MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Help for Audacity on Windows.
Forum rules
ImageThis forum is for Audacity on Windows.
Please state which version of Windows you are using,
and the exact three-section version number of Audacity from "Help menu > About Audacity".


Audacity 1.2.x and 1.3.x are obsolete and no longer supported. If you still have those versions, please upgrade at https://www.audacityteam.org/download/.
The old forums for those versions are now closed, but you can still read the archives of the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums.
Post Reply
whats that sound
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:47 am
Operating System: Please select

MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Post by whats that sound » Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:56 am

Recorded my band with Tascam Hand Held Recorder on lowest recording level and still have distortion in recording but, when loaded in Audacity have no red lines. Do I have any hope of reducing the distortion? And if so can anyone give me a recommendation on how to reduce it? Thanks in advance for any help provided!

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69384
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Post by kozikowski » Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:47 am

You are probably overloading the built-in Tascam microphone. Rock Bands are very difficult to record. The bass guitar will destroy most microphones at Club Volume. You can measure the bass performance on earthquake meters.

The grownups do this by using a separate, very robust microphone and putting attenuators between the mic and the recorder. Some microphones have attenuators built-in. I think the Blue Snowball has a switch position for -10 volume and this is why it's there.

No, once you overload the sound electronics, that's the end of the story.

In order to make a microphone sound without question as good as it can possibly sound, they have to put a very tiny, delicate MicPre between the microphone and the first place you can control the volume. It doesn't matter how much you turn the volume down, that little MicPre is already lying bleeding on the floor.

Somebody in the band may have a spare SM58.
http://www.shure.com/americas/products/ ... microphone

Plug that into a Shure or somebody else's attenuator stack.
http://www.shure.com/americas/products/ ... attenuator

Switch in the maximum attenuation (25dB??) and try recording with that. If you have trouble making level, drop down to 15dB attenuation. Do not go into the club without trying that out first.

Koz

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69384
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Post by kozikowski » Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:49 am

Which Tascam have you got? They don't all accept outside microphones. Koz

whats that sound
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:47 am
Operating System: Please select

Re: MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Post by whats that sound » Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:18 am

DR-03 and it has mic in

steve
Site Admin
Posts: 81653
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:43 am
Operating System: Linux *buntu

Re: MP3 Recording is distorted but no red lines in Audacity

Post by steve » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:15 am

whats that sound wrote:Recorded my band with Tascam Hand Held Recorder on lowest recording level
As Koz wrote, if you play in a loud band, you are probably overloading the microphone.
A low sensitivity dynamic microphone plugged into it will probably do the trick.
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Post Reply