Hi (first time posting). I’m on Audacity 2.4.2, macOS 10.4.6. I’m an audiobook narrator and exclusively use Audacity to produce books for ACX. I use the logarithmic (dB) waveform to edit as it’s far easier for me and until two weeks ago I was using a Blue Yeti USB microphone. As part of upgrading my system I bought a new Scarlett Focusrite Solo 3rd Gen to use with a new Rode NT1 microphone. The set up went fine and I worked out how to record logarithmically (?) in the latest Audacity. But the sound wave coming out is completely foreign looking. Instead of appearing roughly like a mirrored city skyline on the horizon, the new sound wave loops above and below the horizon either tightly packed or loose and baggy when there is a quiet patch (see pngs attached). I have scoured Audacity’s forum for anyone with a similar problem but no luck. The latest feedback from the mic supplier suspects it could be the ‘parameters’ on Audacity. I’m still waiting for my ticket to get picked up by Scarlett Focusrite.
I’ve attached 2 screen grabs showing 3 recordings of the same bit of script and comparing the old waveform which I can still get by hooking back up the Blue Yeti, and the new waveform produced by two Rode mics both using the Scarlett focusrite.
In grateful anticipation
Trixie
ps I reinstalled the previous Audacity 2.3.x and the loopy waveform is still there. My partner bought the exact same Scarlett Focusrite Solo preamp but with a Rode NT1-A and is on a PC (Windows 10). He’s got the same loopy waveform.
NT1A and Scarlett Solo user here, also on 2.4.2. The Røde is picking up considerably more background noise/room echo than the Yeti, I suspect. I’d be surprised if it’s the Scarlett or those pesky ‘parameters’, and the NT1’s own noise should be virtually nil. Assuming you’re monitoring through headphones plugged into the scarlett as you record, how does it sound? Noisier room than before? And if you run an ACX check on a raw recording, what’s the reading for the noise floor compared to that of a Yeti track?
If your mac’s fans are firing up while you record, you may find you need to set up further from it (I banish my mb pro to the hallway). Here’s a pic of a raw track of equivalent length to yours, recorded in a dead room when the neighbours aren’t vacuuming/showering/gardening/talking in anything above a whisper.
Hi. Thank you so much for your responses. I was out of my booth for the rode mic recordings but attached the screen shots anyway because they still demonstrate the shape that is unfamiliar. RE my noise floor; the Blue Yeti in my (much quieter) booth is around -65dB. Yes, it’s louder with the Rode - around -62dB. And this is despite banishing the mac to the hall and using a monitor. So I’m still working on creating a quieter space. But it’s the weird Waveform shape that dogged me, and it looks the same whether recording on a mac or pc. In desperation with 2 books to start, I bought an Audient Evo4 to replace the Scarlett Focusrite Solo 3rd gen. It arrived yesterday, and the waveform pattern is back to familiar. Pic attached … not great noise floor I know but something I can work with once more. I guess it’s an anomaly in my house (but I’m still having trouble not thinking it was the Solo).
