I hope someone can take me out of my misery! I have just hooked up new mic (MK4) and new amp (focusrite 2i2 3rd gen) with my windows software and Audacity (updated to latest version). I’m using a DELL laptop.
Everything is in working order exept that my wavelength is not smooth when just tracking noise floor which is around -63dB when my gain is at 12oclock.
I am a basic user of Audacity and use it to record voice overs only so i’m not a sound geek !
i’ve read thru several warnings about disabling other inputs and outputs and drivers in windows which i did. the problem is still there. I’m convinced it’s being caused by some settings in windows or audacity.
i havent tried my new hardware with different DAW yet, only Audacity.
My expectation is to see a smooth waveform with my noise floor as i’m in a sound proof home studio with AC switched off.
Appreciate any help regarding this .
Noise is analog so it’s either acoustical or electrical. In the digital domain you can have digital zeros which is pure silence (minus infinity dB).
Even pro studios aren’t TOTALLY soundproof. 
What happens with the microphone unplugged? (The head amp in a condenser mic generates SOME electrical noise so that’s not a perfect experiment but it’s usually lower-level than the acoustic noise.)
-63dB isn’t bad if you’re getting a good signal at “12 o’clock”. But it’s the signal-to-noise ratio that’s important. The audiobook spec is -60dB while meeting the peak & RMS (signal) level requirements. Most people can’t get that at home without some “processing”.
Thanks so much for this DVDdoug.
Nice idea to try with the mic off which i hadn’t tried before…and i do get a perfectly flat waveform in this case. I guess this is a huge consolation that there is no problem per se with Audacity or windows?
Absolutely agree regarding the noise floor and sound proofing and thanks for that reminder…perhaps i should have explained my expectation better in that while i may expect to see some constant noise being reflected in the waveform, i wouldn’t expect to see little bumps here and there that look like high noise frequencies being heard. (I can hear a room humming noise for example but nothing to explain the tiny bumps along the way which were baffling me).
i think my expectations may be based on my experience using a blue Yeti which is much less sensitive and quieter than what i have now. i remember getting perfectly smooth waveforms with that but now i understand that perhaps wasn’t the best thing.
What part of this is new? All this used to work, right?
Fresh forum posters like to smoosh temporal expression. I’m reading that post as “I’m going to record voice-overs as soon as I get the microphone to work right.” Did I hit it?
Select ten seconds of performance exhibiting the error, export it as WAV (Microsoft) and post it on the forum. The upload icon is the heavy bar with up arrow. If you’re recording mono (one blue wave) you can go up to 20 seconds.
“Noise” in general, can have all frequencies and the waveform can look like trash with no orderly appearance. You can do an aural inspection with your big, fuzzy, wired headphones. Play the work, turn up the volume, and listen. “Well behaved” noise can sound like spring rain in the trees. SHSHSH or FFFFF. Thumpy or other noises can indicate something broken.
There is a famous noise where the USB data leaks into a condenser microphone sound. That one we’re calling screaming mosquitos. That one has the characteristics of kid screaming on a jet.
Koz
Speaking as someone who lives in an earthquake zone, you can totally get “noise” you can’t hear, but can vibrate the picture window in the front room. Also see: thunder.
It’s important to note whether the noise is periodic. That’s how you separate pump or air conditioning noises from that truck driving by in front of the house.
Can’t wait for that sound sample.
Koz
Hi Koz, what is new is the hardware : mic and focusrite phantom power. both are brand new like just purchased. i have been recording VOs using a blue yeti previously plugged through USB.So it’s my first experience with condensor mic and preamp.
Always had the DT 770 headphones.
i will do a recording tomorrow and upload it to the forum. (just bc i’m toast now) So grateful to have people like you who are willing to help newbs like me!
When i do a recording and put up the volume, don’t hear any crackles or pops. I think it must be fine then.
It’s good to get it in WAV format. MP3 and other formats create damage intentionally.
Koz
If you had a noise gate operating, noise floor would be squelched to zero.
Windows can have a noise gate in their “audio enhancements”.
Dell computers can have noise gate as part of Dell Audio, aka MaxxAudio.
Here you go! raw file, with no editing at all. Can’t wait for your feedback!
There does seem to be a noise-gate kicking-in between “we’re different” and “each of our shops” . If you’re going to use a noise gate they have to be applied carefully otherwise they cause sentences to begin and end abruptly
What he said.
WE’RE DIFFERENT [brief hollow-echoy room sound]. Then really quiet as the noise gate realizes it should be doing something and kicking in.
Then the gate stops, but not quick enough to avoid cutting off the first part of…
_ACH OF OUR SHOPS. The word “each” pops on instead of natural pronunciation.
So yes, this is why Noise Gates look good on paper and in the ads, but don’t always sound so good.
Also why recording on the computer is rife with messy surprises.
IN ITS OWN WAY [quiet followed by rearranging furniture sounds] This part is just notes on being careful what you submit. This piece at the end would have worked well had you not decided to push the chairs around.
Also as I think you noted, all this is happening at -70dB or so. That’s really quiet, so you may only notice problems if you’re a practicing obsessive (raising hand). Maybe not the client.
Of the three people working on your show, this is The Producer deciding how badly they want to get paid.
Koz
Oh, and to bring this home, the bumps in the noise are actual noise. That’s not objectionable damage. The spaces between the bumps are the gating effect.
Koz
Haven’t applied any noise gate whatsoever. That “noise gate” sound you are referring to between the 2 phrases you mentioned is exactly what i’m seeing in the waveform that is bothering me and indicative that something is wrong.
But i can’t figure it out. Do you have any other ideas?
do you recommend downloading a different DAW and seeing if i get the same thing? not that i’m willing to learn another software but that could be the second to last resort.
Sometimes Windows does noise reduction and other “enhancements”. Usually they mess-up the sound in more obvious and weird ways, but check it -
Make sure Windows “enhancements” are turned OFF.
its night time where i am and i can hear a very slight humming noise that is causing some very subtle vibration in the walls of my studio and the railing of our staircase (of which my studio wall borders). i have no idea what could be causing it and it’s the first time ever i experience this but i suspect this may be contributing to the problem. but it’s ever so subtle
my settings in sound don’t have any option to turn on and off enhancements.
No, you haven’t. Some developer in California has determined that you need a noise gate and built it into the computer or the system. This is why the Audacity developers were so reluctant to build-in effects and corrections during recording. It’s loudly begging for problems like this.
I totally do have solutions. Stop recording on the computer.
That lasts one is Lossless Voice Memo on an iPhone. I did that as an experiment. That cable is just for battery power. I recorded a voice test, cut it down, applied Audiobook-Mastering-Macro in Audacity and it passes ACX Audiobook submission standards.
This is after slightly more classic noise reduction.
Koz
If it’s Windows enhancements applying the noise gate, then changing the DAW won’t help:
the audio is being gated before it gets to the DAW.
Here’s how to disable windows audio enhancements …
Disable any recording and playback enhancements for faithful recording and playback.
Except most DAWs support ASIO drivers, and I’m pretty sure there are ASIO drivers for the Focusrite and that will bypass the Windows drivers and any Windows processing.