Background: Im a relatively new podcaster. In truth, Im a consultant that is simply using podcasting as one of my content channels. I’m mostly comfortable editing, Ive been editing film for 10 years as a hobby (short films Ive done).
Ok, the problem. I converted a small closet to podcasting booth with sound proofing, surround the outside with noise dampening blankets. I have a sock over my Blue Yeti microphone to cut down on my breathing sounds, huge help. The blue Yeti hangs upside down and is several feet from my laptop. I guess thats about it, with regards to my set-up. I have recorded and edited about 8 podcasts, no problems. Suddenly, without anything changing, about 3 minutes in, I’m get a ton of crackling. Sounds very much like when speakers going out. I typically stand about 6-8 inches from the microphone, that seems to be the sweet spot. The only thing that has changed is I forgot to take my phone out of my pants pocket. Could that do that? Again- I have not had any problems with this in the past with the set-up I have outlined.
I can tell precisely when my cellphone “checks in” to the tower for confirmation of connection by listening to leakage in the sound system, but it’s not crackling. It’s more like highly distorted rag-time band. Google Spike Jones
Has it happened since? If I described to you a radio receiver at the same time you were looking at the inside of a microphone, you wouldn’t be able to tell which was which. It’s not a stretch.
So to test this, I just rerecord a smaller piece, I lost 48 minutes of unuseable audio- not fun, with my cell off (which is usually the case). If the problem does not repeat, assume cell phone interference?
The puddingy proof is make a recording with the cellphone on but sitting on the desk next to you. I can’t tell you what the connection time is, but you should be able to tell that from the destroyed recording. If you can break a recording under controlled conditions, then you know what causes it.
Similarly, I found a hum problem by making it worse. I cranked a microphone up as far as I could, listened on headphones and moved it around the room until the hum got much worse. One of my bass cabinets was causing it.
The crackles could be tiny missing bits, ( each about 1/100th of a second ), called skipping*, that can be caused by many things, including a hard drive which is too full … FAQ:Recording - Troubleshooting - Audacity Manual
