Hi,
I have a file I’m trying to clean up, if possible. I’m not sure if it’s muddy or boxy or neither - but it sounds kinda muffled. It also sounds tinny to me.
I don’t have the ability to go back and have it re-recorded so I’m wondering if there are any EQ approaches that might work, i.e., maybe specific frequencies to reduce, or even something other than EQ that might work with audio like this. I attached 10 seconds of the audio.
Thanks,
Mike
https ://manual.audacityteam.org/man/bass_and_treble.html
Cut as much bass as is tolerable, as the roomy/boxy reverberation is mostly in the bass.
Boost the treble to un-muffle, (you will need to de-ess if you do, as the sibilance will become excessive).
An expander plugin (like couture) can reduce the room reverb a little, (but it’s mitigation, not a cure).
Thanks Trebor,
I appreciate the outline of the approach to use and the sample file you provided. I will play around with your suggestions and see where I end up.
Mike
Think about how to get the presenter to wear headphones and make all that echo management distortion vanish. You will find it’s almost impossible to “clean up.”
This was a doctor who appeared on an MSNBC news show a couple of days ago.
His voice was perfectly clear. If you are part of the conversation, you should certainly be wearing headphones.
Koz
Koz,
Okay, I get your point. Wearing headphones allows the speaker to adjust their voice and distance from the microphone and it avoids picking up reverb from the speakers of the computer. Any other advantages?
The format of most all the audio I deal with is a class or seminar offered to about 500+ people at a time using the Zoom Webinar platform. There are about 25-30 people who are “live” and have interactive access to the audio and video to communicate with the teacher and/or presenter. The other participants can communicate through chat or Q/A.
It’s unlikely that all video/audio participants will buy into wearing headphones but maybe we can get the teacher/presenter to wear them. For them, Bluetooth might be best because they are messing with papers and books while they doing the presentation and having a cord would limit their movement.
I’m not a decision maker in the overall process, but I have been the one providing the most feedback on audio quality so maybe I can convince them of the benefits of headphones. Any other thoughts you can share?
Thanks,
Mike
Okay, I get your point. Wearing headphones allows the speaker to adjust their voice and distance from the microphone and it avoids picking up reverb from the speakers of the computer. Any other advantages?
The teacher doesn’t hear themselves. It’s not like overdubbing or studio recording a song. That’s what’s so magic about this. The student voice never appears in the open-air classroom, so Zoom doesn’t have to remove it from the teacher’s voice. That’s the distortion. There would be nothing worse than the student listening to their own voice coming back to them late…back to them late.
So the teacher wearing headphones is the easiest way to make the teacher’s voice arrive at the student “clean.”
“Clean” is relative, too. If the teacher is presenting in a kitchen, it will sound exactly like presenting in a kitchen.
There is an explainer/news podcast where the presenter did a terrific job with the visible stuff. Chroma key edge displacement, expressive lighting, background shading, brightness compensation, and color coordination. The instant he opens his mouth, he sounds like a kid recording in a bathroom.
So close.
This is where I’m supposed to recommend a headset. Matching headphones and short boom microphone. The problem is I can’t recommend a product and most of the gaming headsets (the obvious product) are pretty terrible.
It’s not an awful idea to have the microphone move around with you.
That’s a lot harder to do wireless.
Koz
Listen to the RI Royal Institution lectures—before the sickness.
They had a pretty tight grip on this lecture sound business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hVmeOCJjOU
Koz
Thanks Koz,
It looks and sounds like they have a smooth operation - thanks for the link.
I’ll recommend to the powers that be that at least the speakers at our events should be encouraged to wear headsets. I appreciate the feedback.
Mike
the speakers at our events should be encouraged to wear headsets.
Please watch the words. They should wear headphones or at least some method of hearing the conference without it appearing out loud in the room. I see several presenters using earbuds. You can tell because of the thin white wire with the little bulge in it. You don’t have to wear massive, heavy Koss Pro headphones or equivalent.
Jury’s out on wireless. Since the presenter isn’t listening to themselves, there’s no reason wireless wouldn’t work. That will make it a lot easier on everybody.
A headset is a matching set of headphones and microphone. Those are much harder to make work right (but can work spectacularly well). Leave those until later.
Koz
Got it - thanks!