Loud but clean voice recordings, how???

[TheDaywalker]

Hi guys,

I'm modding for a pc-game and have just started to make my own voice-recordings with audacity for that game. My problem is, that the recordings are not very loud, when I play them back. And if I increase the volume the sound becomes unclean or disapears completely. Noise reduction doesn't work very good also, the result sounds some kind of robotic.

When I import music it's all good, loud and clean. I only have a simple mic, is it a matter of hardware or is there a trick to get clean voice recordings in audacity?


Greets, TheDaywalker!!!

[kozikowski]

<<<Noise reduction doesn't work very good also, the result sounds some kind of robotic.>>>

You must be in Audacity 1.2. 1.3 has a much better control over the reduction process. Also noise profile is critical. If you can't find a section of the performance with noise and no talent/actor/singer, then you're pretty much out of luck.

As a first pass after you get your profile, try the settings: Noise Reduction 20dB, Frequency Smoothing 300 to 500, and Attack/Decay at 0. Completely reducing the noise to zero sounds funny and may contribute to your Martian actors. Noise reduction of 18dB is about half.

<<<...the recordings are not very loud, when I play them back. >>>

Do you have blue waveforms between 0.5 and 1? That is as good as you can get with a plain microphone. Most people are disappointed that a clean microphone doesn't sound anything like the highly processed voices on games, music, or radio.

You can get some of that processing with the compressor tool. If you adjust it just right, that tool will make you sound dense and much louder without actual digital overload--which is deadly and irrecoverable. That tool does an OK but not great job. For that you may have to go to another audio package or plugin. The top packages have multiple threshold controls and they're pretty transparent when they're working--except everything gets louder.

Koz

[TheDaywalker]

Thx, I'll try out what you suggested and see if the voice becomes better.

Btw, I'm using audacity version 1.2.6 and have installed a whole bunch of the ladspa-plugins. Which must-have-plugins would you suggest to install, considering that I work with voice recordings mainly?

Do you have blue waveforms between 0.5 and 1?

My own voice without any modification is positioned somewhere arround the zero-axis and doesn't even go under -0.5 or above 0.5. Should I be afraid, because of that?!


Greets, TheDaywalker!!!

[kozikowski]

<<<somewhere arround the zero-axis and doesn't even go under -0.5 or above 0.5. Should I be afraid, because of that?!>>>

"Afraid" may be too strong a word, but you are not making good use of Audacity's ability to handle loud sounds.

What kind of microphone and how is it connected and to what kind of machine?

Koz

[TheDaywalker]

I just have a simple mic (PHILIPS SBC MD110) and it's connected to my old pc!


TheDaywalker

[kozikowski]

OK, so you got an adapter to plug that microphone into the Mic-In of your PC's sound card. Lots of people do that. Heck, I do that when nobody's looking. Do you have the Windows Sound Panel volume controls associated with that microphone turned up?

You can launch Audacity and click once inside the red recording meters. Audacity will not go into record, but it will turn the meters on so you can adjust the sound.

You should be able to lean into the microphone and get the meters to peak between -3 and 0, maybe even overload. We bought a series of sound cards at work by accident that will not do that no matter what. Those sound cards almost always produce a very quiet and sometimes unusable show.

Another item, some sound card control panels have a setting for "20 dB Boost" for the microphone channel. Turn that on.

Koz

[TheDaywalker]

OK, so you got an adapter to plug that microphone into the Mic-In of your PC's sound card. Lots of people do that. Heck, I do that when nobody's looking. Do you have the Windows Sound Panel volume controls associated with that microphone turned up?

Controls are all turned up.

You can launch Audacity and click once inside the red recording meters. Audacity will not go into record, but it will turn the meters on so you can adjust the sound.

Doesn't work, as soon as I press the red button audacity starts recording.


Greets, TheDaywalker!!!

[steve]

Controls are all turned up.

Could you specify which controls are turned up.

You can launch Audacity and click once inside the red recording meters. Audacity will not go into record, but it will turn the meters on so you can adjust the sound.

Doesn't work, as soon as I press the red button audacity starts recording.

Read again.... there was no mention of pressing the red button.
"click once inside the red recording meters"

When operating, the playback meter (on the left) indicates the audio signal with a green bar, and the recording meter (on the right) indicates the audio signal with a red bar.

[TheDaywalker]

These are the controls I ment:

http://pic.leech.it/i/d2df1/f20714dbaudio.jpg

Ok, I didn't get right, what was ment with recording meters. I'm from germany and sometimes my english sucks!
I whistled a tune and here is how the recording meters did react, but how can I adjust anything now? I have no clue!

http://pic.leech.it/i/d82a6/e0ec57caudio2.jpg


Thx, TheDaywalker!!!

[steve]

I'm from germany and sometimes my english sucks!

Not at all, your English is very good

Controls are all turned up.

You've missed one.

In the picture http://pic.leech.it/i/d2df1/f20714dbaudio.jpg
I see that you are recording from the microphone input and have the main microphone (Mikrofon) input slider turned full up.
There is also a "boost" switch which will add a further 20dB gain to the microphone input.
See the window "Erxeiterte Einstellungen fur Mikrofon" - at the bottom there is a tick box "1 Mic Boost". If you tick that box you will get a 20dB boost to the signal and you will then have to turn the slider down to stop the level going too high.

Note that on-board sound cards usually have fairly poor quality microphone inputs, so you can expect to get a certain amount of hiss in your recording.