A measure of the clarity and/or cleanliness of an audio signal. There can be both objective and subjective measures. It can refer to any point in the audio chain, from source, through recording and production, to the subjective human ear.

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2answers
31 views

Low level hiss, pop and squeal in basic sound studio set up

I have a basic studio setup which includes: PC running cool edit pro condenser mic preamp AD converter studio monitors and headphones That's it. I am having low level hiss, pop, and squeal in the ...
0
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2answers
32 views

Software recommendation for cleaning out audio recording

How can I clean up noise from audio recordings? I recorded on a laptop, using a mike that came with a pair of headsets. It's one person speaking, no instruments or echoes or anything, just one human ...
3
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1answer
53 views

Will low output volume affect the quality of the sound?

I recently bought a new pair of headphones and am currently using them on a Windows computer. I have connected the headphones directly to the built-in sound card of the computer and therefore I am ...
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6answers
566 views

Normalising volume across thousands of files

For a project I'm working on, I need to produce approx 5000 voice-only recordings of approx 15 seconds each (typically each file is a couple of short sentences spoken aloud). I've approached this as ...
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2answers
46 views

First steps to improve a laptop recording

I have a song recorded off a laptop microphone. Obviously not the best equipment, but its just a few family members singing, not a commercial production. I'd like to contribute, and since my singing ...
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1answer
34 views

How to improve the effectiveness of a camcorder's built-in microphone

We video-tape work meetings but some speakers are quiet and we cannot pick up comments from them. We don't have the manpower to tape from the front and back and then splice the two. Also, my ...
2
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1answer
51 views

How to maximize volume and sound quality of a YouTube video

We're trying to produce highest-possible quality (short, promotional, sound intensive) videos for YouTube, and want to achieve fullest possible sound. There's a huge range of sound volume/quality ...
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3answers
132 views

Least expensive microphone for hiss-free PC recordng

I'm having difficulty recording hiss-free voice audio using my PC using a USB headset combo, at least I think the problem is my headset because the built-in speaker gives much better quality, but the ...
4
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2answers
71 views

TRS/TS vs RCA cable?

I have to purchase an instrument, that its output (mono) can be either 1/4 TS or RCA. The device signal goes to a preamp (If I'll go for the RCA version, the cable will be RCA to TS). My question is: ...
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1answer
53 views

Will ripping my old 90's and 2000's CDs yield as good a quality as buying the MP3s today?

I have a bunch of old CDs from 1990 and 2000 that I want to rip as MP3s to my computer. I am not an audio buff, so perhaps this question is a bit irrelevant to my personal quality preferences, but ...
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4answers
160 views

Tips for silently prompting people to not get too close to mics?

In a recent video project I came across some "popping" which I believe was in part due to the person being too close to the mic. Without verbally prompting them, what would help remind them to keep ...
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1answer
55 views

Audacity: Increase audio volume in audacity software

How can I increase audio volume of a mp3 file in audacity? I need to cut a part of mp3 song to make a ringtone. But as I save it in by mobile, the volume is too low for this particular file. Is there ...
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2answers
45 views

Does the PlayStation2 official microphone offer good audio quality?

I want to record some stuff without too much noise. I have two PS2 microphones (they came with the Singstar game I think) somewhere. Do they offer sufficient audio recording quality? If someone had ...
4
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1answer
59 views

How should I compare headphones?

I'm finding difficulty in selecting one of these products and I thought you guys could help me better finding the best out of these four headphones . ...
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votes
1answer
33 views

Desktop speakers for a MacbookPro? [closed]

I have a reasonably small desk with minimal space behind it, and I am in a reasonably small room. I don't crank music very loud (but once in a while I enjoy something high volume), and I am far more ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views

Preventing headphone static with USB to 3.5mm adapter

I recently got a new pair of IEMs (In-ear monitors), and while sound quality is really good, I am getting a constant hissing sound when I use them with my laptop. I know that the static is caused by ...
2
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4answers
228 views

How can I record piano on a laptop without high frequency wahwah?

Example: http://soundcloud.com/andrewclow/phases-for-piano (That's particularly bad example, via mp3 and the built in mic, the effect is always there before converting and with a better microphone. ...
3
votes
2answers
126 views

When should I use a separate preamp or field mixer when recording from a mic?

I'm quite new in sound recording - I'm only starting out with this as a hobby, and have yet to invest in (most of) the equipment... Let's say I should record voice with a microphone into a mobile ...
3
votes
2answers
397 views

why is higher sample rate changing the sound for the worse? I think its changing the pitch

I'm working on a current song which I posted an example of a while back when asking about why low frequency sawtooth oscillators change the sound. Since then I changed the base of the synth from NI ...
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2answers
466 views

How can I encode audio with Nero AAC Encoder using Mac OS X?

The Nero AAC Encoder encoder is far superior sound-wise to libfaac that comes with ffmpeg, but the encoder is only available for Windows. How can I encode using this encoder on Mac OS X? Other, even ...
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2answers
346 views

Kontakt 7 Player slow/bad sound quality

I downloaded Native Instruments Kontakt 7 Player, and despite the fact that I'm on an AMD Athlon 65 3500+ 2.19 GHz with 2.5 GB of RAM, the sound quality is unacceptable; there are drags and buzzes and ...
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3answers
2k views

Reason: Why do my songs sound dull and soft?

Just to get it out of the way, I have no formal training in music production, let alone sound engineering. So apologies in advance if I say anything stupid. I have been using Reason to make hip ...
2
votes
4answers
236 views

I am getting a hiss in the recording when using a portable digital audio recorder.

I produce nature recordings accompanied with a separately recorded spoken word channel. My technical understanding is pretty minimal, I am just trying to get the cleanest sound and get on with the ...
2
votes
3answers
97 views

what causes the difference in cord quality between brands?

While "jamming" with a friend over the weekend, I noticed that every single one of the cables in his setup were the same brand. I even have one of the same type (but didn't know which it was from not ...
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2answers
338 views

Sound stopped in Ableton Live after 3rd party program Hear was installed

Just reposting this question from Reddit trying to help this dude out I recently downloaded a program called Hear (http://hear.en.softonic.com/mac). It boosts many things like bass and ambiance in ...
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1answer
212 views

What quantity of hiss/muddiness should I expect give various studio setups?

I'm trying to get into home music recording of music that will now and then have some very quiet passages, quiet vocals, acoustic guitar--delicate stuff in addition to louder sections. My current ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views

Does correcting the speed of audio captured from vinyl at the wrong RPM degrade its quality?

I sent a record of mine to an analog -> digital conversion service, and the CD that came back sounded like chipmunks. They had played the record at 45 RPM on their capturing equipment instead of the ...
2
votes
1answer
59 views

Batch processing: strip channel

I'm using Audacity to process some short audio clips - about 300 of them (!!!), so I'd really rather not repeat my steps manually for each one. However, I can't seem to find a way to create a chain ...
3
votes
2answers
68 views

How can I test microphones to determine their quality?

I recently inherited the leadership of the audio/video committee at my church. I bought a cable tester to check all the audio cables and adapters, and tossed anything that didn't pass. Now I'm faced ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views

Mp3 codec reencoding effects

Does encoding a low bit rate (say 128 kbps) Mp3 from a 320 kbps Mp3 produce the same thing as encoding it from the original lossless? Or does the way Mp3 work mean that the losses compound on each ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views

What does the sample rate and sample size of audio means?

In a MP3 audio file, I know theres a bitrate of audio which tells the number of bits in seconds are being used by the player, in other words a measure of quality of audio. But I'm confused with the ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views

Can someone please explain to me what each bar of the equalizer means?

I mean I'm pretty new to sound engineering. Can somebody at least introduce me to what each bar on the equalizer of a music player stands for and how would they effect the quality and perception of ...
3
votes
1answer
101 views

Best sequence in a DAW to improve a poorly recorded voiceover?

I have a very specific production problem. The client has supplied voiceover clips for a video. These were recorded in a home office as 16-bit .wma files using, I believe, a headset, so there are ...
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2answers
495 views

Is it normal for audio recorded in a particular sampling rate to have distortions when transcoded into another sampling rate?

I'm working on a small video editing project at home and am new at this. I have a multiple videos that I'm combining together into one video and am using the audio from one of these videos as the ...
5
votes
2answers
109 views

What happens when you save a MP3 with a higher quaility?

When a lossy audio track (of unknown quality) is imported into software and and saved as a (possibly) higher quaility after editing, what happens? Obviously I know it can't have any more 'quality' ...
2
votes
1answer
325 views

What is the equivalent samplerate and bitdepth of FM radio?

At its best transmission quality, what is the equivalent samplerate and bitdepth of FM radio? Thanks.