Improve Your Microphone Quality With Audacity

[davidmitrevski]

What soundcard and mic you use?

[LycanSentry]

@davidmitrevski For this tutorial I used the on-board sound (from my ASUS motherboard) and a headset that I picked up for £1 (which is about $1.50). I've now upgraded to Turtlebeach Earforce x11's and am considering buying a condenser mic. :)

[francky101]

k so i have a song and i want to sing over it, but my voice is off to the song how do i fix it!!! :(

[LycanSentry]

@francky101 There's a tool with an icon that looks like 2 little arrows facing away from each other (top tool bar). Click this and then you can drag your clips forward or backward. :)

[OfficialAsphex]

Thanks dude :)

[redmoonsheep]

no effect for popper stopper?

[12jdbugs]

ok i did all that but how do i match it to my video

[MyDoggy2010]

Dude thnx so much , u rock

[iamowe1992]

thanks dude your video helped, a lot!

[HeroXIIAvalonix]

LOL How to i get the effects on my microphone ? :O

[LycanSentry]

@utubenotsoku I'd start by moving your mic away from your face (assuming it's a headset) also adjust your microphone properties: Right click on the audio icon on the far right of your task bar (opposite your Start Menu) and select Recording Devices. From here you can select your microphone and adjust it's properties, mess around with the levels a bit. On the window titled "Sound" (with all your audio devices) you'll want to get the green bars to go to about 3/4 the way up, but not too far. :)

[LycanSentry]

@utubenotsoku Assuming you mean the waveforms; there are two of them because I was recording in stereo (left and right channels), a mono recording would only record a single track, however I could choose to mix my stereo recording down to a single mono file if I wanted. :)

[KoolAidtotheMan]

@jamieshelley1

.mp3 is a terrible audio format to convert to, expecially for recordings. The actuall .mp3 encoding gives the .mp3 that 'bubbly' sound. Converting to WAV would be best.

[LycanSentry]

@KoolAidtotheMan @jamieshelley1

Granted .mp3 is not the best format to record and edit audio in (as it's mainly designed for uploading or burning to disk) the audio quality (at about 320kbps) is almost unnoticeably different to that of an uncompressed .wav file, however I agree with KoolAid, you should save recordings as .wav's. :) It's also good to keep an original version of the recording (as a .wav) in case you want to edit it differently another time. :D

Save .mp3's for upload. :)

[sealedfate58]

Ok, please reply. I JUST started commentating or trying to, and i'm using a turtle beach xlc headset, I can BARELY here myself, how do i fix this?

[LycanSentry]

@sealedfate58 If you're using a PC (I don't really know about Macs) right click on the volume icon on your start menu bar (over to the right), select recording devices. Here you can access and adjust the settings for each of your recording devices (e.g. your headset / mic). Right click on your device and go to properties. Now you can change the levels, boost the volume and add enhancements. :) Hope this helps. :D

[GrizzlyGamingFTW]

Thank you very much 

[TheGuyInUrCloset]

Just a little tip, you might want to try a pop filter, it seems it would be beneficial to you, and you can make one using parts you might have around your house.

[RubenHD720p]

Machinima :D

[Agui007]

Excellent piece of information. Thanks for that very helpful! :)

[MrCeasone]

At 73, I still learning this new technology. Thanks!!! Now I have to practice...LOL!!!

[bren4prez24]

NO DIFFERENCE WITH GOOD HEADPHONES DUMASS

[LycanSentry]

@bren4prez24 What?

[ShaimVerse]

your voice is like a counter strike terrorist. Joke :D

[JaKiiiiNG]

I appreciate this video, thanks a lot! (:

[LycanSentry]

@jamieshelley1 If it sounds bassy enough, then don't bother with the bass boost. That's only to help with vocals really, maybe only boost it a little, just until you get the sound you want. The sound removal could still help a lot though. Though I imagine if you're using a lot of gain, it may remove some of that too. :)

[SteponFAITH]

thanks for the vid it was much help brotha..

[SomeOddworld]

Yay for cheap ass mics!

[klsgamer1115]

good shit.

[kewlmikey]

This helped me, thanks

[sompri]

Thanks for the video.

[Sloyce]

Good Straight forward Tutorial.  Informative.

[MightyTorten]

Is it possible to use xbox headsets to record your voice? I'm retarded btw..

[LycanSentry]

@MightyTorten You know what... this is something I've never considered before... but I'm sure is quite easily possible. :D

I might make a tutorial on it. However...

1: You'd need a 2.5mm to 3.5mm jack adapter

2: You'll only be able to record in a single channel (left / right)

Also it's just come to mind that it might even be possible to record whoever you are talking to also. o.O

I'll look into this further. :D

[Cruzer0113]

@MightyTorten yes ive tried it with my turtlebeaches

[Vguitarist105]

Can this improve my guitar recording too?

[JakeSidSmith]

@Vguitarist105 I would have thought so. Give it a go and let me know if it works. :D You might have to try a few slightly different settings though. :)

[LycanSentry]

@Vguitarist105 I don't know why, but YouTube keeps commenting as JakeSidSmith... (that comment was from me). Think I has some kinda bug on my account. :/

[mzlollipop928]

Compatible with Audacity..? Hm

[mzlollipop928]

Ok so, the mic that is built in to my laptop gives off that white noise during recording playback.. I'm assuming getting a better mic will eliminate this problem, right? I want to purchase the Blue Snowball USB mic I just hope it is compatible.

[LycanSentry]

@mzlollipop928 There's no such thing as non compatible USB. XD I joke, seems to be compatible with near enough anything though.

Every mic has some amount of noise, but the snowball does seem like a great choice. Reasonably priced for the quality as well. Especially good if you're an musician. :D

[SavageUnit]

@LycanSentry I have a Snowball, I had a problem where the microphone wouldn't work in my any of my usb slots for a month then one day it worked again,

[LycanSentry]

@TehCODFailOfTheDay Are you using a headset? Perhaps the cable is dodgey, when you move around the connection could be cutting?

[cruscoe8530]

niceee

[c0wpredator]

faved cause this will help me a hell of a lot

[WelcomeHaters]

Thanks for the video it helped a lot. Thumbed up

[gamesketch]

@LycanSentry I can honestly say that this is one of the few vids that i made SURE i wouldn't miss the like button on :P

Awesome Vid, man thx :D

[LycanSentry]

@gamesketch Thanks dude. Glad I could help ya. :D

[gammogun]

Hey realy realy thanks man your the only one I could find in HD and you explained it very clear

[LycanSentry]

@gammogun Thanks. I try my best. :D

[gammogun]

@LycanSentry hmm.. When I did it the first time it wen't fine but now I keep a very low beeping and that will get stronger if I normalise so then it stays the same. But if I don't do that you will not be able to hear me :( Do you know what I did wrong?

[LycanSentry]

@gammogun Sure you're doing everything in the right order? Sounds like you might not have sampled a space of audio with just noise when you were using the noise removal tool.

[gammogun]

@LycanSentry I think I'm just have to retry it. What strange is it says remove noise but when I do It isn't gone but is only lower so maybe that is the problem.

[djshakezz1]

thumbed and Favorited for crappy mic haha no its for the great tips thanks

[EmbyCraft]

Holy.. 1pound? and if you made yourself a puff stopper it would sound great. o.0

Thanks anyways

[LycanSentry]

@EmbyCraft I know I was amazed at the audio quality I could achieve, that's why I made this tutorial. I did cut up part of a sponge and stick it on the £1 mic, but I lost it somehow. That helped prevent some "puff". I've a £40 Turtle Beach headset now though. Not because it's better quality, but because I can use it with my PC or Xbox 360, or both at once. :)

[EmbyCraft]

@LycanSentry Great anyways.. let me guess.. the 1 pound shop? xP

[Machoked]

What version of Audacity are you using?

[LycanSentry]

@Machoked It's the 1.3.12 Beta. Has some more features than the regular Audacity. :)

[Machoked]

@LycanSentry I guess I'd better get it then =P You're video helped me a lot so thanks ^_^

[LycanSentry]

@Machoked No problem. I'm here to help. If you need to know anything else about audio editing let me know and I might make a tut. :D Make sure to like and fav etc etc :)

[Raith11458]

thank you very much it helped

[princesspuripuri25]

LOL thumbs up for cheap mic >.< u rock thank you for the help :)

[LycanSentry]

@princesspuripuri25 Thnx, glad I could help. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know and don't forget to check out some of my other vidz. Subscribe if you want to see more tutorials in the future. ^_^

[princesspuripuri25]

@LycanSentry oh deff will sub :D umm i was wondering, xDD sorry im kinda an ameture when it comes to stuff llike this but i have a usb head set i use it as a mic but i dont know how to add that whole ecco thingy not ecco percise xDD but you know that makes it sound like a mic *dont know if im explaining myself correctly lol* :D do you by chance know how ?

[LycanSentry]

@princesspuripuri25 Not exactly sure what you mean by ecco? You want to add an echo? As in be able to hear yourself back? What operating system you using? (e.g. XP, Vista, 7, OSX, Ubuntu)

[princesspuripuri25]

@LycanSentry i have xp ,but not an echo like that though i mean like my headset just sounds like im in the video but not in it you know the sound the mic has when a person performs live like that ill send you an example

[LycanSentry]

@princesspuripuri25 Ok so I downloaded one of your Dubs. It wasn't great because it had music with it but I've got quite a nice echo sound worked out. Use the Effect>Echo in Audacity and set both values to 0.2. Obviously use the techniques in this tutorial first for optimum quality. You can mess around with the values a little. I wouldn't put either value any more than 0.4 though, and even then it sounds a little weird. Hope this helps. Let me know. :D

[princesspuripuri25]

@LycanSentry wao you are so awesome >.< curiosity though lol which dub im so snoopy

[LycanSentry]

@princesspuripuri25 Mano Erina~Mano Piano *Guam Version* (FANDUB). First one I found on your profile :)

[princesspuripuri25]

@LycanSentry oh okay *phew* is not that bad i thought u might pick the sucky ones lol :) i tried what you said and it worked >.< im so happy

[LycanSentry]

@princesspuripuri25 Glad I could help. Let me know if there's anything else ya need. And recommend mah channel to yo friends (especially gamers :D)