Being in a closet surrounded by clothes on rails can reduce the reverb,
which is the sound that bounces off the walls/floor/ceiling & makes it back into the mic.
Yes, I understand what it’s for. I’m still not sure that I have that problem though, which was the real question in the post.
As I think I said up a bit, the studio treatment (closet with winter coats) will solve a problem you don’t have.
The muffled sound is going to take some work. Yes, my snowball experiments are not a study in crisp, clear sound. However. Yeti microphones are not without their problems.
There is a thing called the “Yeti Curse” where a poor USB connection produces noise that can get into your voice. Frying Mosquitoes and you can’t easily get rid of it In Real Life other than changing the computer.
We have a special effect filter to clear it in post production, but that means you will need to remember to apply the filter for every recording until the sun cools off.
The Yeti has other problems as well. It is crisp. It’s so crisp (how crisp is it?) it’s so crisp that many people use software to take some of the crispness out. That error is called “Essing.” Each “SS” SSound in your SSpeech iSS booSSted, we assume because it makes the microphone “more Professional.” It makes my ears hurt.
There are several forum postings about the best way to use DeEsser software.
Again, not getting my warn and fuzzy here, to borrow a Mac term.
Can you borrow or rent something? Note I’m dancing around recommending a microphone.
The last successful voice recording I did wasn’t on a computer microphone. It was with a stand-alone sound recorder.
All computer sound problems vanish. Poop, gone.
There are forum posters recording with Zoom H2, H4, H5, H1n, etc.
They are not a gift from the angels. You still have to know how to run them and then transfer the sound files to the computer for editing.
I did this in my quiet bedroom with a Zoom H1n. I applied simple audiobook mastering and got a sound clip which will pass ACX Technical Conformance. Nobody is going to pay to hear me, however. I’m not giving up the day job.
Koz
Your room reverb is not that bad, I’ve heard a lot worse.
What you’re saying is clear, but there are audible effects from reflections in the room.
The next improvement via processing is dynamic-range-compression.
Compression is going to make any reverb more obvious, so it’s best to minimize it if possible.
Step #1
Bass -6dB Treble +8dB
Step #2
RMS Normalize to -18dB
Step #3
Compress with LevelSpeech2.ny
Step #4
RMS Normalize to -18dB, (yes, again).
( Could incorporate all these steps into a Macro to make life easier )
BTW Snowball sensitivity pattern “1” is the best,
pattern “3” (omni) is more likely to pick up reverb from the room.
Yes, if we didn’t cover this before. Position one of the little switch on the back is for normal presentations primarily in front of the Blue name. Position 2 is also directional, but intentionally reducing the volume of the microphone in the event you decide to play your trumpet instead of speaking. This is intended to reduce the chance of overload or distortion.
Position 3 is omni-directional. Receive sound from all directions. I’ve been known to use that pattern for interviews where the quality of sound isn’t as important as getting everybody around a table into the show. That one is a complete slave to reflections and echoes from the walls.
Record outside. Make a test recording outside, away from walls and buildings. If your muffled sound is still there, it’s not the room.
Koz
is there another affordable mic that does a better job?
A word about that. Be leery of insanely cheap microphones that use the words “Broadcast,” “Studio,” “Recording,” or “Professional” in the description.
Here’s one that uses all of them.
If you tote up the prices of all the included accessories, they work out to the package price…which means the microphone is free.
And it’s appropriate. It’s a terrible microphone. Recordings made with it are non-recoverable. It’s a Hollywood Microphone. Great to look at but doesn’t work. That gold color looks really good on camera.
There’s another fuzzy rule. Everybody with a pulse is trying to record for voice-over and audiobooks, so all the cheap microphone makers came out of the woodwork with affordable microphones. The Yeti isn’t the only one with strident SS sounds needing correcting to make them presentable.
Koz