Background hummng

[mandyallen]

I am using windows 7 and a usb headset and mic. When I playback spoken tracks there is a hum in the background. I turned the mic volume right down and it helps a bit but in order to hear the spoken words it needs to be at a volume where the hum still grinds away in the background. Am I doing something wrong, is there a way to reduce this, or ideally get rid of it completely?

[kozikowski]

<<<I turned the mic volume right down and it helps a bit>>>

A bit? If you kill the microphone volume control the hum and your voice should go to zero. If it doesn't, you may have something wrong with your computer or USB connections.

Have you tried different USB connections? Are you going through a USB hub or splitter? USB sound devices don't much like that. They like direct connections.

Is it possible you're listening to your room noises? Most people have no idea how noisy their rooms are until they try to make a quiet recording.

Since Audacity is free, you can try your headphone on somebody else's computer. If it still hums, you need a new headset/microphone.

Koz

[mandyallen]

The headset is new. I don't get the hum on a windows 7 recording using the recording tool - I did consider just using that and getting something to transfer the files to mp3 rather than media player. I thought I would try audacity and it is really easy to use, I enjoyed it a lot, but the hum is quite loud. I don't have anything 'humming' in the room, and can hear the birds singing outside in the background, which is nice. I record story books so need something good quality, so I guess it's got to be the windows 7 recording tool and a transfer software, thanks for trying to help, anyway. I just thought it might be some setting I had failed to notice.

[steve]

I just thought it might be some setting I had failed to notice.

Perhaps it is, but you have not yet given us much information to work with.
Audacity produces very high quality recordings, so if there is hum on the recording then it must be coming from somewhere. What we need to do is to isolate where the hum is coming from and then eradicate it.

I don't get the hum on a windows 7 recording using the recording tool

Do you mean that you can record using your headset with the Windows Sound recorder and the recording is clear with no hum, but if you record, using the same set-up, but using Audacity instead of Sound Recorder then there is hum on the recording?
Do you hear the hum while you are recording, or only when you play back the recording?

I'm really not at all clear about what you are doing and at what stage this hum appears.

[mandyallen]

Yes, I use the same headset, it is directly into the USB port (no hub used), I cannot hear the hum when I am recording, but it is very prominent when I play back. The Windows media playback, recorded using the recording tool in accessories, does not have any hum on it at all. I have not changed any settings, I just pressed record and started talking. After the first attempt I turned the mic setting up thinking my voice would be louder and the hum would reduce in the background, but it increased the hum also, the hum is less prominent with the mic setting lower down the scale, but clearly my voice is also quite soft at that point.

I'm sorry if I am not giving you enough info, I do not know what I am doing so it's difficult to know what you might need to know...if you see what I mean.

[kozikowski]

<<<I'm sorry if I am not giving you enough info,>>>

We'll ask you if we need more.

Record a fresh short hummy voice or open an existing one with hum on it and Export As WAV. Close Audacity and open that WAV file up in Windows Media. Still hummy?

Koz

[steve]

Could you also tel us exactly which version of Audacity you are using. (Look in the Audacity Help menu > About Audacity).

If it is an up to date version, there will be a setting at the bottom of the "Transport" menu called "Software Playthrough (on/off)". Make sure that is off (not selected).
It's not very likely that that is the problem, but it would be nice to eliminate that possibility early on.

[jkp]

I had the same problem. I'm using a logitech USB headphone on an Acer Aspire 1830T-3505 Computer. when I used the powercord to my computer I got the hum. When I turned off the electicity and used only battery power, my recording did not have the hum. I hope this helps