Hey folks, first off I’m not 100% sure if this is a good place to ask this question since as far as I can tell it’s nothing in Audacity itself that’s causing the problem (any recording program seems to do it), but I’m hoping someone may have had some similar experience with USB MIc’s that could help me troubleshoot it, or at least direct me somewhere that might help (My google-fu on this has not been successful at all)
I’m currently running Windows 7 and Audacity 2.0.2, and trying to get a Blue Yeti USB microphone to work correctly.
There is an electronic crackling sound that happens every so often (maybe one or two per 10 seconds on average), that is not affected by gain/volume, proximity to my mouth, or volume of my speech. (I’ve tested this using just a static hummmmm and it will randomly have little crackle sounds on the recording)
I’ve tried contacting support at Blue, and after uploading a sample clip they suggested it might be something to do with power settings over usb on my pc, since it seems to work on other pcs just fine. I’ve tried every port (2.0 and 3.0), front and back that my pc has, and if I understand correctly my keyboard (Logitech G19) which is powered separately acts as a powered usb hub, and it still has the same problem on every connection. I’m using the usb cable that came with the microphone, and it does seem to record fine on a different pc.
Unfortunately I was told by support that they had no idea how to troubleshoot usb powering issues as that was outside their knowledge as a microphone tech… And I can not find any similar examples to work with in my searching thus far.
My current pc is both newer and more powerful then the older one I tested the mic on successfully, with a better power supply and more modern motherboard, I also don’t use very many usb devices (mouse/keyboard/headset).
I would appreciate any suggestions on what to try/where to go to seek help, I’m usually pretty proficient at tech support like this, but I’m really drawing a blank on this issue.
I just tried increasing the buffer size from 100 ms to 500 ms in increments with no change at all in the crackling (I don’t really have any frame of reference as too how much difference would help, hopefully that was enough)
Although I may have finally noticed something, I’ve usually found the crackling from clips of speaking, and it really seemed random as to when they’d appear, but lately I’ve been testing it with just a single tone from my pc speakers, and having the mic pick that up since it’s a lot easier to hear the crackles. It actually seems to happen reliably every 2 seconds, which seems strange but possibly helpful.
Are you using 48000 Hz project rate in Audacity (bottom left) and everywhere else in Windows? You should definitely try that because Blue Yeti’s native rate is 48000 Hz and sample rate mismatches could cause crackles. The best way (using Audacity) is probably to use 48000 Hz project rate, and in Device Toolbar, choose Windows DirectSound host. If you are using Cardioid pattern on Yeti, choose 1 (mono) recording channels in Device Toolbar.
Then open Windows Sound ( http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer_Toolbar_Issues#vistacp ). Right-click over the speaker icon by the system clock, then choose “Recording Devices”. Right-click over the Yeti, then choose “Properties”. Then click the “Advanced” tab and enable both “Exclusive Mode” boxes. OK all the windows and restart Audacity. Then Audacity should request 48000 Hz direct from the microphone.
-Updated to 2.0.6
-Changed settings to 48000 Hz in Audacity and single channel
-Set exclusive mode in recording devices for mic
Still getting the crackle every 2 seconds.
I’ll attach a sample clip (now that I notice the option), this is just me playing a single tone through my pc speakers, and having the mic record it for a few seconds, you should be able to hear the crackle every 2 seconds starting at approximately 1 second in.
It took me a weekend of messing about but I think I finally got it.
It appears it’s a conflict stemming from an application LCDHost, which is what I use to display system stats to my lcd display on my keyboard, simply closing that program removes any trace of electronic crackling, and starting it up brings them back.
It’s a little confusing as to precisely why it interferes with the microphone, but it does.
Thanks for reporting the reason for the problem. That seems to be an alpha application. I don’t see the problem listed on their bugs list, but you would probably help them by reporting it on their forum: http://forum.linkdata.se/ .