Hot answers tagged noise
10
Anything inside a computer chassis is exposed to a nightmare of electrical interference. The CPU, bus, hard drive and other components all emit electrical fields in the kilo, mega and gigahertz range. On top of that, most integrated and internal sound card vendors aren't that serious about efficient shielding, so you're generally much, much better off with ...
10
Use an external mouse (i.e. not the trackpad on a laptop) and put it under the desk surface on a lap board or book while you're recording... that should lessen it. Additionally, go to a PC store and sample the mice there to see which has the most quiet clicking noise.
Even further, invest in a uni-directional mic so that, while aimed at your mouth, it's ...
8
As the mic is mounted on a stand a pop-filter would be a very easy solution.
If this is visually not acceptable (as it's a video project) you could think of adding a physical barrier between the person and the stand. For example a (DIY version of) this barrier.
7
It is not likely that you are going to be able to work around this using EQs, while leaving the rest of the sound intact / not weird sounding. The vuvuzela sound is quite broadband, as far as I know. (Never measured it though.)
It is neither likely that many facts are known about the characteristics of the vuvuzela. That means, probably the best way to get ...
7
The characteristic that allows the vuvuzela to be isolated in removed is the fact that the sound is constant pitch. So removing it is a fairly simple exercise in EQ:
1. Identify the base frequency (around 235 Hz) and harmonics (the strongest is the first harmonic around 470 Hz).
2. Add an EQ filter at each of the frequencies of step one with a narrow Q (to ...
6
Vuvuzelas are easily filterable because they are using is a specific frequency. Applause are basically random "clicks" which use a lot of the spectrum, and as such can't really be filterable. You could possibly detect applause and automatically lower the volume. But it's probably not trivial.
You might be able to get a good enough result by using a ...
6
Volume knobs have a tendency to get "scratchy" over time. This is caused by corrosion and dirt in the inner workings.
It's definitely worth fixing. You can get a can of DeoxIT contact cleaner for about $15.
Just unplug the unit, open the case and spray the backs of the potentiometers. Usually there is a small hole where you can use the tube that ...
6
The bad news is that you can't remove white noise from a recording completely. White noise by definition lives all across the frequency spectrum, and can't be distinguished from signal where they both exist.
The good news is that you don't have to. For the most part your brain can't hear noise when it is masked by a real signal in the same frequency ...
6
There are two possible causes (that I can think about) that would introduce lighting-related noise. Determining the cause is difficult - once you know why, you can determine the steps to take to eliminate it.
The first possible cause is RF (usually from dimmers) being picked up by some of the wiring. If you suspect this is the cause, you can determine ...
6
Sometimes there's no substitute for a little manual labour. Combine a noise gate with some judicious manual editing and you can eliminate the hum in the parts of the track where the guitar isn't being played. Duck the fader on your guitar track when ever there's a pause in the playing that would let the hum stick out. If your DAW supports it, you can use an ...
6
You shouldn't have any trouble with this. The voltages coming from microphones are next to nothing, and phantom power is DC and from the same source. Think of a snake cable with 32+ channels in it, running a couple hundred feet.
You only need to be concerned about power cables running in parallel to your microphone cables. Even then, it generally isn't a ...
5
If you don't have access to a DAW with noise-reduction plugins there is also standalone software designed specifically for this purpose. Audio Cleaning Lab by Magix is a popular one.
Another option is to use a low-pass filter to roll off the very high frequencies where this noise is usually found. However, it's usually difficult to completely remove the ...
5
While I don't know of any standard practice for this, I'd say use your ears. You've tried it with the noise removal tool, now try it by adding room noise as best you can - if indeed the change is too noticeable, then scrap it.
If you're not sure if your ears are deceiving you or not, have some friends listen to it on both your system and theirs, before and ...
5
Put it in a different room!
Professional studios do this by having a control room with all of the more noisy equipment, so in a home studio you're going to have to try to approximate that environment as best you can.
On a MacBook, you may be able to limit CPU usage in the Energy Saver preference pane. I can't tell you specifically since I'm on an iMac, but ...
4
The signal-to-noise and distortion ratio might be useful to think about.
You are either adding additional noise or you are kind of converting noise to distortion...
Adding additional noise would have more effect on the SINAD ratio than converting noise into distortion. The same can be noticed with our ears, you hear a bit of noise much easier than a bit ...
4
I would propose two options:
Use an expander or, better yet, a multi-band expander on your audio file. Set correctly it will turn down any sounds that occur while you are not talking. this won't help for anything that happens while you are talking, or for anything as loud/louder than your own voice.
Consider purchasing a good lavalier microphone that you ...
4
Do audio cable splitters reduce signal quality or add noise?
Not in principle. Assuming the input impedance of both recipients is substantially smaller than the output impedance of the mixer (which it normally is), both do ideally recieve exactly the same signal that each of them would if connected alone.
However in practise, there is one problem which ...
3
I think trying to mix around this will be an exercise in frustration - your best bet is to try to fix the problem at the source. The dimmers (and/or associated cabling) are the most obvious likely source of the buzz. Even if the snake you're running has balanced lines, I'd want to move it away from them. And the other cables as well - if there are unbalanced ...
3
To confirm that the body of your mic is grounded properly you can use an ohm multimeter and measure between the body and pin 1 of the mic. If it shows more than 0 ohms then you have a grounding problem with your mic.
You should also try swapping out mic cables and, if possible, try a different preamp to see if that's where the issue lies.
3
The signal levels generated by most keyboards should not be enough to damage the microphone/line-in jack when plugged in directly. However, I do recommend you not turn the keyboard up past the point where it begins to distort just to make sure.
To get the best recording level, First set the volume on the keyboard as high as possible without causing ...
3
Generally, for best sound quality you want every mic to be paired with a receiver, and each pair to be on a different frequency. These can then be patched into a mixer.
This not only reduces the likelihood of interference, but also lets you adjust the gain on each mic channel independently - which could be useful in situations such as the one you are ...
3
Is this really a problem?
I doubt it but you can work this out yourself with a simple experiment. Set up your environment as you would for a real recording session. Record a minute or so of silence with all 10 microphones. Repeat with just 5 connected, then 1, then none. Compare the difference in the "silent" recordings e.g. is the peak amplitude of the ...
3
Sometimes a pop filter is not enough.
If you have an audio engineer on site monitoring the signal while the singers are recording this live or in a studio have the engineer work out a hand signal that can be interpreted as "back off from the mic".
Perhaps a reverse high five or a simple hand retracting would work. The key here is to have both the audio ...
3
Something that helps in recording studios is to get people to sing over the mic rather than directly into it. You'll notice that they generally hang a condensor mic from the roof and position it at eye level, higher than the mouth. This gets rid of all sorts of pops and plosives, as the wind generated from speaking doesn't crash into the mic.
For a speaking ...
3
Try a parametric EQ, or a band-reject filter (essentially the same thing).
Setup your audio so that you can loop the section with the problem sound.
In your EQ or filter, adjust the controls so that your band is narrow and deep. That is, a small range of frequency is impacted, but that band is almost entirely attenuated.
slowly sweep the filter from low ...
3
A balanced mic would certainly help. Another option is to use a direct box to go from an unbalanced mic input to a balanced line (XLR). The best bet would really be to get an actual mic with balanced output. Also, in a pinch, a 25 foot run is totally doable with an unbalanced cable if it is well shielded. It isn't ideal, but it should be workable as long ...
2
When I cut and paste audio, I usually try to zoom in and do it at a zero crossing. If that is not possible, I will edit the wave form directly to eliminate the click. I know Audacity can modify the wave form, and I'm sure some other DAWs can do it.
It's a much more manual and time consuming approach, but I have had pretty good results.
2
If I understand the issue correctly, it's because even with edges on zero crossings, you're often going from zero to full volume on that clip in the space of several milliseconds.
Several DAWs (I know Ableton Live does this, and I think Reaper does too, but I'm not familiar with the others) allow an option to put a 4-ms (or thereabout) fade in and out on ...
2
In some cases, isolation boxes are used to avoid noises. Some people have done this with certain sound cards that have powerful/noisy fans to keep them cool.
I'm pretty sure a similar idea could be used for the notebook itself.
I'm no expert here though. My notebook sounds like a 747 taking off!
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