Hello, i was recording with my Windows Laptop and used a XOX(brand?) interface to connect my microphone & headphone
When i was recording, i could hear my own voice and it has a slight “echo-y” effect, which i guess it’s because of the microphone im using and it makes me sounds nice
But when i playback it sounds really bad and different from what i hear when i am recording.
Overall, it sounds really bad, and didn’t pick up the falsetto i sing(my falsetto is really weak but when i am recording, i could hear with a lil bit of echo effect, which i think sounded really nice)
But the playback just sounds really bad, any idea how to fix it?
I wanted the playback sounds just like what i heard when i am recording. Please Send Help T_T
Without hearing it, we can take a stab…or two.
If you’re listening to the computer while you record, you’re listening to Machine Latency. The time it takes your voice to go into the computer, turn around and come back out. Your voice is “one computer late.” It’s not normal, but if you’re happy with it… The echo should not appear in the recording. This is totally a headphone problem.
Windows machines tend to come with software to help you with voice conferencing and communications. Not music. The software hates music.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements
That may not be it, but it’s a grand place to start.
Koz
I think the echo either comes from the mic i use or the interface
I play the playbacks and listen through my headphone.
The echo sounds is like those AMSR video kind of sound
I wanted that effect in the recording, which is also what i heard when im recording but not when i playback.
And my playback is not just without the echo, it also sounds like its not picking up some of the word i sing clearly and sounds really crappy,
Its so bad so i did not think about exporting or save the file
At first my mic pick up my voice too soft, the sound frequency just show a tiny wave even i sing really loud and close to the mic
and i already fix that by changing the dB to the highest in my laptop setting
I think its 30dB or -30dB (im new i dont really know all these terms)
Did i need to lower it a little??? Or any other setting?
We should probably have a short test sound file.
I wrote quick instructions about producing a test clip. Just speak. You don’t have to sing. 20 seconds.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
Koz
So after i export the file, it sounds ok(except my pronounciation lol)?
But the playback sounds really bad that my voice feel so “shaky”
i couldn’t upload the file, it said it is too big(more than 2 mb) but it’s only a 20 sec recording…
And also, now im back to the problem that the mic did not pick up my voice “normally” when im trying to sing, most of the part sounds really weak
Except the part when there’s a “S” sounds, it suddenly became too loud and reach the red point
it said it is too big(more than 2 mb) but it’s only a 20 sec recording…
It needs to be a 20 second mono recording—one blue wave. If you post stereo—two blue waves—then you can only post ten seconds.
But the playback sounds really bad that my voice feel so “shaky”
Remember we’re doing this so we can hear the damage. If you don’t send a damaged recording, then we didn’t gain anything.
And use your speaking voice. Don’t sing.
Koz
Hi again, i think i fix most of the problem by changing most of the setting to 16-bit and CD quality, now i can hear my voice “normally” without echo in playback
Just one more small problem, when i set dB to 30 it exceed the red line, Even though im not too close to the mic
i have to stay a lil bit far from mic and i set the mic volume to 40, it still surpass the red line a little.
But if i set to 20dB it didnt record that much
What can i do???
i have to stay a lil bit far from mic and i set the mic volume to 40, it still surpass the red line a little.
If it sounds OK it’s probably OK, even though it’s slightly [u]clipped[/u] (distorted).
It’s normal to shoot for about -6dB (50% on the peaks) or lower because you can’t fix clipping.* (That -6dB is the level you see on the meters or the waveform peaks, not the volume-control setting.)
You can always boost the levels after recording with the amplify or Normalize effect.
The “problem” with normalizing/amplifying is that the volume is limited to the highest peak, so the “loudest” part limits how loud you can go overall, and the highest peak doesn’t always sound that loud.
If it’s not loud enough after normalizing/amplifying, the solutions are:
- Use the Envelope tool to “shape” the volume, keeping it fairly constant and loud.
- Compression and/or limiting (with make-up gain to bring-up the overall volume).
Pros use all of the above, and sometimes they use an analog hardware compressor/limiter while recording so the analog-to-digital converter doesn’t get clipped by unexpected peaks. (And, pros often record at a much lower level, around -12 to -18dB.)
But, we can’t always get the same loudness as the pros without over-damaging the sound… We don’t have the skills or experience and most of us don’t have the same hardware & software tools.
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- There is a Clip Fix effect but it only attempts to repair the damage.