There’s borderline magic ways out of this, too. The Rode microphone really likes sound coming from the front (It’s cardioid directional if you’re keeping score). It’s less fond of sound at the sides, and will refuse to record most sounds coming from the rear. The rear is where you put the tower and its fans. That and prevent walls from reflecting sound.
Koz
That’s basically the deal. Some trash may leak in from the sides, but very little from the rear. Sound quality falls apart on the sides and rear, too, so it’s not just a volume change.
This is also why finding the front of a microphone to sing or speak into is a big deal.
Koz
Did I miss the elephant in the room?
GamingGal
You’re not reading an audiobook are you? You’re recording high quality gaming commentary or reviews? So you can’t split off the tower from the studio. The tower is part of the show.
There have been postings from gamers asking how to get rid of keyboard clicks and other computer noises from their commentary performances. That puts you right out of my world. I’m not sure how I would get around that, other than what you’re already doing with your original process.
You can certainly do an OK performance with all those tricks, but you can’t, in my opinion, produce studio-quality audiobook voice. And to be clear, I liked your last two voice tests. The trick is to keep that quality.
Koz
Sorry to go radio silent, I had some doctor visits come up that took priority.
I am wanting to read audiobooks. I’ve read them in the past through ACX as well as for authors directly who then upload to ACX, and the audio has passed quality and listening checks and been uploaded and are currently active. I also do some recording for Youtubers, e-Learning, things of that nature as well. All in the past was good because I had the Blue Yeti in my little sound dampening box that did alright.
Now, with the Rode microphone, it’s like a whole other rodeo. It’s SUPER sensitive. When I had the gain turned up all the way as you had suggested, I tried recording that way and it managed to pick up (albeit quietly) my wife speaking in the room across from where I was, even with doors shut and me using my sound dampening box. I know the room I am in is not the best sounding room, but I’m wanting to do whatever I can to improve it. My wife and I are trying to come up with a bigger designed sound dampening box that can hold the mic, a tablet to read from, and encompass 360 degrees, with a top, bottom, sides, etc to make a fully enclosed area. Sort of like a mini vocal booth, but DIY and less of a huge footprint. We’re thinking of a pvc frame with heavy moving blanket sides and additional foam inside as well.
It’s just frustrating is all. I had a decent setup with the Yeti and will probably use it in the meantime. But I ordered the Rode for my birthday and was so excited to up my quality. Turns out it’s a lot harder than anticipated and a bit of a blow to my confidence. I don’t want to risk turning out bad quality work, so it just makes me anxious in the end and I put off work that was ordered prior. Which isn’t your problem, obviously, and I am really grateful for your help and advice. I’m jut not sure where to go with this.
Now, with the Rode microphone, it’s like a whole other rodeo. It’s SUPER sensitive.
Here’s the thing… A more sensitive mic will pick up more noise (unwanted background sound) BUT it’s also picking-up more signal, so although it seems worse the signal-to-noise ratio is NOT WORSE.
And a more sensitive mic will actually help when it comes to the noise generated by the preamp (inside the interface) because of a stronger signal into the preamp. (A better signal-to-noise ratio with regard to any electronic noise.)
Directional characteristics make a difference since an omni-directional mic picks-up noise from all-around and a directional mic only picks-up noise from the same general-direction as whatever you’re trying to record. But most cardioid mics are “similar”. Frequency response also can make a difference… A condenser mic usually picks-up more (better) high frequencies than a dynamic mic so it also picks-up more high-frequency noise. But then if you boost highs on the dynamic to make it sound better you’re back where you started or worse.
…Condensers have a built-in phantom-powered “head amp” and that generates some noise (hiss). But overall, it’s usually better than using a lower-output dynamic mic (which has no internal active electronics) and relying on the gain of the preamp. And, the Rode mics are known for being super-quiet.
I had a decent setup with the Yeti and will probably use it in the meantime
ACX wants all your chapters to match. There is no changing microphones in the middle of the book.
There was one forum poster who moved houses in the middle of a book and had to set up with the identical sound in the new house. That was pretty entertaining.
Did you save the Rode’s papers? There’s a lot of people who would kill to have your head start. A known good working microphone, studio, and recording technique.
Koz
You. Need. A. Studio.
There is no wife speaking next door. In my case, I have to lock the ticking Ikea wall clock in the bathroom, pull the shades on the window, shut down the quietly whining internet modem, and unplug the music keyboard bass cabinet. All of them make quiet noises that get into recordings even if they’re not obvious in real life.
It took months to find the hum sound from that bass cabinet. I put a directional microphone on a stick and turned everything on while wearing good quality live headphones. I pointed the microphone around the room and listened to the annoying hum come and go on the headphones.
I live underneath high tension neighborhood power lines and I would have bet that’s where the hum was coming from.
Almost by accident, I got close to the bass speaker cabinet and the hum sound got louder. Go away, come back, go away, come back. It was turned off at the time. I pulled the cabinet plug out of the wall and the hum vanished.
There’s a reason that’s a Mac. As a rule, they make little or no noise. You can overload them with jobs and eventually, the internal fan will turn on, but if you’re careful, they’re quiet.
That picture is a little Hollywood. There are no cables visible. You would have to be sitting on the floor to speak into that microphone. Those are awful headphones. Real ones are much larger.
That reflection in the screen is my outdoor rain gutter. That purple paper clip on the script is to keep it from blowing away.
If I moved what whole thing inside, the light would be terrible, but it would work.
If you get a Windows laptop, save the papers.
This was a PVC Pipe studio somebody made up.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/what-file-should-i-master/47623/9
Koz