Just today I purchased this mic, but I’m having some trouble with it.
My desktop pc produces a lot of noise due to the fans and my keyboard/mouse are pretty loud and so there is a lot of background noise.
This normally works fine when I do noise removal with other mics. However, during a recent recording, my voice sounded really quiet and after noise removal it sounded tinny and low quality.
Original Recording: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1gnWOjZRy7Q
Edited Recording: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1LPJg9hwmhd (these are both small snippets of the 17minute recording)
I know that I can get a much better quality with the mic but I’m not exactly a professional when it comes to these things. I had bought the yeti after reading a lot of online reviews.
You won’t get that kind of quality live or streaming, but it’s not that hard after post production.
What’s the machine? Which operating system? Which Audacity, usually Help > About? Don’t guess or abbreviate the numbers. The full version numbers are important.
After some extra testing I have lowered the background noise by placing the mic on a mouse mat, although you can still hear the fans and my keyboard/mouse. If I turn the gain all the way down then speak really close to the mic it helps a little but at the same time a nuisance when doing live commentaries as I normally do.
I have a pop filter attached - LD Systems D910.
However, my one main concern is the environment in which I record. It’s a small room with rough surfaced walls and this might be the reason for the tinny sound.
Would it really be worth it to purchase some acoustic foam and cover some of the door and the wall opposite the mic?
Ah, sorry, forgot to give feedback on the clip.
It sounded a little better although I’m trying to achieve that clear sound that a lot of youtubers get even when distanced from the microphone.
I have updated audacity to the latest release.
If worse comes to worst I will have to scrap this recording and make a new one.
during a recent recording, my voice sounded really quiet and after noise removal it sounded tinny and low quality.
So that’s where you recorded a whole show in the original quality, right? Noise Removal in earlier versions was not anything to call the newspapers about. Noise Reduction in 2.1.0 is much improved. But it still won’t rescue a bleeding sound file.
I can continue to beat it up. I used Steve’s rumble filter to get rid of the accumulation of trash below 100Hz and then a sharp notch filter at 120Hz, I assume to filter out the motor sound or something coming up through the microphone mount standing on your desk.
That leaves the straight computer fan shshshsh sound and that should respond to gentle noise reduction. But yes. Totally. We should not be going through emergency room cardiac resuscitation for every show.
You can put Audacity in Monitor Mode (right-click on the red recording meters) and they will wake up and let you hear (in your headphones) what the microphone is doing. You can then move the mic around and hear what it’s picking up.
If you insist on a desk stand, put a hard-back book on several layers of folded towel and put the mic on that. That’s an old trick to suppress desk noises. This is a semi-formal version of that before paint and black felt at the base.
Sorry for the late reply.
After testing with the towel + hard back book, after the 2.1.0 noise reduction (which I notice is a little better) I can get it like this. http://www.mediafire.com/listen/lt4td5h5su3zn83/ss.wav
Sounds a lot better and I might stick with this. I just need to change the gain a bit lower and speak a little closer to the mic, but be wary of not to breathe heavily directly into the mic.
Thanks for the help.
but be wary of not to breathe heavily directly into the mic.
Exactly correct. And to help you do that, we have the pop and blast filter. That’s the tennis racket with panty hose stretched over it.
And that’s your search term (pop filter, not panty hose). You can make one at home, too. They can work very well, but if you make one, you then have the problem of how to hold it up in front of the microphone. Mine came with a clamp and a goosneck.
Since you’re in Audacity 2.1.0 now, noise reduction for vocals seems to work well with 6,6,6 or 12,6,6 (stronger). settings. Be sure and get the noise profile from someplace with pure noise and no show. That profile step is really important.
