I get a watery sound when removing noise in audacity

[steve]

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-co ... evices/221

I know you've mentioned these before and recommended them as inexpensive microphones for voice recording, but going back to the first post, are they likely to be any good for recording an acoustic guitar? I'm sure the noise level will be lower than using the laptop's internal sound card, but will the "acoustic noise canceling" cause problems recording a guitar?

[kozikowski]

<<<will the "acoustic noise canceling" cause problems recording a guitar?>>>

I can but find out. I expect it to be a little thin, but that can be cured in Audacity with no great increase in damage. I also expect it to help suppress the air conditioning noise and that will be a big plus.

I need to corral someone who has an acoustic guitar in the building at the same time I am.

Koz

[kozikowski]

I have achieved Nirvana. One of the digital supervisors has a guitar just down the hall from me, he'll let me use it, and he's going to be on vacation(holiday) for the rest of the week.

Koz

[cwaugh18]

Hey, could I use a preamp? If I were to increase my budget and buy a preamp for 150 bucks... and a microphone.... could I connect the preamp to my laptop via usb sound card and then connect my mic and guitar into the preamp? Then when i sing and play the guitar it should send a digital signal into my computer correct? Would audacity work for that?

[steve]

Yes you could, though a better solution with your new found budget extension might be a "USB pre-amp".

You are now getting really close to the answer in the forums' longest topic http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?t=22109
(grab a cup of tea and have a read - there's a lot of information)

Review: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 477#p80431
Web page: http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp ... =13&id=132

Of course, once you have the pre-amp, if you can only stretch to a low budget microphone, you would be able to upgrade the microphone at a later date.

[cwaugh18]

Hey stevethefiddle, the preamp I was looking at was usb. It connected to the computer using a usb. One question.... if the guitar is directly connected to the preamp and the preamp is connected to the usb sound cards line in and the laptop....... it would give me a much better and cleaner digital guitar recording correct? However if I connected the microphone for the vocals.... wouldn't that pick up the guitar as well and mess up the decent direct guitar recording?

I will read through that link.

Thanks,
-Chris

[steve]

if I connected the microphone for the vocals.... wouldn't that pick up the guitar as well

Yes it will pick up the guitar a bit, but provided that you are singing quite close to the microphone it should not be a problem.
There will be a limitation in that if you want to re-record part of the guitar track, then a little of the original guitar track will remain mixed in with the vocal track and you will not be able to get rid of that, but if you are only recording vocal and guitar at the same time, or only recording one thing at a time, then it will not be a problem. The guitar will be mostly on one track and the vocal (with a little bit of guitar) will be on the other and you can then mix the tracks as you like.

For singing close to the microphone it is helpful to use a "pop shield"
These are quite cheap to buy, but even cheaper if you make one by stretching some thin nylon fabric (ladies tights are ideal) over a wire coat-hanger.

[cwaugh18]

Will Windows 7 recognize my preamp as a recording device in my audio options and will this preamp setup work for Skype as well?

-Chris

[steve]

I've never used Win 7. I believe it should work, but best to check with the manufacturer.
It should also work with Skype but you will probably need to change the sound set-up in Skype. (I've used a similar device with Skype on Linux and it worked fine).

[whomper]

Will Windows 7 recognize my preamp as a recording device in my audio options and will this preamp setup work for Skype as well?
-Chris

you need win7 drivers
does the preamp maker claim to provide win7 drivers ?

they still may not work
check reviews to be sure that box actually works on win7

skype depends on the pc and win7
you *should* be able to record skype with the external box
but i wont guarantee it