Expander Threshold idea and I was hoping it was the way I was treating the mic situation. I did try, in the meantime, sticking the mic with it's back against a closet full of clothing and that helped so I think I will work on the duvet idea and get closer to the mic. So, in this case I would say no noise is good noise. There will be mostly acoustic tracks on each tune for this project. Thanks for the advice.