Hello. I need some help fixing this horrible audio quality issue. When I record from my AUX to USB, the audio quality is bad. Even when I plug the aux cable directly into my Mac computer, the issue isn’t fixed.
Here is an audio clip of what I’m talking about, recorded off the radio: https://up.metropol247.co.uk/112024/1730864048_1189715739.mp3
Does anyone know a solution to this?
Thanks for reading.
There’s nothing above 7kHz, (music should extend to >14kHz), and there’s some noise-reduction artifacts,
Changing it to 48000 doesn’t do anything
What exactly do you mean by “AUX to USB”? How are you plugging an “aux cable” directly into a Mac? What kind of radio are you recording from?
Please tell us the makes and models of the equipment you are using, including the Mac.
I’m using an ONN Aux to USB converter. The radio I’m using as a Sangean HDR-14, but I tried it with a different GPO radio and the audio still sucked. The Mac I’m using is a MacBook Air.
Changing them, there are two: the Audacity sample-rate and the USB device sample-rate.
I know where the USB device sample rate is set on Windows, but I don’t speak Mac.
The default computer setting is typically for VOIP: ≤7kHz bandwidth with noise/echo reduction, which is OK for speech, but not for music, or singing.
Are you sure that adapter is for audio input to the computer? The only ones I can find online are for connecting headphones.
Go to Apple (menu) > Settings > Sound then the Input tab. What options do you see there when the ONN device is plugged in?
How are you plugging the “aux cable” directly into the Mac?
This is how I have it plugged in. The device that I’m using is this: Robot or human?
This is what I see when I plug the adapter: https://northmountainfilms.neocities.org/Discord%20for%20files%20I%20can’t%20upload%20/Screenshot%202024-11-07%20at%206.25.25 PM.png
The “specs” for that device aren’t clear but it probably has connections for a headset with a microphone and headphones.
A line-level or headphone signal is about 100 times stronger than a microphone signal so you won’t get good quality.
You need a “USB audio interface” with line-level inputs. The Behringer UCA202 is popular and relatively inexpensive. (It has RCA connectors so you’d need a different adapter cable). There are lots of higher-end audio interfaces with switchable pro-microphone and line inputs (they don’t work with “computer mics”).
You can find some cheaper too, but don’t get a regular “USB soundcard” because they are like line inputs with only mic-in and headphone out.
Does the headphone jack on the Behringer UCA202 allow me to plug the cable into the device so I can record it on audacity?
Not on this occasion, they managed to make half-decent recording with their existing hardware, which has been degraded by VOIP-processing applied by the computer. That processing needs to be turned off to permit faithful recording, (wherever that is on a Mac).
Maybe there’s someone here that knows how to turn off this processing?
The Mac Sound Settings do not have any enhancements or processing built in. I’m told that Skype or other software may install something.
I agree. It sounds like gating.
Also, the recording level was really low. I had to Amplify by 24 dB to maximize the waveform.
What does the audio directly from the radio sound like?
I don’t have a better quality recording from the radio, but the actual audio was MUCH better than what I recorded.
Again: get a proper external USD “soundcard”. The thing you have is to get sound from the USB-C port of a phone to your headset. And it is not stereo (only mono).
Here is another recording I made on September 22 from WFMN (Supertalk Mississippi)
That sounds like a typical super-compressed FM broadcast. No glitches, no gating, full spectrum. What audio interface and radio did you use?
It was the Sangean HDR-14 plugged into my computer through the aux cord. No USB device.
