Hi everyone!

I bought an AT2020 over the weekend and am loving the quality of the sound it gives however, I'm sort of a newbie with these things and am still gettting a fair bit of hiss off the mic. For the record it's an AT2020 going through an Maudio USB Pre-amp. I've tried fiddling around with the levels, but turn it down low enough to get rid of the hiss and that's barely enough to hear yourself talk. Would investing in a windscreen for my mic fix all my problems, or is this something I'd have to deal with in post-production?

1. Soundproof your recording room as best as you can.

2. Set the level of the preamp to where you like it when someone is singing, use some compression to avoid clipping.

3. Get a noise gate, set the gate threshold high enough to where the hiss just stops when nobody is singing or performing into the mike. I usually tell the singer "Stand By, silence please" then lower the threshold until I hear some air hiss, and slowly raise it until it stops completely. (usually -25 to -35 db, but that depends on the situation)

EDIT: THe windscreen, or pop filter you refer to is to prevent plosives (the force of air caused by 'b' and 'p' )