Version 2.3.1
Windows 10
Hi,
i am working in a fairly quiet laboratory and am trying to record the snapping/cracking process of certain foods (similar to potato chips)
how do i decide between high pass or low filter or whether i need one at all?
Thanks,
new audacity user
A high-pass filter (maybe 200Hz) wouldn’t hurt. Anything in the lower frequencies will be mostly background noise.
And, directional (cardioid) microphones tend to boost the bass at close proximity so that’s another reason to cut the bass if you want “natural” sound. (With a quiet source like that, you need to be close to the mic.)
Other than that, if you have a good microphone you shouldn’t need any filtering.
If you want to do any more filtering just experiment with the Equalizer effect. I recommend the Graphic Mode for experimenting. Low frequencies are on the left and high frequencies are on the right.
There is a rule-of-thumb that you should cut with an equalizer, rather than boost. Or, at least cut before any boosting. And if you do boost, run the Amplify or Normalize effect before exporting to bring the levels down, if necessary, to prevent clipping (distortion) of the exported files.
you shouldn’t need any filtering.
What he said. You figure out what you need after you shoot something the best you know how and then listen to it. There’s no “Professional Audio Filter” (other than that thing I wrote for April first).
Use your good quality speakers or headphones to listen. You can go 'round and 'round with corrections and filters if you can’t hear it and you can’t tell what you have.
If quality control is beside the point, record so that the Audacity blue waves don’t go all the way up to the 100% line. You can set Audacity View > Show Clipping and it will give you red marks if you’re too loud.
Cut off the stuff at the beginning and end you don’t need and go with it.
Koz