Should I get a pre amp?

[Bruce Hugo]

I have a large condenser mic and I'm using an old Tascam us-122. With the tascam turned up to max and phantom power on, the mic sounds ok 3 inches from my mouth but put it like a foot away and it picks up near to nothing. So, what's the cause of my problem? Would a mic amp fix the problem? is something broken?

Thanks in advance.

 

[oczdude8]

are you sure phantom power is on? if your sound cards really old, you should get a new one. It will certainly fix your sound issue, as new sound cards come with pretty decents amps

 

[makkem]

Hi
The Tascam is essentially a preamp.
That sound like either the phantom power voltage is low or the microphone is failing,is it possible to try the mic on something else.