Im on windows 10 64 bit. uptodate drivers. on a asus z77 sabertoooth motherboard. using audacity 2.1.2
I don’t think this issue is specifically related to audacity but im hopeing someone that has an inside to audio engineering can advise me on how to fix this problem. i need some help iv done a lot of google searching about this and i have yet to find a solution that works. on to the problem.
i use a blue yeti for voice recording and whenever i press the record button in audacity. there is a constant beep… i have supplyd a file demonstrating the noise .first 3 seconds is normal recording…after 3 seconds is amplified.
this sound is persistent in playback. what i dont understand though is that this sound only happens when I click record or go into record devices in windows 10. or click listen in record devices. but in real time in audacity with headphones pluged in the audio is crystal clear but only when not recording. there is no beep at all. i have contacted blue mic and they have just told me to send it back…but i want to make sure that that really is the problem cuz as far as i know this seems to be a wide spread problem that people face…but for whatever resson…not others. and unfortunately for me im one of the ones its effecting. dose anyone have any ideas.
things i have tried so far
turning of all c1 support options and cpu speed spectrum and vrm speed specterum in bios
changing gain level on mic and on windows. ( lower gain on mic results in more noticeable beep…higher gain results in less noticeable beep but very sensitive to background noise. but beep is still very noticeable within audio quality regardless)
trying different audio formats in windows ( 24bit 44100- 24bit 48000 and so on)
removing blue yeti device from device manager and plugging it back in
trying all usb connectors on my pc.
trying to connect it via a usb hub (again trying to connect the hub to all different usb connections on pc)
disconnecting everything but the mic or everything but the mic pluged into the usb hub (this includes speakers,tv, wi fi.)
I suspect that the noise is electrical interference from your computer.
Have all of your tests been on the same laptop?
Are you able to test on a different computer?
Have you tried disconnecting the power and running the laptop on its batteries?
sorry I thought i made myself clear. im using a custom built pc. not a laptop. i only used a laptop as one of the things i tried as a test and the noise was still present on the laptop pluged in the wall or out running on battery power and this was done in a different room away from the pc.
That’s an unstable USB system leaking into the sound. The Blue Yeti microphone is famous for its susceptibility to ratty USB battery.
Since the Yeti has no batteries and doesn’t plug into the wall or a powered sound mixer, it has to get its operating current from somewhere, so it uses the five volts on the USB cable. Because it’s not a top quality microphone, it doesn’t process, filter or correct the voltage at all. Any computer buss, power, supply or motherboard routing problems may cause the USB five volts to be “dirty” with noises on it. And that’s what the noises sound like. I’ve been calling it “frying mosquitoes.”
There’s no solution. Once you have a Yeti that does this, that’s the end of the world. Yes, you could send the Yeti back, but you should get them to send you a Yeti Pro ($270 usd). That microphone has extra processing, filtering and stabilizing. It stands a much better chance of working.
You could also buy a conventional analog or condenser microphone and a USB interface. That’s what ACX AudioBook recommends. The magic there is to look for an interface with 48v Phantom Power. As a practical matter, you can’t make 48 volts without correcting and filtering the USB system.
That’s what this is. That interface is the blue thing by his knees.
I don’t have the recommendations right to hand. Looking.
ok…so getting a replacement yeti will not fix it because of my motherboard? so i ether get a better motherboard? or the other option. i was going to get as you say " Foccusrite Scarlett 2i2 and a numann 102. or is that to much? i want to go down the root of xlr mics…but if i was to do this is is that going over board?..the numan is like £400. i want to do voice over professionally. i want to make sure if i do spend this much monny im not going to experince the same problem. so… to clearfuy. will getting a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and any XLR mic rid me of this noise?
That’s too simple. Something in your computer system is causing dirty USB. You could spend weeks chasing it. There is one sure-fire fix. Flynwill ripped his USB device apart and connected a clean laboratory five volt supply. That does work.
We can’t guarantee anything, but that is likely to work, yes. It’s a close cousin to ACX’s Model system. I would be very surprised if it had USB noise problems.
It’s not overkill. It’s close to the system I use, except I use a field sound mixer for better control.
Just to throw more cold water, a better microphone system will show you the shortcomings of your studio.
“Who knew you could hear my bathroom pipes from in here?”
All these publications assume you have a reasonably peasant announcing voice. Mine, for example is not particularly good for presenting and there are no filters or effects to help. I got the hardware but not the pipes, so to speak.
One recent poster found it desirable to correct his readings in post production editing word by word. Since the goal is to produce as much high quality, highly paid work as quickly as possible, this does not bode well.
Since you’re on a Windows system, you should be aware of the Automatic Conferencing and Chat processing that some Windows machines have. I think a cousin forum posting to yours is getting burned with these settings.
honestly the sound quality of my yeti is perfect its just that beep…if that beep was gon it would be fine. i know my way around audacity enough to produce ok stuff with effects and noise removal so im good there…i just need to no if i go with the xlr mic and audio interface… since the audio is filterd through the device…dosent this meen regardles of usb interfernace i am currently experiencing. there will be no noise like beeping… removing background noise and static is not my concern here…my concern is getting rid of this beep that continuously plays only when i hit record.
As near as we can reconstruct this, given nobody offered a Yeti for us to take apart (and Yeti is not the only one), lower end microphones use the USB battery for everything because it’s cheap and inexpensive to do that. So if you have a clean and well-behaved computer, the USB five volts is clean, the show is clean and everybody goes home happy. But if your USB is noisy, that noise is applied directly to the microphone audio processing, and it appears in your show.
Higher end microphones and microphone systems such as the Scarlett generally have filters and cleaning for the USB connection because that’s the best way to make 48v Phantom Power work. So seeing “48 volt Phantom Power” listed in the device documents offers a very high confidence that the show sound will be clean—or at least not have that particular problem.
Nobody is going to guarantee success, but likelihood of success goes way up with better equipment.
And again, that’s not how I do it. I can use a similar microphone, but a small sound mixer and then on to the computer.
That’s the system on the left (Ignore the Rhode on the right. That was used to double record for safety.)
That works for me because I know how to use a sound mixer and it gives me extra tools to get out of trouble if needed. The ACX demonstration system works like the Scarlett.
A note there. Once you get past the ACX Robot, the next step is Human Quality Control. One of their failures is Overprocessing. That’s where somebody cleans up their recording so much the voice starts to sound funny.
Noise Reduction isn’t “free.” It damages both the voice and the noise and it’s up to you to suppress the noise without screwing up the voice quality.
yes i know iv used noise removal in audacity and it gets rid of the background noise keeping my voice sounding fine…but not that beep…because thats not background noise and once i normalize the audio. it amplifes the voice along with that beep beacuse it was never fully removed…its kind of imposible to remove it…but beacuse the background noise was removed that is not there anymore…if that makes sence. and also the way you have your setup…the distance from my pc and were i record is more or less the same my backgorund noise is very minimal to say the least as it is.
Noise Reduction fails because the noise is moving. Noise Reduction doesn’t work on sound that’s constantly changing. That’s why you can’t remove conversations, radios or TV sets. It’s intended for air conditioning noise, fan noises and hiss.
my backgorund noise is very minimal
Mine is almost zero because that’s a soundproofed conference room and those Macs don’t have fan noise.
Once you have Frying Mosquitoes, that’s the end of the world. There is no fix for that microphone.
well…it works me…the only noise that i need to get rid of is the fans of my pc…and noise removal gets rid of that just fine keeping my voice perfect…its just that beep that i need to erase. I allready know this blue yeti is rubbish. so i just need to no . getting a Focusrite Scarlett solo or 2i2 with any XLR mic will rid me of this beep as its not a usb connection.
I don’t have a Scarlett, so I can’t tell you about my personal experience. Frying Mosquitoes noise changes with the computer and connection. The Yeti is usually OK and it’s a very popular microphone, but there’s this small group of people who can’t make it work. You’re in that group.
The best we can do is say the Scarlett and XLR combination will probably be OK. Get it from somebody who allows easy returns if you’re not happy.
