Rejected application
My application was rejected for the following reasons and I'm looking for advice to resolve these issues. Except the first one. I know I need to tighten up my space and soundproof, I don't know what the other sounds are coming from.
reasons1) Room Echo - The acoustic conditions in your recording are not ideal. The \'sound\' of your room is audible in your deliverable even at its present amplitude levels.
2) Electric Noise - Audible coil whine is present throughout your deliverable.
4) Hiss - Your deliverable presents audible white noise throughout the recording.
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I can't get an input reading of -9 to -6 without cranking the gain all the way up and then I can actually see the background noise in the meter. Is this a power issue? I have a Presonus Audiobox USB 96 & M7 microphone.
Hello Jeffrey!
How are you?
Thanks a lot for reaching out and keeping me updated. That sounds a little bit strange to me, because -9dB to -6db precisely is a low volume and you should not present those issues. Could you please send me a screenshot of the signal printing at this levels so we can see what is the issue?
When you have the gain knob around 12 o clock, which level is printing in your DAW?
Please let me know how this goes!
Gabriel
So... I've been busy. I've done a little training in editing, changed out cables, severely conditioned my space, and have a new mic. This has been a long and expensive journey so far. I'm probably going to invest in a better preface as well. Please let me know if there are problems with these.
https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/galileo-narration
https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/9planets-narration
https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/pitchtoclose-training
Hello Jeffrey! How are you?
Glad to listen from you again :).
I can tell for the improvements that you have been working on your setup. Please confirm me something, did you record the three audios with the same conditions?
I ask you this because the one called 'Galileo Narration' is the one with the best quality. This one has some hiss on the background but it can be definitely adjusted with maybe a noise gate or noise reduction.
However, the other two have certain issues.
The '9 Planets' audio has way much hiss/white noise than the first one and it's a little bit more 'boxy'.
The Pitch to Close also is having a lot of hiss/white noise.
Could you recall what did you do different with the first one? I really notice the improvement and I think we are almost there. I just want to make sure that all your audios have the same quality in order to avoid future issues with our QC team.
Please let me know! Hope you have an amazing weekend.
Gabriel
The only difference is how I stood at the microphone. As far as the hiss, I've tried everything. It's always there. My next step is a new preface.
Also, a gate isn't going to help because I've taken out all the pauses so if there's hiss, it's during the speech.
Hello Jeffrey! How are you?
Sorry for the late response.
On regards your audio interface, let me ask this obvious question but, have you tried using a different input or are you recording always with the same input? That might also be useful before changing the interface. But maybe, if you changed everything (mics and cables) then I would guess that the issue is coming from this hardware.
Concerning the noise gate, it is okay if you apply it on top of your voice if you do it slightly in order to avoid any over-processing of your audio. You might also want to give it a try. Here there is a short tutorial where you can find a guide on how to properly use a noise gate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU0VjZWkboA
I think this is the last issue we should resolve before going forward. But really I can see the improvements and I'm feeling we are almost there.
Please let me know your thoughts about it and thank you very much for your commitment. We deeply appreciate it :).
Kind regards,
Gabriel
Yes, I've tried different outputs, different cables, different gain levels, different microphones.
Like I said, and he even says in this video, a gate drops noise between the speech which I deleted all the spaces in between, essentially doing the same thing. I don't see how a gate can help. If there's still hiss in the recording, it can only be while I'm speaking and therefore, a gate wouldn't do anything. I'll try it anyway and send you something.
Hello Jeff!
Sure, I'll be waiting for your sample then! Also, if you want, you can provide me a sample so I can download it and see if I can make the noise gate work :).
Happy weekend my friend.
Gabriel
Here we go:
Raw, unedited: https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/18-raw-wav
Noise gate, only: https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/18-gate-wav
Full edit, cropping, compression, gate, EQ, limiter: https://soundcloud.com/user-555150004/pt19
Please, let me know what else I need,
Thanks.
Did you have a chance to listen to these?
Hi, Gents!
Thank you very much for the efforts, Jeff. I can see that you and Gabe have been working hard at solving your audio issues.
Unfortunately, neither Gabe nor I can work on your samples as they're currently shared due to a couple of reasons: first, SoundCloud does not allow us to download the samples, and second, since they apply some audio processing on their end, the audios may not faithfully reflect your intents. Please upload them to a file sharing service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or any other of the sort.
While the hiss/noise seems to be manageable now, what concerns me from the samples is the level of boxiness/echo that's still audible. Could you upload some pictures of your working space and the specs of your gear? We'd love to help you figure all this out =)
Have a great weekend!
- Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (Bunny Studio QC Agent)
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=10mG8VU52BiSPp8-cH0HRKx2ki9AJO5Jq
Thanks, Jeff!
An access request has been sent so that we can download the file. =)
Cheers!
Did it work?
Hi, Jeff!
Yes, the link works now and I was able to review the files provided, thank you very much!
I was noticing that you're using the Presonus Audiobox to feed the Cloudlifter (and finally drive your SM7b), but in the picture, the phantom power in the Audiobox is not engaged. Is this how you have been recording so far? If so, please turn the phantom power on and record a new sample that you can upload to the same folder. You can slate the recording to indicate the following gain levels in the Audiobox for test purposes:
'Test 1, gain at 9 o'clock'
'Test 2, gain at 12 o'clock'
'Test 3, gain at 3 o'clock'
Please, don't process the samples at all: no normalizing, no gain adjustment... just a raw file recorded by those instructions. If possible, do a second file with the same procedure but now to test the reverberation properties of your recording space:
'Test 1, gain at 9 o'clock, inside booth. Mic placed at center (middle of the room)'.
'Test 1, gain at 9 o'clock, inside booth. Mic placed innermost corner (corner with most insulation/treatment)'
'Test 1, gain at 9 o'clock, outiside of booth. Mic placed (at middle of untreated room)'
Repeat the test lines with the other gain settings (e.g. 'Test 2, gain at 12 o'clock..., Test 3, gain at gain at 3 o'clock'.
Again, upload the file to the same folder, no processing of any kind and we'll take it from there! =)
Cheers and thanks in advance!
Done.
I always have the phantom power on.
These are files of every test you requested. I put them in the same shared folder so you should be able to access them from the same link. No plug-ins, completely raw.
Thanks a million, Jeff!
I'm working on your files and will come back to you really soon with some things to try to help you nail that sound once and for all =)
Have a great weekend!
Wonderful! Thank you. I use Presonus Studio One 4 so only certain plug ins will be available to me.
Thanks for the info!
Would you mind sharing your current FX Chain with me? Also, I noticed that you have a Scarlett laying around. If it's operational, would you mind recording a couple of samples along the same lines with that interface instead?
Thanks in advance for all your hard work!
The Scarlett doesn't work. I'm normalizing, running an EQ with a low pass filter, very slight tube compressor, noise gate & limiter. Then I expand the print slightly for more volume.
I'm going to put photos & another sound sample in the shared folder.
I've been doing everything I possibly can & I've been in contact with you guys since June. I've been waiting to resolve this with you before puting in another application, updating my demos & hiring an agent. I really can't wait much longer. I need this to move forward. Thanks again.
I'm also waiting on this to build a website. What exactly are you hearing? I've trained with studio engineers and completed multiple jobs without complaint.
Hi, Jeff!
Thank you for your patience! We're always happy to help as much as possible. I gotta say, that looks like a mighty fine FX Chain, but what worries me is that your PreSonus seems to be quite noisy. Other pros who opt for the same mic as you (with the signal booster) don't seem to have as much of hiss printed while tracking. This white noise is also wide-spectrum, as it's present in the 20,000 Hz of the signal.
Here's your Test 1 (my fave of what you shared with us the last time) processed with the simplest Reaper FX Chain (all stock plugins) and filtered with a second pass of the noise gate after rendering to take as much of that hiss out. You may be able to notice how present it is. Your voice is full, powerful, and amazing. It requires little to no processing and it's an engineer's dream to work on, but your gear might be doing you a disservice. With your kind of setup, you'd be better served with something along the lines of a Røde NT1, a Lewitt LCT 640, or a Neumann TLM 103. As for interfaces, even a MOTU 2 or a Behringer UPhoria 404HD can deliver a cleaner signal with little to no added noise.
But, if you need to stick with your current setup, we'll try to make it work!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Unfortunately, I have to stick with what I have for now. Because of Covid, all I do is voice overs and I'm not making much. Eventually, I want to get the Audient ID14.
I can't open the effects chain file with anything I have. I'd really like to see it if there's another format you could send it in. For now, I'll just try and run a second noise gate.
Hey, Jeff!
Can you try taking Reaper for a spin? Installation and setup are pretty straight forward. You can let me know if you got everything up and running O.K. so that we can tinker with those settings. The chain will call out for a free plugin from Lewitt (Polarizer). Just download and install as you would any other.
I'm looking forward to that gear upgrade of yours! Your voice deserves it!
Keep us posted!
I really don't want to do that. I like my DAW and I know how to use it.
Hey, Jeff!
I totally get you, mate. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to share those presets in another format with ease. Hopefully, we can try them out in the future.
Please let us know if we can be of help in any way =)
Cheers!
Can't you just share pics?
Hey, Jeff!
Here you go. You might need to find equivalent plugins in your DAW of choice to replicate the effect achieved through these stock Reaper effects. Let me know how it goes!
1. Lewitt Polarizer (tighten up the polar pattern for your mic)
2. ReaGate (Noise Gate to address the hiss and other low-amplitude noises in your signal)
3. ReaComp (Super gentle compression to even out your speech levels. Calculated to work with files at 0 dB amplitude, to produce a signal of -3 dBFS)
4. ReaEQ (One screenshot per frequency/band adjustment)
Cheers!