My S come out too sharp

[RichiRich]

Hi,

I record rap vocals and I use a Samson G-Track USB studio condensor mic. It's a great mic but the problem is when I turn up the volume on the vocals, all the S es come out too sharp. How can I fix this in audacity?


Thanks

[Trebor]

In the past I've suggested the Spitfish free de-esser VST plugin, but occasionally using it (in Audacity) crashes my PC,
(could by my computer at fault though).

[steve]

Experiment with different microphone positions. For the best sound quality you need to find the "sweet spot".

[kozikowski]

If you increase the volume of your capture and the pleasant, clear vocal performance starts becoming harsh, sharp and crunchy, then you are overloading the sound channel. If you do that enough and just right, it's fatal to the show.

The object is to capture the show at whatever volume results in a clear, clean, pleasant, perfect show, and then change the volume, compression, limiting, or other filter and effects in post production to get what you want. Audacity will not apply filters or effects during Capture.

Once you damage the show with peak clipping, crunchiness or cracking, you and the show are dead.

Another idea. Is your sharp, spiky sound still there if you listen on somebody else's computer or sound system?

Koz