Snowy Noise in the background Vocal (talking only) audio

[MuLLady244]

I am creating an audio book. I am creathing the track then I am using the in the effect menu AMPLIFY. When I do this there is hissing snowy noise in the background. I attempted to do in the effect menu NOISE REMOVAL but all that does is replace it with a scretching noise. What can I do so that the only noise heard is my voice without the background noise?

[kozikowski]

<<<I am creathing the track>>>

How? That's the important step. The quality of the microphone and microphone amplifier plays a big role in not only the quality of the performance, but the hiss in the background. Microphone signals are very, very weak and making them loud enough to record is a hard job.

All amplifiers make their own noise in addition to amplifying your voice, it's one of the specifications when you buy one. If you are using a microphone plugged into the "Mic-In" of your computer, you may not be happy with the results. Those amplifiers must be made very cheaply and their design goal is an internet phone call, not theatrical performance.

Koz

[kozikowski]

The down side of posting where you did is we have no idea which Audacity you have or which computer. You may find the the noise reduction in Audacity 1.3 is enormously improved over 1.2.

Koz

[MuLLady244]

WOW! thanx Koz I downloaded the newest version and the noise removal works like a charm. Thanx Rock Star that was very very helpful

[kozikowski]

All in a day's work.

All these tools produce some damage. The better the original capture is the better the final show will be, filter tools or not. You should take steps to make the original performance as clean as possible.

I predict [holding finders to forehead] that you are going to get really tired applying that stupid filter all the time. You will also create at least one show where you forget to leave a blank profile capture place. You may have to record that show all over again.

The next day you start shopping for a new microphone.

Koz

[MuLLady244]

I have an EV microphone (model N/D767a) which is not bad. The issue probably (not confirmed) is that I bought a $25 USB plug in which connects my microphone directly into my computer. I am "NOT" using an amplifier. Can you post a link to what you think will fix this. Remember all I am doing is talking. No singing or music. Straight vocal for an audio book. Plus I am attempting to keep the cost as low as possible.

Also as I read on this audacity link:

http://www.audacityteam.org/manual/inde ... ng_Quality

Suggests that I look at my sound card. I am using a DELL laptop inspiron E1705. Under sounds and audio devices then under sound recording it says Sigma Tel Audio.

Then under the audacity link it goes on to say

Mic In
Generally the Mic In port on a computer is only meant to have a small computer microphone plugged into it. If you have a microphone with an 1/8" (3.5mm) 3-conductor jack plug, it will probably work if plugged into this port.

[edit]Line In
The Line In port is the highest quality input available on most sound cards (like the one pictured above). It expects to have a Line level signal plugged into it, this is the same level used by most consumer-oriented audio equipment. Equipment such as tape decks, record players, MiniDisc players, Video Game Systems and so on should be plugged into this port.


Does that mean I should go out and get a 1/8" (3.5mm) 3-conductor jack plug for my microphone?

Or based on the Line In statement should I get a device that will allow me to maximize the IN LINE quality.

To summarize:

Happy with EV mic
Not sure about the USB cord I bought
Wonder if I should upgrade my sound card
In addtion to solve above USB issue should I get a 1/8" (3.5mm) 3-conductor jack plug or is there another solution to take advantage of the LINE IN quality?

If you have equipment suggestions please post the link.

I appreciate the help,

MuLLady

[MuLLady244]

Based on the research that I have done I have come with:

Sound Blaster X-Fi NoteBook sound card
CBI LowZ or HiZ microphone cord

And keep my EV microphone.

Any thoughts on this choice?

MuLLady

[steve]

With the X-Fi you need to ensure that your notebook has the appropriate socket. The device looks like a convenient solution, but most of the reviews concentrate on the playing of sound rather than the recording of sound. I've not found anything that says if the microphone pre-amp is any good, which makes me suspicious. Also, it only has a mini-jack connector, which means that you would need a special adaptor cable. I don't like mini-jack connectors as they never seem to be very secure and are easy to break.

An alternative in the same price range would be to use a USB microphone preamp. "ART" make a suitable product that has had favourable reviews on this forum. It is considerably bigger than the X-Fi, but has a full size XLR microphone socket and a high quality microphone pre-amp.

[kozikowski]

By "shopping for a new microphone" I'm metaphorically advancing the idea of changing the capture sound pathway.

Nothing wrong with the actual microphone, although we can talk about why you chose that particular one. Hypercardiod microphones are valuable in recording sessions where the "studio" has a lot of noise -- cats, metrobus, refrigerator, echoes. They're great at rejecting sound that comes in from the sides and rear, but they sacrifice a little voice quality to do it. Given that you're talking straight into the microphone, not too close or too far away and not trying to hand-hold it, it should be OK.

It does have a professional XLR-3 (three gold pins in the connector) on the bottom. It's not easy to get that into a sound system not built to accept it. See ARTS above.

That's not to say it can't be done, but I got brought up short when I tried to do it with parts I didn't personally build with my tools and soldering iron. Usually, I can come up with a Radio Shack collection of parts that will adapt anything to anything else, but this time, I got stuck. This "got stuck" part may be one reason your existing system isn't performing at top quality.

There is another poster with a very similar problem and he, too, is trying to adapt a very good microphone into his laptop. I need to do a little more searching before I make a recommendation that doesn't involve changing your whole system around. I do think we can do better with what's there.

<<<CBI LowZ or HiZ microphone cord>>>

Can you find a web site that talks about that cord?

Can you post a minute or two of the raw performance before you cleaned it? I want to listen to the noise. Try to post a high quality WAV, not an MP3.

Koz

[MuLLady244]

I have posted a WAV not AMPED, WAV AMPED AND a MP3 AMPED at http://www.THE244.com. I made these recordings for you specifically for this issue. Each is about 1 minute long. Ultimately I will end up using an AMPED (amplified) MP3, so I did post that for you plus what you asked for. I use http://animoto.com/ to combine pictures and audio. Currently they only support MP3. I do use the effect AMPLIFY because it seems necessary to produce a reasonable volume. Without this I am assuming a person will have to crank up the volume to hear the recording. If that is this case then I would also assume some people would not take the trouble and just move on to the next thing. So that is why I use the effect Amplify, if you have a different opinion about this I would enjoy hearing it.

As far as the X-Fi I agree. After I posted I did do some more research and there did seem to be some issues with recording. So I am wide open to suggestions here.

I thought that was a good microphone but if you say different I am open to guidance here. And I am really attempting to watch the budget.

I was off on the cord it's NOT for a computer so I am back to ground zero on this issue http://www.zzounds.com/item--CBIMLC

Across the board I am wide open to suggestions.

You can check out the recordings at http://www.THE244.com

I really appreciate the effort Koz.

Enjoy this day,

MuLLady