Again, I can’t hear the problem, but if the show is completely silent when you are, then it could be a defective microphone.
Condenser microphones work by having two very thin strips of metalized plastic (sometimes real metal) close to each other with voltage on them. If you vibrate either or both strips with your voice, the voltage will change and can be turned into a sound signal. It’s a delicate system. Anything that damages or restricts the motion of the strips will be heard loudly in the show. Butterfly wings are strong and robust compared to these strips.
It’s pretty much the exact opposite of a dynamic (moving coil) microphone. Those can be used to pound nails and record rock concerts.
Can you try it on a different computer?
Koz
Koz, thanks, it seems to happen mainly when i’m speaking. Sometimes i have 20 seconds of silence in the recording and in there is no disturbance whatsoever.
I had thought the annoying sounds would be obvious from the examples. But if they are not so obvious to you, they might not be so obvios to the audience and i shouldn’t fret so much.
No, i haven’t tried so far another laptop. But i will do so in about a week and report back here. I have a half-broken one with Win XP which had already done Audacity recordings some time ago. I think i can re-activate it.
I will also try the wine glass test.
i had the chance to try recording with Adobe Audition on the same computer in the same room, but the sound was tinny and i got hiss (maybe did something wrong).
Since this is a mystery so far, maybe that’s something to follow. You have a known, good software program other than Audacity that refuses to work with your microphone.
Koz
Koz, thanks for pointing out the delicate nature of condensor microphones (and my Blue Yeti is a condensor microphone). I wasn’t at all aware of this (esp as from outside this model looks so robust, and it is so heavy). Well i had carried it around quite a bit (without being obviously rude). The next session will be on a different laptop if somehow possible and i will report back here.
without being obviously rude
That’s the key. The makers know how delicate the strips are and they take steps to make sure casual, normal use isn’t likely to break anything.
Don’t take one out in the wind. Drop it into a plastic bag and roll it up or fold it in a scarf.
There are a lot of Yetis out there. “Everybody Knows” you need to announce your AudioBook into a Yeti. Put enough Yeti’s out there and eventually a manufacturing defect is going to be shipped. I can’t hear the problem, so chances are Blue Quality Control couldn’t hear it, either.
Anyway, yes, try a different computer.
Also another note. Make sure the bad sound is at the same time every time you play the clip.
Koz
Koz, thanks again. I had tried about ten different microphones, each between 70 and 250 USD, and found that for me the Yeti was the most useful (sound, variances over recording time).
I am still surprised you can’t hear the clicks (or “plops”) in the most recent examples i uploaded. I listened to the files out of this forum and the funny sounds were clearly there, especially in the examples named “strong”.
Anyway, i will report back here when i tried a different computer.
Give us a time stamp. “Listen for the plop at five seconds.”
Also longer clips would be good. You should be able to go to ten seconds or slightly more.
We’re not used to your voice and we don’t speak the language. Everything sounds strange.
Koz
Koz, well if you’re not used to the voice and the language, i thought maybe you could even more concentrate on the issue at hand, the funny plops?
Anyway, I cannot prepare longer samples right now (had adhered to the instruction to not go over 8 sec). Here are the plop moments in the most recent samples (middle of page 2):
Weird Click Sound Strong 2:
1.47 + 2.10 (high plop, low plop)
Weird Click Sound Strong ((not numbered)):
0.22
((below Audition screenshot with marker exactly at this plop, please scroll to bottom of screenshot))
Weird Click Sound 3:
0.3
((high “needling” sound))
had adhered to the instruction to not go over 8 sec
Perfectly correct, but that’s 8 seconds including the two second silent stretch at the beginning. Apparently, the noise ignores silent stretches, so you don’t have to include them. You can also go a bit over. The forum will refuse to post anything it thinks is too long.
Is that the wine glass? That’s fascinating. No, that’s not supposed to be there, unless that’s where you rapped the glass with your knuckle, and even then you should get a muffled thunk, not harsh sound which is what that looks like.
If somebody was writing me checks to do this, I would be dividing the system in half and see which half still has the problem. Then divide again. In your case: Change the computer. Then change the cable. Change the computer and the cable.
Digital problems can build on each other. The microphone, cable and computer all work perfectly by themselves, but you can’t use them in the same system. Those are the very best problems.
The microphone maker is after the cheapest possible product, so they leave out power processing and filtering. “We’ll depend on the USB power being clean.”
The computer maker is after the cheapest possible product, so they leave out the USB power filtering and processing. “USB Keyboards and Mice are not going to care.”
The cable maker is after the cheapest possible product, so they leave out the expensive shielding and bonding.
How long is the USB cable? USB cables can run into performance issues at lengths much over about 1M (3’).
Koz
Koz, i don’t think any of my samples started with 2 sec of silence.
Is that the wine glass?
You mean the screenshot? No, it’s from a voiceover sample, showing almost only the funny plop.
Yes, the USB cable is over one meter long, perhaps 1,5. I forgot to replace it last time (if i even have a replacement). Apart from changing the computer, i need to change the cable too in a test.
Thanks for your suggestions!
Many USB microphones use a USB A to B cable which is the same cable on many printers. I know the Snowball does this. You can use that as a substitute for testing. I don’t remember if I posted this or not, but we’re looking for the ability to change the problem on command, better or worse.
Koz
Hello, now i made recordings with another laptop (Win XP), but everything else as usual, and got just the same weird click sounds as before (examples above). Perhaps they are slightly less obtrusive, but i can’t say for sure.
Now that all the software settings have been optimized (see above) and a second laptop has been tried, but nothing helped, it is perhaps the microphone causing the click sounds.
Maybe i do have to order another microphone and see what happens. I need to find one that’s about like the Blue Yeti, i like that apart from the click sound (and it landed on #1 in my personal physical test of about 10 microphones). There is wide and far no other serious microphone i could borrow.
Then again, so far i did not change the USB cable.
Yetis and (and Snowballs) don’t work for everybody. You are replacing, in one package, a separate analog microphone, preamplifier and digitizer. Those tend to be universal, they work for everybody and that’s the configuration recommended by ACX AudioBook. The Yeti is an abbreviation. USB Turntables and cassette machines are abbreviations, too, and they don’t work for everybody, either.
Like I posted, you can have problems where everybody takes a little manufacturing shortcut at the same time and the combination leads to serious sound problems.
Koz
Hi, OP again. As described above and discussed here, i had the funny click sounds (usually removable) in my voice-overs when using the Blue Yeti microphone with a variety of softwares, laptops, rooms and cables. After many tests, the microphone seemed to be the problem, not laptop, cable or recording software.
Now i had to record 8 short new voice-overs. I did some voice-overs with the perhaps problematic Blue Yeti (120 USD) and some with the Rode NT-USB (170 USD) (both on a laptop running on batteries and with little computing business in the background) and i compared the results while extensively editing the audio (removing breathers + click sounds) and then combining audio and video.
Result: The newly tested, more expensive Rode NT-USB creates click sounds as well – maybe less, maybe a little different. Generally the Rode sounds a tad better (defined) than the Blue Yeti, with more treble perhaps, but my customers certainly won’t notice that.
I now have to wonder if my mouth produces the click sounds. I find that very unlikely, but have no other idea. I’m also unsure weather to return the Rode NT-USB or not, as it does not rid me of the clicks, even though it does sound a tad nicer.
I now have to wonder if my mouth produces the click sounds.
Unplug everything and record on your laptop built-in microphone. Those can have serious problems, but clicking isn’t generally one of them.
Koz