Windows 10, AMD Ryzen: Poor digital mic-like recording

[Schertler]

It's probably about 5 years old. A generic i7 laptop with SSD + hdd. The build quality is reasonable and it's a good number cruncher (it's very fast for the price, which is what I needed for software development). The fan is quite noisy and the sound chip is rubbish

The sound quality from your Sony Vaio sounded pretty good for a laptop, though a portable digital recorder is likely to sound noticeably better. As a musician I find my "Zoom H2" (old model) very convenient, especially for recording things like band rehearsals - just put it on a stand and press Record.

If your HP Envy is still under warranty it may be worth contacting the supplier - you may just have a bad one.

It is very interesting what makes internal audio-cards vary that much in different model computers, I assume they all might be made under very few manufacturers and sharing almost the same technology and components as they are not a high-end class electronics...... however, something makes them different !! I have never been a recording fan, so my experience is just a week-long, just downloaded Audacity and tried it in my old Vaio - all went easy and cool!
I was surely expecting even better quality with this new 2019 model HP laptop but, you never know ........
It does not seem to be a warranty issue, all works well and fine, however the audio output is not that true you may expect to hear from the recording.
Still checking for potential improvements through HP customer service.

[waxcylinder]

I have a W10 HP Envy Laptop 17-ae0xx - it's soundcard is Realtek High Definition Audio(SST) I have no issues with sound quality on this HP Envy.

Recording from the on-board mic is nowhere near hi-fi quality (I wouldn't expect that), but not as bad as a "poor quality digital cellphone".
It does sound a bit as though I am recording in a large pipe.

Thanks! Sounds very interesting, perhaps you do have a few demo-samples to listen to ........!

Here you go with my "dulcet" tones - I'm no VO artiste ...

HP Envy.wav

(1.2 MiB) Downloaded 14 times

Macbook Pro.wav

(904.04 KiB) Downloaded 12 times

Peter.

[Schertler]

Here you go with my "dulcet" tones - I'm no VO artiste ...

HP Envy.wav

Macbook Pro.wav

Peter.

Macbook does sound not bad........ Your HP Envy a bit better of cell-phone mic.....
Just to make this clear: are these two samples recorded through internal camera's digital mics ? or through headset mics ??

Actually, if I do record my voice in Audacity through headset mic, it does not sound that noisy and terribly chewed..... however, plugging my acoustic guitar's preamp into Envy's headset mic Input-line, the final recording goes out that bad !! Comparing to Vaio's mic Input, Envy has even lower sensitivity that in fact should be better to accommodate guitar preamp's line output but, NO, it is hugely bad !!
In addition with searching potential ways, I would like to try a decent quality USB audio-interface with Envy because it is a superior machine and should do many tasks really fast, if that external USB adapter-interface can be a solution, then it does make sense to purchase one...... are you sure that a professional-class USB interface does not care of the actual internal audio-card and thus is capable to offer a decent sound recording ??? Thank you!!

[waxcylinder]

I also have an external USB soundcard (Edirol UA-1EX, no longer in production by Roland) - I bought it a decade or so ago when I was converting my vinyl (with an older long-dead PC). These days I use it to capture FM broadcasts - excellent results.

Although the Edirol is no longer in production you could for your guitar & preamp a USB card like the Behringer UCA202 (Steve and Koz both have these).

Peter.

[Schertler]

Thanks for the suggestions!
At the moment I am building large diaphragm condenser mic with my vintage CK12 capsule by AKG, actually this microphone encouraged me for all this recording-related enthusiasm and activity ...... hope the capsule works fine, then I will get a decent 2-channel USB interface. Steinberg and Roland models come first in the list.....

[Schertler]

As the one of the golden rules of SNR recommends, I tried recording with higher volumes today...... and, that worked well on this new business laptop! Although, playing is not very comfortable due to high sensitivity of on-board transducers, however if you want this then you can really manage it! Sorry for such a detailed sounds from the body of the instrument etc......

Well, when considering computers for a direct recording, you may or may not be lucky with your actual internal audio-card, so here are a few tips of how you can do that with a really poor quality audio-card:

1) Disable all Audio Enhancements
2) Set computer's Mic Boost to Zero
3) Set the computer's Input volume <1 closer to Zero
4) Set your signal source at its highest possible (I got Gain of ~300)

I was a bit tired with the previous tryouts, so I have got these two samples quickly and used only Noise, Amplify and Bass&Treble effects, and just a very little Reverb for having the sound little bit smoother...... so, thanks to Audacity for its easy but a decent recording characteristics !!

[Trebor]

... so I have got these two samples quickly and used only Noise, Amplify and Bass&Treble effects ...

Attachments
Dynamic _ ENVY _ 1.mp3 (494.69 KiB)
Condenser _ ENVY _ 1.mp3 (706.94 KiB)

The EQ on those is, err, very unconventional ...

Your guitar EQ is red

Green is good acoustic guitar.gif (82.1 KiB) Viewed 252 times

https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/plot_spectrum.html

[Schertler]

Thanks! At the proposed-link page, tried to find the meaning of "unconventional" but got found neither 'unconventional' nor 'conventional'.... it seems to be the next what I have to learn in audio as I am not a recording specialist......
Actually, there are more Mid-frequencies on your graphs, and this is what I dislike more; actually, I used only Low-High frequencies in Audacity's EQ....

Initially, my task was all about eliminating the noise of internal audio-card and a very specific and unpleasant chewed-like sound of the instrument either on the back..... so, I would be grateful for you comments noting of either of these two issues found in the sample-audios!!

As noted, this is not about music production, I just wanted to know on whether I could go over this noisy audio-cart, and Yes, it is possible! You only have to get the card's input at its lowest.....
However, wishing to record the music this way you will have to practice a bit not to get all the unnecessary sounds of hands/fingers, neck, body etc., and own a versatile preamp as it is mine .....

[Trebor]

... tried to find the meaning of "unconventional" but got found neither 'unconventional' nor 'conventional'....

I was being diplomatic: it sounds very abnormal, (not good).

If you compare the frequency-spectrum of your recording with that of store-bought guitar-music you can see how abnormal your equalization is.
Audacity's plot-spectrum is independent of loudspeakers/headphones/hearing/Windows playback enhancements.

... there are more Mid-frequencies on your graphs, and this is what I dislike more;
actually, I used only Low-High frequencies in Audacity's EQ....

Possibly Windows is applying playback-enhancement on your computer,
and your extreme equalization is a consequence of correcting for that.

Could be a hardware problem: the EQ correction required to compensate for impedance missmatch.

[Schertler]

Hi Trebor,

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge and competencies!
I can not disagree on your comments as the samples were made under abnormal settings and methods, however I cannot agree that these samples do not sound fine if comparing them to those firsts made under laptop's audio-card controls......
Actually, I just needed to demoing the sound of this particular on-board mics' system. Building this pickup/preamp system does cost almost nothing, however buying similar of a factory-made easily may cost over $1K...... and that saved budget would definitely buy you a decent all-solid acoustics!
Will always check with Audacity's plot-spectrum for the next recording sessions!

Cheers!