Help with equalizing audio

[DXPro]

Hi,

I make nature videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DynamixWarePro but I realized I didn't equalize the recorded voice audio on my videos and that was one reason some didn't sound so good. When I started making videos I sounded boring (not because I didn't EQ the audio) but recently I was given a Rode NT1-A and a Alesis i02 express USB interface and since I was using a Samson C10U before to do voice over recording, it is an improvement. However I do find the Rode NT1-A a bit harsh and a bit too bright at the high end, but not much I can about that for now.

I have recorded some audio and would like help on EQing it. I have tried myself for the past two weeks trying to get it right and have videos I would like to finish and upload and feeling a bit frustrated that I can't finish them without getting audio right.

All I can get is either a more muffled sound, sound a bit tinny or a bit to much high end. If I had a choice, I'd get a better mic that wasn't a rode, but I am stuck for now. Can anyone help get me an EQ setting that will at least make the recording sound as good as it can get for what I have? I have attached a sample of the last recording I made.

I used a acoustic foam shield on the microphone to try and cut some harshness from it and use a pop shield. I also have large acoustic foam panels placed around the area I use my microphone to reduce echo. I can record the attached sample again if necessary, without the foam shield on the microphone if that is limiting the sound at all as I know trying to EQ a bad recording isn't a good start.

I also use a Rode VideoMic Pro on my Canon Legria HF G30 and need help with EQ settings for recorded audio on it, but have not recorded anything with it yet to upload a sample from but I can when I do a recording with it.

I know everyone's voice won't EQ the same and I know I am probably going to be the only one that knows what will sound nearest like my voice, but can't seem to get this right on my own and I have read and watched videos on equalizing recordings. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone help?

[kozikowski]

This is kind of refreshing because 1: You're not a complete beginner, and 2: You're already doing a bunch of the stuff we were going to recommend anyway.

We warn you that when you post like this, Do Not Help Us! This needs to be a clean shoot with no effects, filters or processing. Nothing like trying to take your effects out before we put ours in.

Do you remember what MP3 specification you used?

As we go.

Koz

[kozikowski]

The background is suspiciously quiet. Did you put a noise gate on the sound before you posted it?
Koz

[kozikowski]

Am I going the right direction? The first five seconds are plain you and everything after that is corrected.
Koz

[kozikowski]

You should try another test without the foam stocking over the microphone. I think part of my correction was to make the foam go away. You should be doing that.
Koz

[Trebor]

...I know everyone's voice won't EQ the same and I know I am probably going to be the only one that knows what will sound nearest like my voice, but can't seem to get this right on my own and I have read and watched videos on equalizing recordings. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Can anyone help?

Attachments RodeNT1ATest.mp3

That sounds like a technically good recording of someone with a "sing-song" voice which has wide variations in pitch.
The "sing-song" quality is not correctable with equalization , it may be possible to reduce it with pitch-correction software (autotune). Attached is an "after" where all pitch variation has been removed : it's extreme and robotic, but illustrates the idea of limiting pitch-variation ...

RodeNT1ATest, before-after monotone.mp3

(471 KiB) Downloaded 416 times

[kozikowski]

So now you get to tell us what we're correcting. I got ride of the harshness by suppressing tones around 3000. I "took the foam pad off" by boosting tones from 7000 and higher. This is what my equalizer looks like:

[DXPro]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. I managed to get the recording equalized how I wanted it by re-recording a few samples in a room which was sound proofed with acoustic foam and testing the mic at different distances away from my mouth because it has a proximity effect. New to using condenser microphones and just took a while to get things right. This recording I posted was just a raw recording without being edited. I didn't change anything with the background, the mic itself has only a 5db self noise, so is quite quiet.

All I can get is either a more muffled sound, sound a bit tinny or a bit to much high end.

When I mentioned this, what I really meant was that the mic sounded a little bright as the Rode NT1-A is tweaked at 10khz for a bright sound and trying to eq a clear sound from it was making it sound a little harsh at the higher frequencies and was trying to avoid that as much as possible without making my voice sound a bit flatter.

[kozikowski]

... different distances away from my mouth because it has a proximity effect. New to using condenser microphones ...

It's not the condenser microphone. Directional microphones have proximity effect due to the vents, channels and tricks needed to make the directional pattern(s).

Were you able to get any set of filters which make you sound OK? I know people that use the NT1 and they all seem to be happy. "Harsh" tends to happen around 3KHz. That's where your ear starts to bleed. Also known as "kids screaming on a jet."

Koz

[DXPro]

Hi,

It's not the condenser microphone. Directional microphones have proximity effect due to the vents, channels and tricks needed to make the directional pattern(s).

Well the recording sounds different the further or close you are to the mic, not just the volume and Rode says the NT1-A has a proximity effect.

Code: Select all

Were you able to get any set of filters which make you sound OK? I know people that use the NT1 and they all seem to be happy. "Harsh" tends to happen around 3KHz. That's where your ear starts to bleed. Also known as "kids screaming on a jet."

I started putting a lot of acoustic foam around the walls of where I record as I realized I had to to reduce echo from hard surfaces as trying to fix audio which has the echo ins't the way to go. Once I finish the sound proofing, I try recording again. When I mentioned harsh, what I meant was that at higher frequencies the mic can distort a bit but I'll re try my recordings after I do all this and see what happens.

The background is suspiciously quiet. Did you put a noise gate on the sound before you posted it?

When I made the original recording, I was using (I can't remember the preamp, but it was USB) and kept the input gains low, the input volume low on Audacity and then all I did was use normalize and leveller after recording to get the right level of volume throughout the recording using the default settings for the normalize and leveller.