Hissing(white noise) problem with USB microphone

[thesaka24]

Hi everyone, I am new here.
I come to you seeking help.
I have no problems with Audacity itself, I have been using it for 2-3 years and I think its a great software that suits my needs.
However, I have a problem with my equipment and I was hoping someone who knows better than me can help me.

I bought Behringer C-1U microphone, its a new mic, about 70$, and sounds great.
My problem is that, when I record with it, I can hear a hissing/white noise in my recording.
I attached a sample of my recording.
You can hear the white noise in the background but my room is really quiet.

Can anyone help me, what can be causing this problem ?
(I also have one more condenser mic and it has the same problem,which leads me to conclusion that its not the problem with mic itself)

[kozikowski]

(I also have one more condenser mic and it has the same problem,which leads me to conclusion that its not the problem with mic itself)

We live on fine details. What other microphone and is it USB?

Is this a raw sound file? Did you press Stop from the recording and immediately Export? Record another test with no effects, filters or other changes.

Hold your breath and stop moving for two seconds. Breathe and announce the test for about eight seconds. Cut off anything over ten seconds total and export WAV (Microsoft).

We don't need stereo. Use the menu system under the little back arrow to the left of the track and choose Split Stereo to Mono and delete one track. That will allow you to post ten seconds of test.

Koz

[thesaka24]

The other microphone I have is Fame Studio CU1 USB Condenser Microphone.
The file is raw, recorded in Audacity.
Yes I recorded, stopped, and then used export. No effects were used.
I only used the little slider next to the track to increase the volume by +7 so you can hear it clearly.

testwhitenoise.wav

Wav test with white noise

(862.33 KiB) Downloaded 61 times

Here is another attachment, raw, no effects, only +7 audio increase with slider on the left of the track, Wav file, mono, as you said, first 2-3 seconds total silence, and then test for about 8 sec

[kozikowski]

I only used the little slider next to the track to increase the volume by +7

We don't want to hear it clearly. You are disguising the symptoms when you change the volume.

Next pass go straight from stop after announcing to Export. Don't touch anything else and don't just readjust the last clip. I need to know exactly what Audacity was thinking at the moment of recording.

Thanks,

Koz

[thesaka24]

Ok Here you go
No edits whatsoever, recorded and exported right away.

whitenoisetest123.wav

raw sound file white noise

(845.74 KiB) Downloaded 45 times

[kozikowski]

Is that better (attached)?

The microphone noise passes ACX Audiobook by itself, but your voice is low. Can you get closer or louder? You can't get too close because you might start to pop your P sounds.

When you record, you should be able to put your voice in the yellow range on the Audacity sound meters.



Sometimes, there's a software package with the microphone that can give your voice more volume as you perform. If it's an ASIO software package, Audacity does not support ASIO. There are comments that low volume is pretty normal with this microphone.

I can give you the filters I used when I get back in the house.

Koz

[thesaka24]

Yes this microphone is very low anyways, but that doesn't bother me, I can EQ it and use compression on my vocal.

Anyways, as much as I appreciate you using a gate or some filters and stuff to reduce the noise, this does not solve my problem.
I was hoping for someone who has experience with equipment itself to help me, maybe I can buy something to stop this noise completely, as I am sure it is possible, I was listening to other recording with this microphone and they are completely clear.

Now I see I came to the wrong place to seek help, thank you for your time but you can't help me.
I will be leaving this forum now.
Have a nice day.

[Gale Andrews]

I was hoping for someone who has experience with equipment itself to help me, maybe I can buy something to stop this noise completely, as I am sure it is possible, I was listening to other recording with this microphone and they are completely clear.

The noise is normal and not severe. Recordings without the noise have probably been processed.

You could solve RF noise (hum and possibly some hiss) using http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 47#p241647.

You don't say what type of computer it is. If it's a laptop their USB ports often share the same interrupt so they receive noise from all USB peripherals. Laptops are sometimes quieter when on battery.


Gale

[kozikowski]

There is a version of this microphone without the USB. That one can be used with a well-behaved sound mixer to produce a very quiet, clear recording. Also, as I posted, if you use a sound program that accepts ASIO, that may help as well.

Koz