Background Noise?

K

KiraDarling

New member
Hello, everyone! I'm so glad to be here! I've started recording at home, but there is noise from my apartment entering my recordings. Simple noises that don't seem to have an origin, to the lite breathes I take just before I start singing the next verse. It's making my entire song sound "fuzzy". And I don't have a lot of money to fix this issue, but I don't KNOW HOW to fix it either. The link below is a 30 second video showing you what I'm talking about.

The noise - YouTube

Could anyone give me a hand?
 
Hi,
The first and most important thing to do is to figure out what the source of the noise is.

Road traffic, AC, your computer fans....A combination...
Figure out what the main offender is and try to eliminate it, remove it from the environment, or place something dense between it and the microphone.

If you're not sure what it is, put on headphones and turn off the speakers (they should always be off when recording), arm a track so your mic is live and you can hear yourself, then move the mic around as a detector.

Beyond that you can increase the ratio between wanted noise (your voice) and unwanted noise by positioning your microphone so that unwanted noise sources are behind the mic or in the pattern null,
and also by making sure you stay as close as possible to the mic without introducing new problems.

I've tried to cover a few options in order of effectiveness so start at the start. :)

If you come up with nothing then the noise could be to do with the equipment rather than acoustic. If that's the case, could you record a 30 second clip of 'silence' and post here as HQ mp3?
 
Thank You!

Thank you so much for the advice! I guess I have a little experimenting to do before we go any further. haha
I will try all those things and hope that works! Thanks so much! :-)

Also, I think PART of the problem is a "hiss" in the microphone when I turn the recording level higher, but if I don't have the mic high enough, I could practically yell into it and barely record anything, so that's also a related problem. :(
 
UPDATE: Noise Still There WITHOUT Mic Even Plugged In?!?

UPDATE: I have spent so much time trying to figure this out I think I'm going insane. After a lot of testing around my home with different mics and turning off/or moving every possible device that could make background noise, I unplugged my mic and the background noise was STILL coming through my headphones!! I'm at a loss! How do you stop background noise from entering your recording if your headphones are playing background noise without a mic plugged in?!?! I'm SO confused!!
 
Hey again,
Heh..I know it's frustrating but try what I said.

FYI, most equipment will be noisy with no mic attached. It's a logical thing to try but, sadly, doesn't really tell you anything.

Make the mic live, put on your headphones, and move the mic around to 'detect' what the noise source is.

If you don't find a source or it's just constant, record 30 seconds or so and post it on the thread. :)

Also, should have asked, what gear do you have? Mic...interface...soundcard etc models.
 
Can you put up that sound as high quality wav or so?
It looks like it's not the wave is in your recording, because when it is it should be visuable within audacity (and i see a flat line) and would be easily be silenced. But is't hard to see clear in this way.
At 0:20, did you say the noise even is there if you cut it?

Select the part which you think has noise in it.
Then go to the menu Generate -> Silence (the time should be the same as your selected piece)
And the listen that part again.

Still noise then? Then the noise is within your system.
So put op some good sound for us to judge it.

If i didn't see it right and some noise is there you could remove it by a slight gate on it.
 
42low said:
Select the part which you think has noise in it.
Then go to the menu Generate -> Silence (the time should be the same as your selected piece)
And the listen that part again.
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh! The noise is gone after that. BUT how do I apply that to the entire file?

I could do this to all the places where I'm silent/waiting to start but that noise will be in the background every time I sing, so is there a way to keep vocals and apply this trick to everything??


On a side note:
I'm using Audacity, but only because any time I import music (before vocals) into my main program (Sony ACID Music Studio 8.0) the music speed is automatically increased dramatically and I can never get it just right again.
 
KiraDarling said:


Oh my gosh! The noise is gone after that. BUT how do I apply that to the entire file?

I could do this to all the places where I'm silent/waiting to start but that noise will be in the background every time I sing, so is there a way to keep vocals and apply this trick to everything??


On a side note:
I'm using Audacity, but only because any time I import music (before vocals) into my main program (Sony ACID Music Studio 8.0) the music speed is automatically increased dramatically and I can never get it just right again.
Click to expand...

That's a test to see if the noise is on the way in or the way out.
It proves it's on the way in so, apart from having that knowledge, you're no better off.

Please post that recorded clip and tell us your equipment specs.

PS: A change in playback speed/pitch is usually a sample rate mis-match. Make sure both suites are set to the same sample rate in their settings/preferences.
 
Sample Noise Recording

I just made this recording of the sound I am capturing with my mic. I hope that's what you wanted. I'm exhausted so my thoughts are a bit fuzzy. :-)

Here are the specs for the equipment I currently have. It's not exactly great quality, but I had to start small and replace with better equipment as my finances permit. So no laughing. :P

- Current mics I use: QFX M-158 (Was a $40 mic when purchased in October 2016, but prices have since dropped to $20)
- Behringer XENYX 302USB Mixer
- Various cables (XLR connections)
- Dragon Pad Pop Filter
- Sony ACID Music Studio 8.0 (and Audacity)
- Asus M32 Series (Windows 10) 64 bit
- Processor: AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3700 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
- 10 GB RAM
- 2,200 GB Hard Drive (over 3 drives)
- SoundRealtek High Definition Audio


I wanted to get a better Audio Card (not too expensive yet) but I couldn't figure out what to buy and still fit my computer.
 

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This is a quick result with the Audacity build in Noise reduction.

But best is to find the source where Steenmaroo is helping you already.
 
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KiraDarling said:
I just made this recording of the sound I am capturing with my mic. I hope that's what you wanted. I'm exhausted so my thoughts are a bit fuzzy. :-)

Here are the specs for the equipment I currently have. It's not exactly great quality, but I had to start small and replace with better equipment as my finances permit. So no laughing. :P

- Current mics I use: QFX M-158 (Was a $40 mic when purchased in October 2016, but prices have since dropped to $20)
- Behringer XENYX 302USB Mixer
- Various cables (XLR connections)
- Dragon Pad Pop Filter
- Sony ACID Music Studio 8.0 (and Audacity)
- Asus M32 Series (Windows 10) 64 bit
- Processor: AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3700 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
- 10 GB RAM
- 2,200 GB Hard Drive (over 3 drives)
- SoundRealtek High Definition Audio


I wanted to get a better Audio Card (not too expensive yet) but I couldn't figure out what to buy and still fit my computer.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that. That's exactly what I wanted. :)

Ok, I hear a few things here.
First up, your mic is plugged into the XENYX, right? If so, your built in soundcard isn't being used (and doesn't need upgraded) so that's good. :)



There's hiss which is what it is. The advice before about distance from mic + increasing ratio applies, but you'll never completely get rid of it without upgrading gear, I don't think.
Noise reduction, as 42 says, can help here too if it remains a big problem.

There's some other high frequency noise with a stuttered pattern. It almost makes me think your mic or mixer is near something that's causing interference?
Anything nearby with a power brick/transformer? Fluorescent lighting? that sort of thing. This isn't something you will hear....so move everything/anything.
Try moving the mixer and mic as far away from the computer setup as possible to test, too.

There's a lower frequency constant hum too that could be from the same, or it could be physical vibration.Is your mic on a solid desk stand with a computer under it?

I have my audio interface in a waist height rack to my left. If I play E.guitar facing it or set a desktop mic there, it just goes BZZZZZZZZZZZZ because of the mains transformer in it.
 
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Hi Kira,
The attached spectrum shows two hum spikes (60Hz and 100Hz) and these are caused almost certainly by that microphone. WTGR it IS cheap! It has a very low sensitivity of -70dB which is 10dB, 3 times lower than the Shure SM57 workhorse (and noobs have level problems with those!) . It will have no form of humbucking inside it. Waving it about with headphones on you should find a position where hum is at a minimum but that will not help the hiss which is being generated partly by the mixer.

There is however a second source of noise when using basic 'generic' USB audio devices with Windows, the latter slams the gain up to 100%. I no longer have Win 10 (got rid, sanity has somewhat returned and hair is no longer threatened!) but you need to get into the Sounds Devices and find that mixer. Probably be called 'USB MIC CODEC' or similar. Make sure it is the 'Default' device then look for a 'Level' button. Click and you will almost certainly find it set to 100%. Back it off to 5% (yes, F.I.V.E.) Now you can drive the USB converter harder and get a better signal to noise ratio. Has to be said though, with that mic and that mixer*, never going to be great.

New 'sound card'? You almost certainly mean an Audio Interface and they are legion. One of the best for its money is the Steinberg UR22. Noted to have very clean mic pre amps but you should be looking to upgrade that mic ASAP and consider a Small Diaphragm Capacitor (aka 'condenser') especially if you can find one with a -20dB pad (Google AKG P170, no longer in production but gives you the idea) . Other AIs by Tascam, Alesis, M-Audio, Focusrite are good and models will be found from £100. But, think long and hard about your next spend. Will a simple 2 in 2 out AI serve you for the foreseeable? For another £50 you can get two more line inputs which means the mixer(see *) could be used to give you 4 mic circuits ultimately. BTW, all the AIs mentioned have their own 'ASIO drivers' which means they are out of the clutches of Windows control.

*The X802 is not at all bad. I have one running 24/7 amping up two pretty crap dynamics in my garden but that feeble mic is asking A LOT of any pre amp! If the mixer drove two AI line inputs with 1/2 decent mics it would give an acceptable account of itself I am sure.

Dave.
 

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What i'm curious about.
Is the noise over the recorded sound too? Or is it only on the silences? What they call 'white noise'.
I give it a chance it's this last one.

If it's the last one then hardly a problem. Then you could simply cut out the silence parts.
Samething i do first after recordings, cause also unwanted mic bumps and breathing sounds and so are gone then. Getting rid off the parts i actually don't need at all (and only is useless project data, balast).

How2 cut in Audacity. Select unwanted part in track. And if selected simply push the Delete button on your keyboard.
Zoom in to cut small details.
 
ecc83 said:
Oh! FFS, just turned the picky into a .bmp file but NOW it works aswoz!

Dave.
Click to expand...

Admin have been notified about the finicky image upload issue, but maybe it would do no harm to send a few emails just to reinforce that there's a problem?

Kira, if you can borrow a 57/58 from someone or, better yet, any kind of capacitor/condenser microphone, I bet your issue will be way less noticeable.
 
Thanks everyone, for such an amazing amount of information. I'm extremely sorry it's taking me so long to respond again. Personal and professional lives went haywire!

OK. So I was sitting at the computer doing nothing important, when I noticed that the noise became louder (in headphones) when I moved the computer mouse. It became even louder if I hovered over an app/file and loudest when anything was opened on the computer.

Aside from my cheap equipment noises, the noise seems to be the computer itself, and no matter many rooms I pur between the mic and the computer, the noise seems to piggyback the cables and gets recorded onto the track.

This is a 1 year old computer, so I have no idea what to do to stop the noise. I'm beyond my limit with all this. :-/

---------- Update ----------

Thanks everyone, for such an amazing amount of information. I'm extremely sorry it's taking me so long to respond again. Personal and professional lives went haywire!

OK. So I was sitting at the computer doing nothing important, when I noticed that the noise became louder (in headphones) when I moved the computer mouse. It became even louder if I hovered over an app/file and loudest when anything was opened on the computer.

Aside from my cheap equipment noises, the noise seems to be the computer itself, and no matter many rooms I put between the mic and the computer, the noise seems to piggyback the cables and gets recorded onto the track.

This is a 1 year old computer, so I have no idea what to do to stop the noise. I'm beyond my limit with all this. :-/
 
Just a guess but that sounds like a 'dirty' USB power supply from the PC although it COULD be in spec and the 302 not filtering it adequately.

Are you sure you are just running the USB mixer as the 'Default Device' for record and playback? Make sure all other audio devices are disabled.

But! Cheap, V low output microphone, bog cheapest mixer Berrie's make, all conspire to give poor performance IMHO. A decent £100 AI will, I am sure clean things up a treat. Then start saving for a capacitor mic!

Dave.
 
Is your computer's built-in soundcard in the loop at all?
I.E. Are there anything 3.5mm jacks plugged directly into the computer?

If so, remove them and use the USB mixer exclusively for input and output.
If you want to go one further you can disable on-board audio in device manager or in bios, but it shouldn't be necessary.

If all of the above is already true, start juggling. Try using a different USB cable and different USB ports.
If there are front and rear ports, try both. If you're using a hub, try bypassing it.
If you're not and you have a hub, preferably a powered one, try using it.

Try removing as many mains-powered devices from the loop as possible. Completely unplug your monitors, for example, and listen back on headphones.

Just a few suggestions. :)
 
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