Requirements for a more professional quality of voice over recording

Audacity Help Forum
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Hello, I searched the forum and did not find an answer. My question is what is the minimum requirements for a High-Quality recording?

I was told by a repair shop that I need to replace my processor, but before save up for this… is it true? I have a Dell Computer I bought last year… only to find out it was a 2013 computer someone upgraded the hard drive and storage memory to current model levels. It was supoosed to be a newer computer. (They tricked me.) Old computers don’t have this much memory even from 5 yrs ago. The processor is the concern?

Intel(R) Core™ i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz
Ram 16 GB
System Type 64 bit operating, x64-based processor

All of my external equipment is good including: Very good Microphones, amplifier and Focusrite to get it to USB, power conditioner, etc.

Will this processor cause a slow down causing poor sound quality? That is what I was told.

Thank you for any help.

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You don’t need a particularly fast or powerful computer to record mono or stereo. (Multi-tracking can be more demanding.)

Most “audio quality issues” are related to acoustics or the analog setup…

If you are having digital problems (glitches/gaps/dropouts) it’s “something else” interrupting the audio.

Your operating system is always multitasking, even if you are only running one application. When you record, the audio comes into a buffer (like a long pipe or holding tank) at a smooth constant rate. When the operating system gets-around to it, it reads the buffer in a quick burst and writes the data to the hard drive in a quick burst.

If the buffer doesn’t get read in time you get buffer overflow and a glitch in your audio.

There is also a playback buffer that works the opposite way. It’s written/filled in a quick burst and the audio flows-out at a smooth constant rate. It the playback buffer doesn’t get re-filled time you get buffer underflow.

A buffer is also a delay and if the buffer is too big you get more latency and it can be difficult to perform while monitoring yourself with headphones. But your Focusrite probably has “zero-latency direct-hardware” monitoring, where the monitoring doesn’t go through the computer.

If you don’t have to worry about latency there is no downside to a bigger buffer and you are less likely to get glitches.

A faster computer can help because it can finish-up the other stuff faster. But sometimes when you buy a newer-faster computer and there is more junk running in the background…

Try to minimize the number of running applications or background operations. Some people end-up temporarily turning-off Wi-Fi or their anti-virus.

If you are recording at a high sample rate (96 or 192kHz) try 44.1 or 48kHz. There is less data at lower sample rates so you are less likely to get glitches. (As you may know, CDs are 44.1kHz so it’s still high-quality.)

There are also some troubleshooting hits in the manual here.

Or there is a FREE online book about optimizing your computer for audio called Glitch Free.

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Thank you, I didn’t have any issues and this pc tower is dedicated to only running my voice over work. It isn’t even connected to the internet. I contacted the shop that handles my laptop because I found out this 4TB computer tower was a 2013. Obviously, I didn’t expect a PC that old to have that much memory. Dell customized them and resold them.

Thank you for your help,

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Apparently it’s a 2017 chip … Core i7-7700HQ - Intel - WikiChip
It’s quad core (4 processors). IIRC currently Audacity only uses one core.
i.e. your processor It’s waaay more than sufficient for Audacity alone.

1 Like
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Who is likely to be your first client? That will tell us a little about what the studio has to do. And speaking of studio.

This is the first action sentence in an audiobook tutorial I’m writing.

Record your chapter in a quiet, echo-free room.

If you can do that, you may have your first chapter finished by dinner, subject to mistakes, editing, and mouth noises. If you can’t record in a good room…

Koz

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