So I’ve noticed, since unplugging my mic from the USB adapter on my headset and plugging it into the mic jack on my PC the volume at which my voice is recorded it low. In windows recording devices settings my mic is on 100, in Audacity it’s at max. Obviously, amping it up some won’t matter too much, but when I have to literally increase it enough to hear over the game play I am recording is kind of annoying. As sony vegas seems to render the audio in my videos lower than what the editing sounds like, not hard to fix.
Anyways I thought I’d ask some ways to increase the volume without editing the audio file after it’s been made so I don’t ruin the quality.
Any info that is needed to help can be provided upon request as I’m not sure what else to provide.
So I’ve noticed, since unplugging my mic from the USB adapter on my headset and plugging it into the mic jack on my PC the volume at which my voice is recorded it low.
It’s using a different preamp so that might be the difference.
You did plug into a mic input right? (The line input on a regular soundcard has about 1/100th of the gain.)
Are you sure the mic is designed to be plugged directly into a computer? (I’d assume so if it has a normal-analog mic plug, but maybe not…)
Can you give us the manufacturer & model number, or a link, for your headphone/mic?
What’s wrong with sticking to what works?
As sony vegas seems to render the audio in my videos lower than what the editing sounds like, not hard to fix.
I don’t know why that would happen and I don’t have Vegas, but I’m sure Vegas can boost the volume.
Anyways I thought I’d ask some ways to increase the volume without editing the audio file after it’s been made so I don’t ruin the quality.
If you have an uncompressed file,* boosting the volume doesn’t harm the quality. But, it does boost the signal and the noise together. So, if you’ve got a poor signal-to-noise ratio because your recording volume was too low, the noise will be more noticeable and it may seem worse.
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If you have a lossy-compressed file (MP3, etc.), it has to be decompressed for editing. If you then re-save (re-export) in a lossy format, the file goes through another generation of lossy compression.
We always like to know your Audacity version (all three numbers, please see the pink panel at the top of the page).
If you really are connecting to a mic port and not a line-level port (blue), then right-click over the speaker icon by the system clock, then choose “Recording Devices”. Right-click over the mic device then choose “Properties”. Then click the “Levels” tab and look for a “Boost” or “Gain” control. It might be behind an “Advanced” button.
Anyways, for the headset I use, I’ve got a Logitech G430, and yes the headset mic cord has an actual adapter to plug into the mic jack on my PC, mainly because it fits, it’s the right color, has a tony mic symbol on it, that and it receives my voice when I record, so.
I usually record and the audio sounds low. Sony Vegas helps boost the volume, but with the cost of hearing the static that doesn’t appear when I listen to it in Audacity, mainly because my mic volume is low, despite it being turned to the max. I save the files as a wav as I’ve got space and when I render my videos the audio files will be deleted as I no longer need them. So before I export the audio, even though I can’t hear it, I do a normal noise profile and remove that section of noise, to me it sounds quiet. I usually will not move or say anything so my mic doesn’t pick it up right after I press record then I start talking so I know I can get that noise profile perfectly.
And in windows sound properties for my External Mic I have the boost set to 0, it can be at 10 or 20, but 0 sounds the best as it doesn’t have any noticeable static, none that I can hear.