Mysterious whooshing sound, but only with Skype

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I host a heavily downloaded podcast. I’d love to record interviews with Skype, but I can’t. I am reduced to plugging my 1/4" cable into a cell phone [!] to interview guests.

This is because, whenever I record with Skype (not when I use Skype casually, without recording), there is a mysterious whooshing sound that occurs and even grows louder as I speak, and then instantly goes away as soon as the guest speaks. I have been told that this problem is due to settings on the interviewee’s end, but I have excellent reason to believe that has nothing to do with it.

Here’s a link to what I’m experiencing: https://soundcloud.com/user463600875/skypehiss

That clip begins with my guest, and then I respond and you can hear the whooshing almost immediately.

I am using an Alesis MultiMix4, plugging an XLR mic into it, and connecting the mixer to the computer to pick up the Skype via USB. This mic has no problems, and no problems with this mixer specifically, when I am recording videos, etc. The whooshing occurs only with Skype, and only while I am speaking. It completely disappears after that.

I don’t want to get a whole new mixer, only to find the problem persisting.

Can anyone conceive of what on earth can be happening here? I can find no one anywhere having a comparable problem. What could I possibly be missing?

Many thanks.

2

What could I possibly be missing?

The software to record Skype. Recording both sides of a Skype conversation is not easy. You are probably listening to Skype’s directional and echo-cancellation processes managing the sound. You can’t stop it. If you try, the call will collapse.

If you have a mixer, you can do what I did and record the show with a stand-alone recorder or a second computer and use the first computer just to manage Skype. That works a treat because you can independently manage all the sound channels and directions.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/PodCast_Studio_WS.jpg

The machine on the left records the composite podcast and produces the music, stingers and themes for the show. The one on the right manages Skype. These two machines happen to have Stereo Line-In connections built-in. Many modern computers don’t any more.

Anyway, people make software that will record Skype correctly.

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/help-recording-with-a-mic-laptop-and-headphones/35068/1

Read through that whole post. Not all Skype recorders will give you a product you can easily use in a podcast. Pamela, the paid product will.

Koz