Right. Crisp.
Effect > Equalization points from about 4000 and up affect brightness or crispness. Experiment. I prepared a simple curve attached. That’s approximately what “voice” microphones do internally to sound brighter.
Koz
Hmm I think the rolloff does get rid of some of the ambient background rumble, so that’s good. Now I just need to figure out what’s up with my voice. It SEEMS like the microphone is catching too much of my voice (though I may be wrong), which is causing some strange distortion to these speakers that might not be able to handle it. Here is an edited sound byte (it’s a bit of a rush job so if you notice anything let me know). If you can, compare it through your speakers to a notable commentator or podcaster (eg: Markiplier). There is a significant difference in quality compared to his. I want to figure out why that is. If you really don’t think it’s important, and that I should continue to prioritize through headphones, I’ll do that.
I’m perfectly pleased to do that, but it may take a bit of time. The forum elves are all volunteers and sometimes Real Life gets in the way.
Koz
I’m very pleased you provided an example of work you like. Sometimes it’s pulling teeth getting posters to tell us what they want to sound like.
Koz
This better? It’s before and after. I can publish the Equalization curve.
Koz
I’m wondering if my hearing is off. Personally I think the Before sounds a little cleaner than the After. I guess I should clarify (to be sure), I don’t want my voice to sound like the other commentator, rather, I just want the same level of quality coming from my voice. The one thing that seems to be recurring is that through speakers, my voice comes off as dirtier, with a little distortion. Perhaps it’s the particular tone of my voice, or some issue with my microphone, I’m not sure.
On a side note, when I say speakers, I mean multiple types. I recently tried listening through the iPhone 6 speakers and got the same sort of distortion, although it didn’t sound quite as bad.
Also, I do appreciate what you guys have been doing for me. I completely understand if I’m not a priority.
It is cleaner. I’m going with my first comment. I would have no trouble listening to a story in that original voice.
The reference you posted as an example has a more forward, sharper sound than you. I guess it helps that he’s screaming into the microphone a lot of the time, but that’s him. It’s possible to accept the curve I made and change it so to hit it in the middle, be sharper than you but not as aggressive as him.
I can’t tell. Do you want me to talk you into using your natural voice? Count me in. Other posters would kill to have your natural, clean presentation.
We do note, though, that there’s no shortage of people wanting us to make them into actors. There’s no filter for that. They still hire actual actors to be the voices in animated movies, obviously not for their good looks.
Emmet in the Lego Movie was voiced by Chris Pratt… because he can act.
Koz
Haha that’s very nice of you to say. I don’t particularly want my voice to change, but, I want to figure out why my audio samples come off dirtier than other commentators. It’s no problem if you have decent headphones. (even iPhone earbuds make the sound quality alright, although not as good as my Sennheiser headset), but any speakers seem to be a problem, whereas for these other commentators out there, they don’t have the same problem (eg: I can listen to that Markiplier video with no distortion through my speakers, but my own audio samples sound bad when played through the speakers). I’m wondering if it’s because my voice tone is lower, and is resonating with the speakers more.
As for the equalization, most the issues that I’ve been having have been solved, or are in the process of being solved. So I guess the main point of this thread is now moot. I do appreciate the help, and if you have any ideas about the other problem, let me know.
I’m wondering if it’s because my voice tone is lower, and is resonating with the speakers more.
I think we’re traveling down the road of sound concepts.
Speakers the size of Kennedy Half-Dollars do not do low voices or bass sounds in general. If your whole world is based on personal sound systems, or better, your whole audience’s world, then yes, having a lower voice is a problem. I used to use a benchmark of being able to pick up your whole sound system with one hand. If you could do that, it was probably not so good to judge a wide variety of sound systems.
I’m using a stereo theater sound system and I can hear things that other people miss, just based on my being able to hear all parts of the sound experience.
That better? I created an equalization curve that left everything alone from 3000 and up and gently rolled off the bass notes.
I generated that curve based on your natural voice pitch and volume going up the same amount I brought it down. It should sound clear and clean with no odd peaks or resonances. If it makes it through your speaker test, but still seems too extreme, I can try another, less powerful curve and see if you like that.
Not everybody makes it through this. Voices have personalities. Mine will go through soundproof walls. Ian’s voice (from another post) causes one of my speakers to buzz. Only him.
Koz
I don’t have the exact name for the speakers but hardware is Realtek HD Audio
The one thing that’s common in three forum chapters struggle is those speakers.
How do they connect? Can you point to a web page that describes them? Do they plug into the wall for power? Do they get their juice from the USB plug?
Take a picture and include something like a pen or pencil for scale.
So far multiple people have commented on your pleasant voice and it sounds terrific in your headphones.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Koz
First, let me thank you again for all the help. Second, the editing you did on that sound clip seems to have gotten rid of most of bass speaker distortion, but the audio still sounds kind of strange. Hollow, sort of like I’m talking through a radio/walkie talkie or skype call, rather than just hearing my voice.
Oh I should have probably explained, the speakers I am listening through are a part of the computer 
My bad. Low quality I know, but hear me out:
Let me give you another example. These guys have a random talk show where they talk about random things, and their voices sound fine through my speakers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICI9iY1_d7I
Admittedly, their voice tones are higher than mine which may be one of the reasons why there is no distortion. MY voice by contrast through the same speakers has the strange distortion, either catching too much of my voice and generating distortion that way, or sounding sort of hollow like I explained above.
If the speakers you have don’t have the same problem mine are having, I’ll assume it’s because yours are probably higher quality and can handle a better range of sound. If that’s the case, then I’ll assume that I just need better speakers and will continue to edit the audio the way I have been with your suggestions/improvements.
PS: Sorry for the late post, was busy on Sunday. Also apologies for sort of going around in circles with this issue. I’m trying to think of a better way to explain the problem, but I’m having a hard time putting the thought into words.
We also violated a rule. You’re on Windows, right? Win7? Win8? It’s good you choose those words. Windows likes to help you with built-in effects and processing. They can sound “weird” and “hollow”. I got to mess with a new PC at work and I couldn’t make it pass any sound tests. Turns out they left a “cathedral sound” playback filter running on it and didn’t tell me. Does your voice sound like Notre Dame? Chartres?
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements
Koz
Do you leave Skype running in the background? That can cause problems.
Koz
I’m currently using the Windows 8.1 OS. I don’t believe my voice sounds like that type of hollow. That was a bad word for me to use, I apologize. I would point it more towards the speaking through a radio, walkie talkie effect more than the hollow cathedral effect. Not the crackling/popping walkie talkie effect, the actual voice quality (eg: the voice quality is reduced when talking through a walkie talkie to someone else)
Yes, I do leave Skype on in the background. If that causes problems, I will close it down. However, I was thinking of maybe doing a collaboration with a friend over Skype. Would that be an issue? Should I find a different program to use for that?
Finally, I wanted to give a bit of good news. I just got a mic stand, and it seems to have substantially reduced the amount of background noise I get from a raw recording. My guess is that the Blue Yeti base stand the mic came with was getting some vibrations through the desk I was using. The new stand seems to have mostly eliminated that. It’s also possible that it has improved on the above problem, but that might just be all the tips you’ve been giving me 
I’m very happy with all the progress I’ve been making with improving my sound quality. I kind of want to do a freeze frame jump sequence right now
Would that be an issue? Should I find a different program to use for that?
Yes. Audacity doesn’t always work well with Skype. Skype likes to take over the sound services in your machine and it doesn’t much care whatever else is going on. It’s very common to only be able to record one Skype voice and not the other.
I thought I had notes on Skype software programs. Pamela can do that.
http://www.pamela.biz/en/products/
Looking,
Here it is.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/help-recording-with-a-mic-laptop-and-headphones/35068/6
Koz
So Pamela is an add on that ensures all voices are recorded? Sorry, I’d just like to know a little more about the program so I understand why I should use it.
On a side note: I did some recording and audio editing and with the addition of the mic stand, your editing tips, and some experimentation of my own, I’ve sort of fixed the problem. The distortion is still there, but it’s less, which is good. If I prioritize headphones over computer speakers, I should be okay.
The upper two Pamela licenses will give you two separate, high quality WAV files featuring you on one track and the far side on the other. Perfect for individual filtering and adjusting as needed before melting them into one show. It answers the question: “The far side voice sucks. How do I split it off and fix it?” Usually with other software, you don’t.
Some packages only work with MP3 files. MP3 files get worse and worse quality as you edit and filter them and you can’t stop it. That’s just how MP3 works.
Some packages only give you one mixed track. If you need to apply a correction to just the far side, good luck with that.
By the way, if everybody is wearing headphones during the show, the Skype quality can be terrific.
Does she sound like she’s four time zones away from me?
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/DeniseFirstPass-Edited.mp3
I didn’t do this in software. I did with two computers and a sound mixer. It’s a first pass and it still had problems.
Koz
Her voice doesn’t sound terrible, but I can tell that it’s probably coming through some program. Other than that it all sounded pretty nice. Maybe needs a bit of background noise reduction.
I’ll check out Pamela and see if I need it.
I think this is the last post I’ll make here for a while. I’ll come back when I’ve figured out how to do collaborations. Thanks for all your help!
Her voice doesn’t sound terrible, but I can tell that it’s probably coming through some program.
It’s coming through her MacBook Air built-in microphone and I think she was ironing a shirt at the time. No attempt at theatrical purity.
Yes, do post back if you get something to work. I think we had one person post back that they had troubles with Pamela and it turned out they made some silly mistake which we cleared immediately.
That’s not to say you can’t make this work on one computer with no special software. People do.
http://reellife.podomatic.com/
This is Chase’s podcast with his brother in another state. It sounds remarkably good and all he did was plug everything together, turn it all on and start podcasting. He is a digital celebrity. Most people go straight into the mud when they try this. Chase is looking at us like we’re all crazy.
Dude, you got nuclear-level lucky.
Koz