[carol m]

I have tracked down the source of the 'noise' I get when I am recording. It's not my CD player or other electrical devices. It's the computer itself. When I use direct 'Line in' from the guitar it is slight and not really a problem, but when I use a microphone it is much worse. And as soon as I start recording, the computer 'does' more, and the interference is worse. If I use enough Noise Removal to make the recording OK, it distorts the sound. This means I can't record from my nylon acoustic guitar or any singing (because these need a mic). Is there a way to insulate the computer from itself??? To me that this question seems like a real curly one, but I have faith in you guys....any takers?

[Aunt Doty]

Carol, I certainly can't help you, but was wondering if you are using a preamp between your microphone and the computer?

[carol m]

No AD, just straight into 'Mic in' at the back of the computer, (not USB).

[starsailor]

Hi Carol, I've had problems with noise as well think it's my hard drive, Kenny reduced the noise on my recording for me but he did tell me that I pay a price in sound quality as you know.
If you want to go into your computer, these guys are worth checking out but it depends on how much money you want to spend, they will give you an idea of what kind of insulators are available, and there are quite a lot of options in that area.

Sound Dampening Material - Computer Case Insulation

Best Wishes

Chris

[carol m]

That looks interesting, thanks Chris. I just had a quick look and will read it more now. One thing I wonder about is that its not the noise that I hear from my computer (through the air) that is the problem, its the interference on the recording, and I wonder if they are the same thing or not. I'll read more at that site and see what I find out. Thanks.

[starsailor]

Originally Posted by carol m

That looks interesting, thanks Chris. I just had a quick look and will read it more now. One thing I wonder about is that its not the noise that I hear from my computer (through the air) that is the problem, its the interference on the recording, and I wonder if they are the same thing or not. I'll read more at that site and see what I find out. Thanks.

Hi Carol, it is possible that your soundcard might not be up to the job so you might need to upgrade the soundcard, it depends on the specs. of your computer, if it's a standard soundcard it might not cut it, I spoke to tekker about this on another thread, he will have a solution I think, if this is the case it may be a cheaper option than insulation, just a thought

[skinnybloke]

Carol, you can try moving the mic as far away from the PC as possible. If it's one of those little desktop mics, sit it on a sponge.....that'll help muffle sound coming thru the base.
And yes, I'm still working on the other thingy

[Hilch]

Mics can pic up the fan running in your Pc

[Tekker]

starsailor is right, standard PC sound cards are not meant for audio recording.... They are "gamer" cards for use with headset mics and cheap $3 computer mics.

The line will work better than the mic input because it is not using the awful internal mic preamps that the mic input uses. The mic preamps are very noisy and just overall bad quality, so you are much better off getting a better quality sound card.

The noise in your recordings that you posed in the other thread is not computer fan or hard drive noise. It is noise (static) from the sound card.

Getting a sound card made for recording (such as M-Audio) will make a big difference to improve the sound quality and reduce noise.

-tkr

[carol m]

Hi Skinny, its quite a long way from the PC itself, maybe 2-3 meters (about 5 feet) and hand held or a mic stand. Its not that its picking up actual sound and recording that, its electrical interference that gets even worse as soon as the computer actually works at doing something.

I hear it as noise only when I play back the blank bit (before playing or singing) which you can hear behind/under the recording too, or when I listen to downloads from the computer either via CD player/speakers or headphones (either directly from PC or via the CD player).

I don't mind it really when listening to downloads, but it really makes it impossible to use a mic (as opposed to Line In with my electric/acoustic) for recording.

As far as the 'other thingy' goes, it continues but only with Kirk's uploads, apart from that one on SlickCat's post, so I expect Clancy will have some ideas.......when she gets back to her proper job!

[carol m]

Hi Tekker, does that mean if I get a headset mic it would work better (using a USB port and cheaper than a new soundcard)? And/or would a pre-amp help, as that would give me more options for about the same amount of cash as for a new soundcard, and I wouldn't have to get someone to fit a new soundcard?

BTW, you're up late, unless I've got my time zones wrong

[Hilch]

I have a cheap mixer which is plugged into my PC , my mic and guitars plug into the mixer .

I don't get any noises that I don't want anymore except birds chirping dog barking and this horrid noise that comes out of my voice

I only have the cheap sound card that came with my PC ...

Hope that helps

Trev..

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by carol m

Hi Tekker, does that mean if I get a headset mic it would work better (using a USB port and cheaper than a new soundcard)?

All I meant was that cheap $4 headset mics are the "best" mics those type of sound cards expect to see. In other words, the sound cards are built to be low quality because they are expecting low quality mics.

If you plug a better mic into it, it will sound a little better but the sound card will still sound bad.

And/or would a pre-amp help, as that would give me more options for about the same amount of cash as for a new soundcard, and I wouldn't have to get someone to fit a new soundcard?

A preamp would be better than using the sound card's preamp, but a new sound card would be much better.

Adding a sound card isn't too difficult. You could do it yourself, but if you are not comfortable poking around in a computer, do you have any friends who could help?

BTW, you're up late, unless I've got my time zones wrong

Yeah, I'm a night owl. I don't remember when I posted last night, but I was up until about 2:00am.

-tkr

[carol m]

Thanks Tekker and Trev, I think I hear the sound of sleigh bells waaay off but heading my way......

BTW I borrowed a headset (USB connection) to try out that sort of mic and there is a lot less interference on Audacity with that than with the mid-range (proper) mic plugged in at the back (Doh!) But I doubt if I could rig up a setup where my non-electric nylon guitar would be close enough to the mic to use it to record using it.

But wait.......'inspiration' has just struck..... I could use my new, expensive, mic stand (which I haven't had a use for yet ) to fix the headset and mic (somehow) in position near the nylon acoustic sound hole and then record...... ....(my family think I'm nuts!....correction....even more nuts than usual).

[Tekker]

......*cough* *cough* *SOUND CARD* *cough*.....




-tkr