Windows10, Audacity version 2.4.2, Samson Meteor USB
Hi there, I’ve been looking all over youtube and this forum for over a week now, tried everything I can think of.
Below is a 13 second sample of the mic and the whine (feedback?) I’m getting. The only way I’ve found to silence it is to Noise Reduction it about -40 db’s, which usually destroys the rest of my recordings.
For reference the mic is in the recording is currently on the my bed under a huge pillow, as far away from my computer as I can physically reach it. I have absolutely no idea what could be causing the whine, I can’t isolate it to a source in my room.
I’ve seen talk that the USB power itself is causing the whine, and I can confirm that depending on which USB slot I plug it into, the whine is MUCH worse on certain slots.
If there’s any way to eliminate the whine without destroying my recording’s quality (and preferably without having to buy a new mic/equipment/ect) I’d love any help I can get.
Then Select the whole performance, Effect > Mosquito Killer > 8 mosquitoes.
Before you get all fuzzy-warm about that, Mosquito Killer is removing tiny bits of sound from your show, so it’s not a free ride. You should really be fixing the actual problem.
The Curse happens when the computer produces ratty or sloppy 5 volt battery for its USB service and both the computer and the microphone leave it up to each other to clean it up. And neither one does.
Works like a charm, thanks a ton!
What did you mean about solving the actual problem? How would I go about removing it permanently? I’ve seen talk about some kind of divider or using a USB houser or something like that.
There’s a long list of “solutions” and we’ve been through most of them. There is no universal stable solution except one. Change the computer.
We had a lot of hope for the externally powered USB hub because in that case, the 5 volt power in the system comes from a separate wall power supply and not the computer. Then users started arriving with hubs that were so crappy the wall power supply created more noise than the computer.
You’re wondering how could USB systems work like this? Most times it doesn’t make any difference. If you plug a USB keyboard into one of these systems would you really know if once every three or four months your typing got the wrong key? How about a mouse? Who would know if it didn’t track perfectly straight all the time? The microphone is the perfect storm where it’s immediately obvious there’s something wrong.
Change the computer until it goes away. The dialog goes something like this: “I tried my microphone on my next-door neighbor’s computer and the sound is perfectly clean.”
That’s the single line solution. There are solutions where you change the microphone. Analog microphones plugged into USB interfaces tend to not have this problem because the interfaces are forced to filter and clean the USB 5 volts to work at all.
This is how I did it. That thing on the left is a Behringer UM2.
Note it’s plugged into a Mac which tend to not have this problem, either.
If you’re planning on any kind of serious work, it’s a good idea to eliminate as much cleaning, processing, and “rescuing” as you can. Past the sound quality issue, sooner or later you’re going to forget to fix something and post damaged work.
Then there’s a more global issue. A business should be putting the least amount of work and materials as possible to produce a good product. This is why people hire seemingly expensive studios. Walk in, announce the work, and go home. Not announce the work and then start disaster recovery and trying to get rid of the dog barking for the next several hours.
I am experiencing the exact same kind alike noising with the mike on my Mac pro. It could be an mike issue and not an usb 5 Volt issue since the same noise oocurs when I am recording using my iphone 11 Pro.
The USB whine is only the most common cause. You can have whine sounds from fluorescent lights, LED lights, CFL Light Bulbs, or even straight, ordinary light bulbs dimmed half-way. eeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Sometimes a leaking air sound. sssssssssssss.
That’s likely if you got the noise on more than one recorder.
Make a test recording and turn all your lights off, just as a test. Noise go away? Did it change?
Turn your monitor off. They can leak noises like this.
This is less likely, but leave your phone in the next room, or in the garage. Are you reading from a tablet? Move the tablet away.
Wow, I just replaced the over one meter USB Cable with a gold plated short braided cable and all whine is gone. I could almost use the recorded voice without any post edit. But only had my Macbook Pro (early 2015) and the Samson mike itself on the table, no other electric disturbers. If the Mac was on battery or plugged in wouldn’t make a difference so far.
