Reinstatement of account to accept bookings request for review
Please could the following sample be reviewed for the quality of current recording setup
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/narration-for-childrens-book-peter-revel-walsh/s-agC63
This is a private link to a soundcloud file
Regards Peter
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Hi Peter,
The read itself is quite good, but unfortunately there is some hiss/electric noise throughout the recording, especially audible in between words. This could be caused by an element in your recording equipment, typically your recording device. Could you tell us what equipment (interface, mic) you're using? This could help us further determine the root cause of this issue.
Cheers,
-Seb
Hi Peter
I agree with Seb's comments. The performance is really nice and the voices you make are very cool, however, the hiss noise is very strong and present.
I also find the edits to be quite harsh and noticeable so you may want to keep an eye on your edits as well. For example, the edit in 0:04 is very noticeable.
Please let us know which equipment you're using so we could analyze if a piece of your equipment is generating the noise.
Here is a link to another version that I have use noise reduction on the sample
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/narration-for-childrens-book-peter-revel-walsh-1/s-XE4QF
The equipment I am using is a Behringer B-1 through a M-Audio M-Track interface, using Audacity software
I look forward to hearing from you in regard to this.
Regards Peter
Hi Peter
Now the recordings sounds quite filtered because of the noise reduction. Noise reduction usually damages the recording this way as it ends up filtering important frequencies. It's always better to fix the problems by the source.
By checking your gear, I believe the issue is with the overall quality of your setup. To keep them cheap, they may not have the best converters for which they tend to be quite hissy. I am personally not a big fan of Behringer for professional studio recording as they have always specialized in live audio for which their equipment usually lacks a bit when it comes to high-fidelity recording.
I believe it would be a good idea to review the possibility of upgrading your equipment. There are nice mid-quality recording pieces that are quite affordable and that would help you achieve a noise-free recording.
Thanks for this feedback Angela
I have just ordered a sE Electronics X1 S Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone as recommended by other voice artists in my community.
Regards Peter
Peter,
I hope it works really well! I haven't had experience with it, so I look forward to knowing how it works for you.
Afternoon I have purchased a new microphone to try and remove the hiss and noise that youy can here here is a link to a new sample file I uploaded
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/fashion-lounge-clothing-tvc-demo-peter-revel-walsh/s-aX9Fw
I look forward to hearing from you in respect of getting reinstated as a voice on Voicebunny.
Regards Peter
Hi Peter
There's still a lot of hiss and I believe you're adding too much gain on your preamp. Please lower the gain all the way down, and start adding it little by little. If you need to add volume, you can do so later in your DAW. Let's try that and see if the hiss improves.
thanks for the advice Angela I have looked at my preamp lets see if this does anything I have reduced my gain to Zero, my mic recording level is at 50% so here goes, I haven't added any volume this is as recorded.
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/quality-test-file-for-voicebunny/s-au7u8
Regards Peter
Hi Peter,
Unfortunately, this sample sounds quite hissy. May I ask which version of the M-track do you have? Is it USB-C?
I'm thinking it could be an issue with the computer power source (bad grounding) or electrical interference in the usb cable/connections.
The mic sounds good though!
Thanks Sebastian,
I don't know it is a USB interface to my computer I had the USB plugged into an USB extender could that cause a problem?
I think this is the one that I have
https://m-audio.com/products/view/m-track#.V4jyiPkrJhE
with drivers 10.0.17134.1
How do I go about checking for and resolving bad grounding or electrical interference?
I have an ACER Aspire E5-575G with intel(R) Core(TM) 5i-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.70GHz
64bit operating system with 8GB RAM
Regards Peter
Here we are again I have now added a couple of Ferrite clips onto the USB cable between M-Track and laptop, I have the gain set at 3 for this recording no other processing
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/quality-test/s-In03d
Regards Peter
Hi Peter.
The volume is very low and even with the highest volume on my headphones I wasn't able to listen very well. Can you normalize the file to -3dB Peak? Don't record again, just adjust the volume on this one so I can see if the problem was solved!
Here you go Angela
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/quality-test-1/s-Uydrn
Normalised to -3dB
I had the gain set at 3/10 on my pre-amp
Regards Peter
not sure if that link will work here is another one for you Angela
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/quality-test-2/s-fdJi5
Normalised to -3dB
I had the gain set at 3/10 on my pre-amp
Regards Peter
Hi Peter
Unfortunately, the file has a lot of hiss. Maybe the Fast Track's preamps are too hissy which is not ideal. Do you, by any chance, have the option of trying another interface?
I will look into another interface,
I have requested feedback from my peers also in relation to sound quality and not one other person has reported any hiss whatsoever. I have also had 9 audio books accepted through rigorous quality checks I am at a loss to understand what it is that you are hearing that others are not?
I large number of the professional voice over artists on my peer group have a Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 which I shall try out, but as I say I am at a loss to hear what you are hearing on the samples.
Regards Peter
Hi Peter
Thanks for trying! Maybe they can lend it to you before you purchase any new pieces and see if it changes. We shared it with various members of our team (we're all professional audio engineers) and the issue is quite noticeable to all of us.
Hopefully, we can find the source of the hiss.
Thanks Angela, I have one on order arriving soon.
Is there a reference file that I can use to compare my files too or any specific values or levels that I can check.
To assist me further as I do not have any additional budget
Regards Peter
Angela I have now incorporated new Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 along with my new sE X1S Condensor mic and here is a sample read which has been normalised.
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/sample-read-normalised-peter-revel-walsh/s-kgMvn
Regards Peter
Hi Peter!
Thanks for sharing.
The sound is definitely much better! The silent areas, however, have some hiss noise. Can you try editing that by reducing the volume around 6dB on those areas? Also make sure to edit the breaths! Once it's clean, I believe we're good to go!
Thanks very much Angela for all your patience hopefully I can be reinstated now here is sample file with breaths edited out.
https://soundcloud.com/peterrevelwalsh/sample-read-normalised-peter-revel-walsh-1/s-5O2SX
Please let me know if I need to remove all my current samples and start uploading new ones including this
Regards Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for sharing this new edit. This one sounds good! We've now reactivated your account. Remember to edit out loud breaths, mouth clicks, lower the volume in between long gaps, and just normalize to -3dB.
I'd suggest deleting old samples. They might have hiss and get flagged which could cause your account to be deactivated again.
Regards,
-Seb
Agreed with Seb's comments, Peter!
This sample does sound much better. There are some areas where the distance fluctuates but it's not very bad! Just matter of being a bit careful of the distance to make sure the volume is consistent throughout. I'm glad we were able to work together towards this point!
As Seb mentioned, remember to remove your old samples that don't sound as good and upload new ones with these new parameters. I'm sure it will help!