I'm listening to your sample and I have some comments:
There's hiss in your recording, that noise like 'sh' that is present all the time, here's a link to help you with that: Link for hiss
Mouse click at 0:10 after 'big mouth'
Towards the end seems to be some electrical noise as well, 'that way I can get...' you'll notice that as the high pitch noise.
Seems like you're using some type of processing on your recordings, could be noise reduction plugin, a noise gate, or a deverb, are you using one of those? We recommend you don't use them, as they could harm your quality.
Please let me know if you can notice these issues and if the link and suggestions are helpful.
Another VO guy here like yourself. Great voice btw!
I do hear the background noise floor that Johnathan mentioned. I also heard a bit of a popped "P" on "appease the Bunny" near the end of the sample.
Just curious about what mic and interface you use. Always like to hear what folks use in their studios. If you can get the noise floor down, you should be able to make the Bunny happy.
Great timbre and tone! Ditto on what Johnny and Joe B. pointed out before me, by the way.
Please do share your setup details in as much detail as you can, along with the WAV file in a downloadable link so that we can put our ears to work in a more comprehensive and precise manner.
I didn't think I would get such great responses so quickly, thank you for that. I have a 3ft by 4ft booth inclosed with acoustic foam square panels, I use a Sennheiser e850 microphone, Behringer XENX Q502USB mixer, older HP desktop running Windows 7 and audacity. I do not use the USB portion of the mixer, I've had colleagues tell me they never had good luck with USB audio equipment so I stay away from that. I connect my mixer with mono headphone jack adapters to a mini stereo 3.5mm connection to my PC. I have to and from connection so I can hear the playback through the mixer, and I turn that input off when recording. the cords are about 10 foot long, I have moved them around the room but no change in sound quality. I do not use compression of any kind and have the treble turned up slightly because I have a very bassy voice tone. The PC and the mixer are connected to the same wall power outlet,
My plan is to disconnect everything and start connecting things slowly to see if I can isolate this hum. Let me know, I should have this done tonight. Thanks again eveyone.
Thanks for coming back to us so quickly with such a detailed account of your gear. It's always super interesting to know what other pros are using and how the equipment has an impact on their quality.
Now, the short (sad) answer to this whole mystery is... your due for an upgrade, a general upgrade.
I noticed that your recording had unusually high levels of hiss (white noise) but very low volume/amplitude. This constitutes a veritable paradox in the realm of physics, as a hot (high gain) signal will usually relay the aforementioned hissy sound but also high levels of ambient noise, a clipping signal, saturated dynamics and overall sound distortion associated with 'loud volume' instead.
Yours is a great microphone, just not one for this line of work. That Sennheiser is a dynamic mic, intended both for live and 'semi-pro studio applications' (as per the brand's literature).
In short: a dynamic microphone has a lower output by design, as they're made to handle loud sources such as live performances, booming sounds (like instruments), and they are basically built like tanks which makes them very durable.
Now, why does this lower outputmatter? Because a regular mixer like the one your using, will not be able to feed the gain levels needed to 'lift' such a mic for a studio recording, especially for VO work where we look for mics, preamps, mixers and/or interfaces with the lowest levels of self-noise possible. Dynamic mics that make the cut for VO work (such as the Shure SM7b) usually require a signal booster such as a CloudLifter or FetHead, which help these quieter mics achieve an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio along with the gain provided by most studio recording equipment.
My recommendation is to upgrade and get a good condenser mic. My personal favorites for quality/affordability are the Røde NT1 Kit, AKG C214,and finally the more expensive but amazing Lauten Audio LS-208for its wonderful directionality and room noise rejection.
About your Mixer
The whole range of Behringer XENYX products have great preamps, a decent EQ and a usable compressor. These features are wasted however because the maximum audio resolution attainable from the A/D converter is 48 kHz/16-Bit. Why would anyone care about this? The short answer is that anyone should want the highest sampling quality attainable while recording. The long answer involves math –lots of math– and you can read more about this by clicking here.
VoiceBunny requires projects to be submitted as WAV files at 44.1 kHz/16-Bit resolution, but we also recommend that our talents record at the highest attainable quality and downsample once their work is ready for export/upload. For example, I record, edit, and process my files at 96 kHZ/24-Bit, then export them to the aforementioned VoiceBunny settings or whatever resolution any given client should require.
Another consideration is that since your not using your mixers ADC, you're also losing some quality by taking an analog signal and using the soundcard in your computer to digitize it into whatever sampling rate it allows. Fortunately, your PC's soundcard is properly grounded and doesn't print any coil whine or electromagnetic hum into your recordings, but this is often an issue with standard PC components.
So, what should you do? I'd recommend staying in the Behringer family as this interface is both amazing in quality and cost-effective, not to mention portable and equipped with a set of super clean mic pres. I trust it so much it's part of my gear rack.
Last but not least: your PC.
While a proper recommendation for an audio workstation would require more info on your current rig's characteristics, the rule of thumb is that a computer with anything less than a 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, a fast SSD of any capacity and at least 8GB of RAM will probably stutter and struggle if intended for serious audio work. The interface I recommended before should work well with older PCs and Macs, but will definitely benefit from a spec bump. As for the DAW, while Audacity is certainly sufficient for most basic audio tasks, my advice is to spring for something more advanced and scalable. If your budget allows, go for Adobe Audition or Studio One 4. If not, Reaper is a great choice (which I daily use) and it has very affordable licensing options for small businesses/personal use. It also gives you a free trial so that you can test drive the software, it's highly configurable (hackable even) and it's not super hungry on computing power, which should be a priority considering your aging hardware.
Thank you for staying this long and reading this whole thing. Hopefully, this will shed some light on how to achieve the recording quality your voice deserves!
Hello everyone, it been a very long past couple of weeks. I've moved things around, pulled out really old equipment, had meetings with other colleagues and asked their opinions and I had such a bad time trying to figure out this hiss. I've changed two things as a part of my studio, the microphone and the software. I'm using Adobe Audition, and I purchased a Marantz MPM1000 microphone and for the price I'm very impressed with it. I would have purchased the suggested microphones, but my budget laughed at me when I stated what I wanted, speaking of the feedback, thank you all for the feedback, it was well appreciated. I have an updated audio file, please let me know what you think, and thank you again for your time.
Are you using the digital output of the mixer into the computer? Or an analogue out from mixer into the computer's analog audio input?
I ask because I still hear a fairly high level of hiss in the recording. The signal (voice) level seemed low on my system also, so it may just be a gain setting issue.
Héctor is the real tech guru - sure he will have some ideas.
I am using the analog output to my PC with 3.5mm plug, since this is way different than I'm used to using, I'm still working on how I need to set my levels, I was an on-air radio personality through the 80's, I just walked in the studio, did my thing and went home, as far as levels go, not too much to do as far as setting up things. Since this is my home studio, this is all my doing, even after all these years of talking, doing it in virtual silence I guess is new to me. I need to work on how to set these levels, and what seems good to the bunny! I'm not using any compression or after effects, I normalize everything, but with this new mic, I didn't need to, plus that really brings out this hiss. I'm thinking I have what I need now, just setting the levels is my next issue.
Let me know if you have any more tips, I would be happy to provide another sample.
Aha! I would bet good money that using the analog input to the computer is at least part of the problem if not the whole problem. Computer analogue inputs and a/d converters (on most home computers anyway) are not known for quality audio.
You need to use the AD converters in that Behrenger mixer/interface. They were designed for exactly what you are trying to do. Go into your computer using the USB output from the mixer into a USB input on your computer.
You mentioned you had heard from colleagues that USB equipment is not very good. They may have speaking about USB microphones, in which case they have a good point. But your analog to digital conversion is critical, and I suspect your Behrenger mixer/interface will do a far better job with less noise. That is what it is designed for: recording quality digital audio to a computer.
(I was also a disc jockey for a number of years in Louisville, then went into advertising and recording. Have built and helped build some studios over the years and can tell you we would never use the analog inputs on a computer. Always use an interface - in your case the Behrenger - for your A/D conversion)
Again, Héctor and the other VB Managers have the final say - I defer to them - but I really think that analog out from the mixer to analog in on the computer is the source of most of the noise problem.
You DO have a great delivery! I bet you'll get work when the tech issue is resolved,
Well hello everyone, here we go again, here is another sample although not very loud, it is what it is. Not only do I have the Hiss, now I have a hum and I cannot isolate it, this is that same sound I get when I use the USB portion of the mixer, the same reason I listened to my colleagues about it, when I talk to them they would say that they never use the USB portion of their equipment because of noise. Joe I trust your opinion, what you stated in the last response makes sense, but as you can hear I have this Hum I can't ditch as well as this Hiss, any ideas anyone? Have a great day everyone.
Well I'm a bit stumped. I looked up your Behrenger mixer. While not marketed specifically as a computer interface, the promotional copy mentions the USB port for "connecting directly to your computer for recording".
A computer driver is needed for the mixer. Have you downloaded and installed that driver?
We need a VB Manager to jump in here too. They are certainly more tech savvy than me, but the digital input to the computer (USB / firewire / thunderbolt) is the way to go for pro audio. That 1/8" analog computer input is not intended for pro results.
Here's a YouTube video about recording with this mixer. If you don't want to wade through all 9 minutes (he spends a lot of time on packaging, etc.) jump to exactly the 6:00 point where he records using the USB connection to his computer. This is how it should sound.
Also, make sure Mic phantom power is on, signal is routed to USB on mixer, etc. Try a different USB cable. It has to be something simple. Either that or the mixer is faulty.
Hello Joe, I want to thank you and everyone else that is helping me with this, it's getting a bit frustrating to me and I'm losing what hair I have. I have updated the driver for the mixer when I purchase the microphone. I use the XLR plugs and have moved everything around, changed cords, I've even unplugged the mic and turned all of the pan pots all the way down and I still have this hiss and now the hum. I was going to give you another sample, one a little louder so you get a better idea of what this hum sounds like, I thought the last one I had uploaded, had a little more gain to it, but as you heard it was not very loud. I just did not have the time this evening, so I'm enclosing the photos you requested, I also wanted to let you know, the PC I'm using is an HP, AMD-Quad Core processor with 8GB of DDR memory Windows 7. I'm hoping to have more samples soon when I have a chance to record again, let me know what you think, thanks again for your time.
We REALLY need a Bunny Manager to jump in on this. I will see if I can contact one to bring it to their attention. I know they have been really busy re-working their website, so maybe that's part of the delayed response.
And I DO understand the frustration. I am frustrated for you as well because I think your gear is good enough to get good results with less hiss than you are experiencing. I am beginning to wonder if the Behrenger Mixer is faulty. Is it still under warranty?
Beyond that, I see a couple things from the pix you sent (thank you!) that raise questions...
MIXER:
The gain knob seems low to me. Here's a trick to set gain level: Set the LEVEL knob (at bottom) to 0 (unity gain). Also set the MAIN MIX knob to 0 or Unity gain. Then use the gain knob (top of mic channel) to get a good reading on the LED meters.
(QUESTION: In the pic, I see the two green LEDs are illuminated. What is that signal coming from - were you speaking, having someone else speak, or using another sound source as you took the pic?)
I would not worry if the +6 yellow LED lights up, only back off the gain if you see the red CLIP LEDs lighting frequently.
Just keep in mind that on a mixing board the gain control is the most important control for eliminating hiss. Too low and you will have hiss; too high and you will over-drive the microphone pre-amp and get distortion. That's why the gain control is critical in recording.
MICROPHONE;
I could be seeing this wrong from the picture, but it looks from the position of the windscreen that you may be speaking into the end of the mic. Is that the case? (Or did you simply pull the windscreen aside for the pic?)
That mic is a side-address microphone, so if you speak into the end of it you are 90 degrees off axis from the cardioid pickup pattern. For that mic you speak into the side of the mic with the heart shaped icon. Please forgive me if all that was totally un-necessary.
OTHER:
Everything else I see in the pics says you are set up correctly - assuming you're connecting to the computer with USB cable. The one other possibility is the microphone cable itself. They do go bad from time to time. Try using another XLR mic cable that you know to be good, possibly one form your colleague friends.
If those things don't fix the problem, then I start to suspect the mixer may be faulty.
Best I can do for now. Try to stay positive - though it's difficult I know. It has to something simple - we just gotta figure out what.
Well, this is a good one to get one's fingers stretched, ain't it? Alrighty then...
First and foremost, from what I can see in the picture posted by Mr. Poggi, the microphone doesn't seem to be properly oriented, which might account for some of the 'from afar' sound one can pick up in the samples. This is a side-address mic with a cardioid polar pattern, meaning that it's not meant to be addressed at from the top/front, but that it has a heart-shaped hot zone facing one of the poles of the mesh grill (in this case the one where the logo/legends and the heart-shaped pattern are visible.)
This renders the microphone essentially deaf from most other angles, especially the inverse pole and the 'top' of the grill.
Now, as for the polar pattern, this cardioid thing will come in handy, for it indicates the spots of the mic where it shouldn't pick up much of the background noise, echoes, and other undesirable sounds. Unfortunately, the capsule/grill combo in this mic's design doesn't do the best job at noise rejection, but this can be managed through room acoustic treatment and positioning of the microphone.
Onto the bad news about this particular mic: it has a high self-noise level at ~ -17 dBA. When compared to some of the quietest microphones (those preferred by many VO artists) it has a -10 dB difference and by Neumann's reckoning it just barely cuts it as a "good enough" level, as one can read about here.
Self-noise can be the bane of one's existence in the realm of voice work. Once our ears are tuned and sharpened to pick up any degree of hiss, our brains will hear for it in anything we get the chance to audit. This is both a pain in the ass and a blessing because it makes our own quest for clean sound so much more miserable once a little bit of noise is audible in our capture chain, while keeping us on our toes and non-complacent as far as audio quality goes.
Another quality I dislike in that mic is the audible coloration in the mid to mid-high range, as appreciated in the frequency response chart above, not really remaining flat. This can be heard in your samples as a nasal quality, for the lows are tame as are the highs and the frequencies lifting the curve make the mic sound tinny and... well cheap, instead of robust and warm as so many top-shelf microphones do. Now, this may and can be corrected through a carefully crafted EQ chain, which would be best applied in the DAW. You can compare your mic's sound vs. other microphones through its review in Podcastage. This guy spends hours upon hours and thousands of dollars on mic and gear just for kicks... and reviews. So go check out how the Marantz stacks up against the myriad of microphones that dude has reviewed over the years. Good headphones are a must to get the full experience and the best chance at unbiased judgment.
Now, the other 50% of this sound equation is your mixer. That Xenyx pre should be enough to power this mic without too much noise audible. I'd highly recommend using the USB connection as the preferred means of routing the sound to your PC. If drivers are updated and the cable is in a good state there shouldn't be any electric/coil whine. This is distinguishable from good-ol hiss for it has a distinctive high-pitch and will almost always vary. Did you ever have an ill-grounded car stereo that would hum/whine at different pitch/intensity whenever your engine revved? Well, it´s like that but more... electronic and way higher in pitch. Hiss or white noise is just that: a hissy sound resembling air escaping a valve.
Joe B. is right on the money about the unity values for your gain, level, and main mix settings. One must always start at unity and slowly crank up the dials in the closest intervals to a certain dB ratio/percentage. I'd recommend setting the gain at no higher than -6 dB and start raising the level knob from there, listening for white noise while doing this. You might also need to adjust your main mix level to achieve the best combo for your desired goal. Now, in my honest opinion, this is too much of a hassle. I'd rather go on Amazon and purchase a new Behringer U-Phoria 202HD (or even better the 404HD) for less than $120 and save all the time and pain invested here. That thing is dead simple, dead quiet and super clean (even besting interfaces three times its price in every respect.) Finally, another aspect related to gain/level is whatever adjustment needs to be made in Windows and/or your DAW. The computer's own volume setting may be betraying you! I know it's happened to me before.
In any case: you want an audible signal that ranges from -12 to -6 dB to leave enough headroom for manipulation and/or normalization in the computer. That's what you should be shooting for.
I really hope you can sort out all of these audio woes! I too know how effing frustrating issues like these can be, having suffered from headaches of the sort for many years.
Please, keep us updated! Can't wait to have you on board as a Bunny Pro!
-Héctor.
P.S.
Thanks for your always kind and precise input, Joe B. Respect!
Hello everyone, it's time for another episode of guess where the noise is coming from! I have lost all but hope on where the hum and the hiss are coming from, I have brought out some old equipment, some older basic mics, updated drivers. I have connected a Lexicon Alpha, M-box Mini, and an Art Labs Tube MV, everything has a hum or a hiss. What is in the audio clip is the new microphone and Xenyx. I have changed cords, moved it around the room, I was beginning to think I have some power thing going through my house I just can't put my finger on, so I connected the main PC to a Monster Co, power strip that offers clean power, it's made for flat screen TV's to keep out little power spikes, and it's supposed to lengthen the life of the TV, no difference. Since this could still be a power issue, I connected everything to my HP Laptop, not connected to any power, using a battery, Windows 8 with the same result, the hum is not as bad, but yet still there. Next is to replace the Behringer, but not too sure what difference that is going to make with all the other devices doing this, even another PC. There has to be some setting on the PC that is causing this, I have gone into the audio settings of both PC and Laptop and lowered the mic settings down to 75 out of 100. I'm really stumped on this one. Thanks again for your time, I hope you like a challenge!
Hello again everybody, I think I found this hum, internal settings in Windows was the issue. Here is a sample, I hope this is Satisfactory, I need to get back to work. Thank you for your time.
Hi Joseph,
I listened in my car, not the best venue for critical evaluation, but yes! I think you may have found the problem. Sounded very clean, at least in the car. The level does seem low (had to turn volume all the way up) but I'll check when back in studio. Good for you! You seem to be on the right track now.
Best,
Joe Brown
Joseph,
Apologies, but with holidays I still have not listened in the studio. Can do it tomorrow. You really need a new evaluation from a VB QC person. You might try uploading the new sample into a new posting.
Will listen tomorrow though and give my 2 cents worth.
Best,
jb
Regarding your audio, I think is better to what you had before, but there are some things I'd recommend you work on:
Seems like your sample is not normalized to the -3dBFS peak level our clients prefer.
Seems like your audio has some hiss noise, it might not be an issue right now, but, if you normalize your audio, it will make that hiss noise more noticeable and distracting. So I'd recommend you think of that issue now and try to fix it right from the recording rather than doing it in post.
I have been working on some audio files and think I have improved a bit, it at least is a little louder, here is the latest audio file, let me know what you think, I hope to hear back from you soon, I need the work!
This is a bitter sweet moment for me, when I received the email post about this I was beyond happy, I was in the process of writing to thank you and everyone involved, then I started getting speedy's instantly! So without wasting any time I ran and jumped in the booth and did two instantly! I had figured that since the approval was giving by Oki, that my settings that I last used and kept would work for my auditions, I was wrong, I am at square one again. As I sent the second audition, the first one came back asking for revision, so I redid this revision, as I'm writing this, it came back rejected, the same thing that got me to this forum and I'm heading there again. I have 2 friends that make 6 figures a year with voice bunny, and I cannot get 1 $6.95 audition. Getting voice work has been one of the hardest things I have ever done as a broadcaster, I have a large family to feed and while I have been told more times I can count on more days I can remember that I should get into broadcasting, if these people only knew of my back ground.
I don't know what to say or do about this, go on and hear people tell me how amazing my voice sounds, or wast more money I just don't have trying to kick off a rather new career even though I have been a part of it for many years. Thanks for every ones time and advice, I do appreciate it, I really don't know what to do here.
-Loud background noise is impacting your recording and adversely affecting the quality of the deliverable.
I was in my booth, my kids were in the back of the house being very quiet, I used the same settings as I did when I was given the thumbs up from Oki earlier, nothing was out of the ordinary on these voiceovers, oh and by the way, the other one was rejected as well, I wasn't even given the opportunity to revise that one. I had another speedy to do before I shut things down for the evening, but I didn't wast anyone's time doing it. I think it's amazing how there is someone willing to work and work as much as I can, but still be told that my audio does not meet the criteria as the rest, in the same breath, I'm told it would be just fine, I'm so discouraged.
Anyone would be Joseph.
I have not yet heard the sample that was accepted by Oki, and am exhausted for today, but will listen tomorrow.
You mentioned a couple friends who are making good money with VB - I wonder if you could borrow one of their mics to try out? I have no idea whether it would make enough difference, but might be worth trying.
You're right, you've worked harder than most people would to improve your sound. Most would have given up by now.
Feeling discouraged with you...
Hi Joseph,
Thank you so much for reaching out.
I'm listening to your sample and I have some comments:
Please let me know if you can notice these issues and if the link and suggestions are helpful.
Hi Joseph,
Another VO guy here like yourself. Great voice btw!
I do hear the background noise floor that Johnathan mentioned. I also heard a bit of a popped "P" on "appease the Bunny" near the end of the sample.
Just curious about what mic and interface you use. Always like to hear what folks use in their studios. If you can get the noise floor down, you should be able to make the Bunny happy.
Best regards,
Joe Brown
Hi, Joe!
Great timbre and tone! Ditto on what Johnny and Joe B. pointed out before me, by the way.
Please do share your setup details in as much detail as you can, along with the WAV file in a downloadable link so that we can put our ears to work in a more comprehensive and precise manner.
Thanks for reaching out!
- Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (VoiceBunny QC Agent)
Hello everyone,
I didn't think I would get such great responses so quickly, thank you for that. I have a 3ft by 4ft booth inclosed with acoustic foam square panels, I use a Sennheiser e850 microphone, Behringer XENX Q502USB mixer, older HP desktop running Windows 7 and audacity. I do not use the USB portion of the mixer, I've had colleagues tell me they never had good luck with USB audio equipment so I stay away from that. I connect my mixer with mono headphone jack adapters to a mini stereo 3.5mm connection to my PC. I have to and from connection so I can hear the playback through the mixer, and I turn that input off when recording. the cords are about 10 foot long, I have moved them around the room but no change in sound quality. I do not use compression of any kind and have the treble turned up slightly because I have a very bassy voice tone. The PC and the mixer are connected to the same wall power outlet,
My plan is to disconnect everything and start connecting things slowly to see if I can isolate this hum. Let me know, I should have this done tonight. Thanks again eveyone.
Hey, Joe P.!
Thanks for coming back to us so quickly with such a detailed account of your gear. It's always super interesting to know what other pros are using and how the equipment has an impact on their quality.
Now, the short (sad) answer to this whole mystery is... your due for an upgrade, a general upgrade.
I noticed that your recording had unusually high levels of hiss (white noise) but very low volume/amplitude. This constitutes a veritable paradox in the realm of physics, as a hot (high gain) signal will usually relay the aforementioned hissy sound but also high levels of ambient noise, a clipping signal, saturated dynamics and overall sound distortion associated with 'loud volume' instead.
Yours is a great microphone, just not one for this line of work. That Sennheiser is a dynamic mic, intended both for live and 'semi-pro studio applications' (as per the brand's literature).
In short: a dynamic microphone has a lower output by design, as they're made to handle loud sources such as live performances, booming sounds (like instruments), and they are basically built like tanks which makes them very durable.
Now, why does this lower output matter? Because a regular mixer like the one your using, will not be able to feed the gain levels needed to 'lift' such a mic for a studio recording, especially for VO work where we look for mics, preamps, mixers and/or interfaces with the lowest levels of self-noise possible. Dynamic mics that make the cut for VO work (such as the Shure SM7b) usually require a signal booster such as a CloudLifter or FetHead, which help these quieter mics achieve an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio along with the gain provided by most studio recording equipment.
My recommendation is to upgrade and get a good condenser mic. My personal favorites for quality/affordability are the Røde NT1 Kit, AKG C214, and finally the more expensive but amazing Lauten Audio LS-208 for its wonderful directionality and room noise rejection.
About your Mixer
The whole range of Behringer XENYX products have great preamps, a decent EQ and a usable compressor. These features are wasted however because the maximum audio resolution attainable from the A/D converter is 48 kHz/16-Bit. Why would anyone care about this? The short answer is that anyone should want the highest sampling quality attainable while recording. The long answer involves math –lots of math– and you can read more about this by clicking here.
VoiceBunny requires projects to be submitted as WAV files at 44.1 kHz/16-Bit resolution, but we also recommend that our talents record at the highest attainable quality and downsample once their work is ready for export/upload. For example, I record, edit, and process my files at 96 kHZ/24-Bit, then export them to the aforementioned VoiceBunny settings or whatever resolution any given client should require.
Another consideration is that since your not using your mixers ADC, you're also losing some quality by taking an analog signal and using the soundcard in your computer to digitize it into whatever sampling rate it allows. Fortunately, your PC's soundcard is properly grounded and doesn't print any coil whine or electromagnetic hum into your recordings, but this is often an issue with standard PC components.
So, what should you do? I'd recommend staying in the Behringer family as this interface is both amazing in quality and cost-effective, not to mention portable and equipped with a set of super clean mic pres. I trust it so much it's part of my gear rack.
Last but not least: your PC.
While a proper recommendation for an audio workstation would require more info on your current rig's characteristics, the rule of thumb is that a computer with anything less than a 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, a fast SSD of any capacity and at least 8GB of RAM will probably stutter and struggle if intended for serious audio work. The interface I recommended before should work well with older PCs and Macs, but will definitely benefit from a spec bump. As for the DAW, while Audacity is certainly sufficient for most basic audio tasks, my advice is to spring for something more advanced and scalable. If your budget allows, go for Adobe Audition or Studio One 4. If not, Reaper is a great choice (which I daily use) and it has very affordable licensing options for small businesses/personal use. It also gives you a free trial so that you can test drive the software, it's highly configurable (hackable even) and it's not super hungry on computing power, which should be a priority considering your aging hardware.
Thank you for staying this long and reading this whole thing. Hopefully, this will shed some light on how to achieve the recording quality your voice deserves!
- Héctor.
Hello everyone, it been a very long past couple of weeks. I've moved things around, pulled out really old equipment, had meetings with other colleagues and asked their opinions and I had such a bad time trying to figure out this hiss. I've changed two things as a part of my studio, the microphone and the software. I'm using Adobe Audition, and I purchased a Marantz MPM1000 microphone and for the price I'm very impressed with it. I would have purchased the suggested microphones, but my budget laughed at me when I stated what I wanted, speaking of the feedback, thank you all for the feedback, it was well appreciated. I have an updated audio file, please let me know what you think, and thank you again for your time.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sNUT_KV2DpxpYr6YPAu_7ANo1h5DSmPg/view?usp=sharing
Hi Joseph,
Are you using the digital output of the mixer into the computer? Or an analogue out from mixer into the computer's analog audio input?
I ask because I still hear a fairly high level of hiss in the recording. The signal (voice) level seemed low on my system also, so it may just be a gain setting issue.
Héctor is the real tech guru - sure he will have some ideas.
Regards,
Joe
Hello Joe,
I am using the analog output to my PC with 3.5mm plug, since this is way different than I'm used to using, I'm still working on how I need to set my levels, I was an on-air radio personality through the 80's, I just walked in the studio, did my thing and went home, as far as levels go, not too much to do as far as setting up things. Since this is my home studio, this is all my doing, even after all these years of talking, doing it in virtual silence I guess is new to me. I need to work on how to set these levels, and what seems good to the bunny! I'm not using any compression or after effects, I normalize everything, but with this new mic, I didn't need to, plus that really brings out this hiss. I'm thinking I have what I need now, just setting the levels is my next issue.
Let me know if you have any more tips, I would be happy to provide another sample.
Hi Joe,
Aha! I would bet good money that using the analog input to the computer is at least part of the problem if not the whole problem. Computer analogue inputs and a/d converters (on most home computers anyway) are not known for quality audio.
You need to use the AD converters in that Behrenger mixer/interface. They were designed for exactly what you are trying to do. Go into your computer using the USB output from the mixer into a USB input on your computer.
You mentioned you had heard from colleagues that USB equipment is not very good. They may have speaking about USB microphones, in which case they have a good point. But your analog to digital conversion is critical, and I suspect your Behrenger mixer/interface will do a far better job with less noise. That is what it is designed for: recording quality digital audio to a computer.
(I was also a disc jockey for a number of years in Louisville, then went into advertising and recording. Have built and helped build some studios over the years and can tell you we would never use the analog inputs on a computer. Always use an interface - in your case the Behrenger - for your A/D conversion)
Again, Héctor and the other VB Managers have the final say - I defer to them - but I really think that analog out from the mixer to analog in on the computer is the source of most of the noise problem.
You DO have a great delivery! I bet you'll get work when the tech issue is resolved,
Best,
Joe
Well hello everyone, here we go again, here is another sample although not very loud, it is what it is. Not only do I have the Hiss, now I have a hum and I cannot isolate it, this is that same sound I get when I use the USB portion of the mixer, the same reason I listened to my colleagues about it, when I talk to them they would say that they never use the USB portion of their equipment because of noise. Joe I trust your opinion, what you stated in the last response makes sense, but as you can hear I have this Hum I can't ditch as well as this Hiss, any ideas anyone? Have a great day everyone.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xVAPiI9FTUsXiOci9qAZBPnYg7_agHnR/view?usp=sharing
Hi Joseph,
Well I'm a bit stumped. I looked up your Behrenger mixer. While not marketed specifically as a computer interface, the promotional copy mentions the USB port for "connecting directly to your computer for recording".
A computer driver is needed for the mixer. Have you downloaded and installed that driver?
We need a VB Manager to jump in here too. They are certainly more tech savvy than me, but the digital input to the computer (USB / firewire / thunderbolt) is the way to go for pro audio. That 1/8" analog computer input is not intended for pro results.
Here's a YouTube video about recording with this mixer. If you don't want to wade through all 9 minutes (he spends a lot of time on packaging, etc.) jump to exactly the 6:00 point where he records using the USB connection to his computer. This is how it should sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmoWr98Mhto
Also, make sure Mic phantom power is on, signal is routed to USB on mixer, etc. Try a different USB cable. It has to be something simple. Either that or the mixer is faulty.
Keep trying Joseph. You will get there!
Best,
Joe B.
Joseph...
The level is SOoooo low. There's a gain issue somewhere.
One probably silly question: you are using the XLR input on the mixer, right? (With a mic cable that is XLR on both ends?)
OK, another probably silly question: are you sure the microphone phantom power is on?
And finally: can you post a close-up picture of your mixer, just the way you have it set?
Still trying to solve the mystery....
jb
Hello Joe, I want to thank you and everyone else that is helping me with this, it's getting a bit frustrating to me and I'm losing what hair I have. I have updated the driver for the mixer when I purchase the microphone. I use the XLR plugs and have moved everything around, changed cords, I've even unplugged the mic and turned all of the pan pots all the way down and I still have this hiss and now the hum. I was going to give you another sample, one a little louder so you get a better idea of what this hum sounds like, I thought the last one I had uploaded, had a little more gain to it, but as you heard it was not very loud. I just did not have the time this evening, so I'm enclosing the photos you requested, I also wanted to let you know, the PC I'm using is an HP, AMD-Quad Core processor with 8GB of DDR memory Windows 7. I'm hoping to have more samples soon when I have a chance to record again, let me know what you think, thanks again for your time.
Hi Joseph,
We REALLY need a Bunny Manager to jump in on this. I will see if I can contact one to bring it to their attention. I know they have been really busy re-working their website, so maybe that's part of the delayed response.
And I DO understand the frustration. I am frustrated for you as well because I think your gear is good enough to get good results with less hiss than you are experiencing. I am beginning to wonder if the Behrenger Mixer is faulty. Is it still under warranty?
Beyond that, I see a couple things from the pix you sent (thank you!) that raise questions...
MIXER:
The gain knob seems low to me. Here's a trick to set gain level: Set the LEVEL knob (at bottom) to 0 (unity gain). Also set the MAIN MIX knob to 0 or Unity gain. Then use the gain knob (top of mic channel) to get a good reading on the LED meters.
(QUESTION: In the pic, I see the two green LEDs are illuminated. What is that signal coming from - were you speaking, having someone else speak, or using another sound source as you took the pic?)
I would not worry if the +6 yellow LED lights up, only back off the gain if you see the red CLIP LEDs lighting frequently.
Just keep in mind that on a mixing board the gain control is the most important control for eliminating hiss. Too low and you will have hiss; too high and you will over-drive the microphone pre-amp and get distortion. That's why the gain control is critical in recording.
MICROPHONE;
I could be seeing this wrong from the picture, but it looks from the position of the windscreen that you may be speaking into the end of the mic. Is that the case? (Or did you simply pull the windscreen aside for the pic?)
That mic is a side-address microphone, so if you speak into the end of it you are 90 degrees off axis from the cardioid pickup pattern. For that mic you speak into the side of the mic with the heart shaped icon. Please forgive me if all that was totally un-necessary.
OTHER:
Everything else I see in the pics says you are set up correctly - assuming you're connecting to the computer with USB cable. The one other possibility is the microphone cable itself. They do go bad from time to time. Try using another XLR mic cable that you know to be good, possibly one form your colleague friends.
If those things don't fix the problem, then I start to suspect the mixer may be faulty.
Best I can do for now. Try to stay positive - though it's difficult I know. It has to something simple - we just gotta figure out what.
Best,
Joe B.
Hi, gentlemen!
Well, this is a good one to get one's fingers stretched, ain't it? Alrighty then...
First and foremost, from what I can see in the picture posted by Mr. Poggi, the microphone doesn't seem to be properly oriented, which might account for some of the 'from afar' sound one can pick up in the samples. This is a side-address mic with a cardioid polar pattern, meaning that it's not meant to be addressed at from the top/front, but that it has a heart-shaped hot zone facing one of the poles of the mesh grill (in this case the one where the logo/legends and the heart-shaped pattern are visible.)
This renders the microphone essentially deaf from most other angles, especially the inverse pole and the 'top' of the grill.
Now, as for the polar pattern, this cardioid thing will come in handy, for it indicates the spots of the mic where it shouldn't pick up much of the background noise, echoes, and other undesirable sounds. Unfortunately, the capsule/grill combo in this mic's design doesn't do the best job at noise rejection, but this can be managed through room acoustic treatment and positioning of the microphone.
Onto the bad news about this particular mic: it has a high self-noise level at ~ -17 dBA. When compared to some of the quietest microphones (those preferred by many VO artists) it has a -10 dB difference and by Neumann's reckoning it just barely cuts it as a "good enough" level, as one can read about here.
Self-noise can be the bane of one's existence in the realm of voice work. Once our ears are tuned and sharpened to pick up any degree of hiss, our brains will hear for it in anything we get the chance to audit. This is both a pain in the ass and a blessing because it makes our own quest for clean sound so much more miserable once a little bit of noise is audible in our capture chain, while keeping us on our toes and non-complacent as far as audio quality goes.
Another quality I dislike in that mic is the audible coloration in the mid to mid-high range, as appreciated in the frequency response chart above, not really remaining flat. This can be heard in your samples as a nasal quality, for the lows are tame as are the highs and the frequencies lifting the curve make the mic sound tinny and... well cheap, instead of robust and warm as so many top-shelf microphones do. Now, this may and can be corrected through a carefully crafted EQ chain, which would be best applied in the DAW. You can compare your mic's sound vs. other microphones through its review in Podcastage. This guy spends hours upon hours and thousands of dollars on mic and gear just for kicks... and reviews. So go check out how the Marantz stacks up against the myriad of microphones that dude has reviewed over the years. Good headphones are a must to get the full experience and the best chance at unbiased judgment.
Now, the other 50% of this sound equation is your mixer. That Xenyx pre should be enough to power this mic without too much noise audible. I'd highly recommend using the USB connection as the preferred means of routing the sound to your PC. If drivers are updated and the cable is in a good state there shouldn't be any electric/coil whine. This is distinguishable from good-ol hiss for it has a distinctive high-pitch and will almost always vary. Did you ever have an ill-grounded car stereo that would hum/whine at different pitch/intensity whenever your engine revved? Well, it´s like that but more... electronic and way higher in pitch. Hiss or white noise is just that: a hissy sound resembling air escaping a valve.
Joe B. is right on the money about the unity values for your gain, level, and main mix settings. One must always start at unity and slowly crank up the dials in the closest intervals to a certain dB ratio/percentage. I'd recommend setting the gain at no higher than -6 dB and start raising the level knob from there, listening for white noise while doing this. You might also need to adjust your main mix level to achieve the best combo for your desired goal. Now, in my honest opinion, this is too much of a hassle. I'd rather go on Amazon and purchase a new Behringer U-Phoria 202HD (or even better the 404HD) for less than $120 and save all the time and pain invested here. That thing is dead simple, dead quiet and super clean (even besting interfaces three times its price in every respect.) Finally, another aspect related to gain/level is whatever adjustment needs to be made in Windows and/or your DAW. The computer's own volume setting may be betraying you! I know it's happened to me before.
In any case: you want an audible signal that ranges from -12 to -6 dB to leave enough headroom for manipulation and/or normalization in the computer. That's what you should be shooting for.
I really hope you can sort out all of these audio woes! I too know how effing frustrating issues like these can be, having suffered from headaches of the sort for many years.
Please, keep us updated! Can't wait to have you on board as a Bunny Pro!
-Héctor.
P.S.
Thanks for your always kind and precise input, Joe B. Respect!
Hello everyone, it's time for another episode of guess where the noise is coming from! I have lost all but hope on where the hum and the hiss are coming from, I have brought out some old equipment, some older basic mics, updated drivers. I have connected a Lexicon Alpha, M-box Mini, and an Art Labs Tube MV, everything has a hum or a hiss. What is in the audio clip is the new microphone and Xenyx. I have changed cords, moved it around the room, I was beginning to think I have some power thing going through my house I just can't put my finger on, so I connected the main PC to a Monster Co, power strip that offers clean power, it's made for flat screen TV's to keep out little power spikes, and it's supposed to lengthen the life of the TV, no difference. Since this could still be a power issue, I connected everything to my HP Laptop, not connected to any power, using a battery, Windows 8 with the same result, the hum is not as bad, but yet still there. Next is to replace the Behringer, but not too sure what difference that is going to make with all the other devices doing this, even another PC. There has to be some setting on the PC that is causing this, I have gone into the audio settings of both PC and Laptop and lowered the mic settings down to 75 out of 100. I'm really stumped on this one. Thanks again for your time, I hope you like a challenge!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1llWnZ2vy2QssBBbs_QKt5Pen06tEdjER/view?usp=sharing
Hello again everybody, I think I found this hum, internal settings in Windows was the issue. Here is a sample, I hope this is Satisfactory, I need to get back to work. Thank you for your time.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GwPjDAiomUSul0TCCgZdsXtPjfB8ZPZ2
Hi Joseph,
I listened in my car, not the best venue for critical evaluation, but yes! I think you may have found the problem. Sounded very clean, at least in the car. The level does seem low (had to turn volume all the way up) but I'll check when back in studio. Good for you! You seem to be on the right track now.
Best,
Joe Brown
Thanks for your input Joe, what is my next move here, it's a new year and I need to get working,
Joseph,
Apologies, but with holidays I still have not listened in the studio. Can do it tomorrow. You really need a new evaluation from a VB QC person. You might try uploading the new sample into a new posting.
Will listen tomorrow though and give my 2 cents worth.
Best,
jb
Hi Joseph,
OK, I listened in the studio and checked signal specs with Amadeus. The signal is really low - -20.4 peak!
After boosting the waveform by 20db I re-listened... aanndd... there's still hiss there...which you would expect when boosting something that much.
But I didn't really notice any hum as before, so seems you're onto the right track anyway.
I confess I am not a computer guru (a Mac guy at that) so if the problem is in Windows itself, I'm not gonna be able to help.
Really need a VoiceBunny person to weigh in here, so as suggested in previous post, might need to initiate a brand new post.
Best regards. You have certainly been working hard on the problem.
Joe B.
Hi Joseph,
I'm sorry it took this long to get back to you.
Regarding your audio, I think is better to what you had before, but there are some things I'd recommend you work on:
Hope this helps.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YOLI2NJtU5M1vHMeERzXox3gHbiTNZ7l
Hello Everyone,
I have been working on some audio files and think I have improved a bit, it at least is a little louder, here is the latest audio file, let me know what you think, I hope to hear back from you soon, I need the work!
Hello for the first time ... Joe, how are you?
This one sounds good to me! ... and I bet everyone in the Community would agree ;-)
We look forward to collaborating with you and your awesome voice soon! :-)
BR,
Oki
Hi there,
Now that Oki gave his approval, your account has been reactivated!
Congratulations and best of luck with future projects.
Hello Johnatan,
This is a bitter sweet moment for me, when I received the email post about this I was beyond happy, I was in the process of writing to thank you and everyone involved, then I started getting speedy's instantly! So without wasting any time I ran and jumped in the booth and did two instantly! I had figured that since the approval was giving by Oki, that my settings that I last used and kept would work for my auditions, I was wrong, I am at square one again. As I sent the second audition, the first one came back asking for revision, so I redid this revision, as I'm writing this, it came back rejected, the same thing that got me to this forum and I'm heading there again. I have 2 friends that make 6 figures a year with voice bunny, and I cannot get 1 $6.95 audition. Getting voice work has been one of the hardest things I have ever done as a broadcaster, I have a large family to feed and while I have been told more times I can count on more days I can remember that I should get into broadcasting, if these people only knew of my back ground.
I don't know what to say or do about this, go on and hear people tell me how amazing my voice sounds, or wast more money I just don't have trying to kick off a rather new career even though I have been a part of it for many years. Thanks for every ones time and advice, I do appreciate it, I really don't know what to do here.
Hi Joseph,
That is so disheartening, I know. What reasons were given by QC for the speedy rejections?
Hello Joe,
-Loud background noise is impacting your recording and adversely affecting the quality of the deliverable.
I was in my booth, my kids were in the back of the house being very quiet, I used the same settings as I did when I was given the thumbs up from Oki earlier, nothing was out of the ordinary on these voiceovers, oh and by the way, the other one was rejected as well, I wasn't even given the opportunity to revise that one. I had another speedy to do before I shut things down for the evening, but I didn't wast anyone's time doing it. I think it's amazing how there is someone willing to work and work as much as I can, but still be told that my audio does not meet the criteria as the rest, in the same breath, I'm told it would be just fine, I'm so discouraged.
Anyone would be Joseph.
I have not yet heard the sample that was accepted by Oki, and am exhausted for today, but will listen tomorrow.
You mentioned a couple friends who are making good money with VB - I wonder if you could borrow one of their mics to try out? I have no idea whether it would make enough difference, but might be worth trying.
You're right, you've worked harder than most people would to improve your sound. Most would have given up by now.
Feeling discouraged with you...
Hello again! :-)
Speedies can be very difficult and tricky even for a seasoned pro, but if you get the hang of producing audio smoothly, it'll be a breeze :-)
By the way ... I'm wondering which pair of headphones you are using to evaluate products (Sony MDR-7506 is the de facto standard).