Members Misha Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 What did I do that is wrong? I hear that annoying metallic "hisss" in the backgroud... Example:http://www.esnips.com/doc/048a946a-8976-42ea-bdfd-4dd3bcc83318/fingerstyle_learning.mp3 I use a (cheap) Behringer UB501 mixer to record plus a (cheap) Beyerdynamic microphone and Audacity. How am I suppose to set the gain and level knobs? Is it the problem? I use to do better with Audacity??? edit: ***Warning*** beginner stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 What bit rate is the mp3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 Also, you might want to post this on the recording forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Misha Posted September 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 I know that the bit rate isn't the problem because I could hear it in Audacity before I converted it in MP3. It's when I try to eliminate the noise with Audacity that it does that. I selected "minimum" and it still does that metallic sound! *by the way, I have the french version of Audacity!* And thanks for the idea of posting this in the recording forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 Check your settings, or try a different program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 Actually, what recording software are you using to record with? Just a wild guess, but are you running mic/mixer into your soundcard and into windows sound recorder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Misha Posted September 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 I use Audacity! My microphone is connected into my mixer to record my acoustic guitar, then I'm sending out the signal to my cheap integrated soundcard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Martyr Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 !! I thought you were only using Audacity for conversion to mp3. Try a different recording program. I would suggest posting your query to the recording forum. People here only want to talk about wood... Cheers. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Misha Posted September 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 lol! Thanks Rock Martyr, I posted it in the RF! By the way, good people around here even if they can be "purist", acoustically speaking (*engrish here!*)! I don't think that I have seen you here before yet! Hang around, you'll get to know them/us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave Keir Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 then I'm sending out the signal to my cheap integrated soundcard... Hmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Godot Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 When you're recording with Audacity, you can choose the bit resolution and sample rate. I'd say that 16 bit/48000 Hz is the minimum for decent recording. It's possible that your soundcard doesn't support this. If that's the case, you can get a soundcard that DOES support it for, like, $5, if you find a good sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted September 5, 2006 Members Share Posted September 5, 2006 Hi, Misha! I have a very similar recording setup to you : a Behringer UB1202 Mixer, a Shure PG57 microphone, Audacity (with the separately downloaded MP3 conversion plugin) and a just the stock integrated soundcard that was built into my machine by Dell. I've been tooling with it for about a year now (though I want to get a condensor mic someday) and I believe I have found a sort of workaround to the problem. 1: use only the XLR inputs to your mixer. The 1/4" inputs just don't seem to cut it for me. Ideally your microphone should have a male XLR plug and not just a 1/4" to XLR adaptor on the end 2: use headphones to set your levels. If there is any hiss in the chain you should be able to hear it and adjust the various gain and output settings accordingly. 3: when adjusting your levels, aim at setting it low enough that you don't get any hiss. On my Beringer I set the active channel's gain to the 2 o'clock position (-20), the level to the 1 o'clock position (+3) and the main mix level to -10. 4: this is important: set the gain and output levels all the other unused channels all the way to the left (-? ) so that they are "off". I know it sounds screwy but even though there was nothing else plugged into my mixer they're were still active and generating "hiss" in my signal chain. 5: I've found that with my settings I don't get a very strong signal but that's OK. I do some post-recording augmentation tricks in Audacity that somebody over at APM once mentioned in passing. Here's what works for me: a) duplicate the original stereo track b) set the balance on the original to 30% left and the balance of the copy to 30% right c) select the entire length of the copy track (by clicking in the left-hand margin d) select the time shift tool e) zoom in on the wave form display until you can see the fine detail of the wave (that I like to call "the squiglies") f) shift the wave form (again on the copy track) slightly to the right (by a couple of nanoseconds or so). NOTE: basically what you've done up to this point is created an "approximation" of a second microphone. I've never used more than one mic myself so I doubt it really sounds like this but the result is still that you've got a "fatter" sound with a general augmentation in the recording's overall volume. g) listen to the playback. If it's still too quiet increase the gain on each channel in +3 increments. +3 usually works for me but I wouldn't recommend going above +6. h) at this point I also like to run a reverb filter to help shape the sound. My PG57 lacks high-end sparkle and I record in a very small room that is prone to producing bounce-back echoes (that sound like I'm recording inside a box). I use the ANWIDA Soft DX Reverb Light filter that is a free download available at (http://www.anwida.com/download.asp) because it's simple to use (only 5 sliders) and gives me an adequate amount of reverb and quality boost for an MP3 download. To run the filter, I just select all (both tracks), adjust the settings so that I get about 12%-15% reverb effect and make sure that the output is at 100% (it's set by default to chop it to 75%) Anyway, here's an example of the results I get: http://media.putfile.com/On-Eagles-Wings Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d03nut Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Misha, maybe you got an angry cat under the sofa.........lol other than that Kwak's got it covered...... Bon picking & recording.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Misha Posted September 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 Thank's kwakatak! I will follow your advices! ... and watch my cats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ultimate Dave Posted September 6, 2006 Members Share Posted September 6, 2006 sounds like a low bitrate file to me, the lack of the frequencies needed to recreate the very subtle background noise shows up as a metallic kind of warble sound that you speak of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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