Can anyone help me "diagnose" my USB mic's background noise/hissing? PLEASE HELP!!

dianamchahine

New member
Can anyone help me "diagnose" my USB mic's background noise/hissing? PLEASE HELP!!

Hello all!

I've spent hours and DAYS trying to figure this out and it's become so very frustrating! I hope y'all can help me!!

I've been having a lot of trouble removing background noise/hissing from an Audio Technica 2500xUSB Cardioid Condenser mic. I actually bought TWO of them, both brand new, and they both have this problem.

The room has been deadened, the mic has a shock mount and pop filter, I've tried muting the mic levels etc. and nothing has helped. I've been using Audacity and even the noise reduction effect hasn't helped. The background noise gets louder the quieter the piano/vocals are. I've tried plugging it into different USB ports, unplugging the power cord, deactivating my antivirus programs, and tried both mics on another laptop as well; and nothing has helped.

Is there anything else I can try? I'm not sure if the problem is with the mic, the USB connection, HDD noise etc. Would a ground loop eliminator help? Is there specifically a way to lower the gain, other than just reducing the input levels on a laptop/Audacity?

I was advised to buy an XLR mic with an interface instead, which I might have to do although I have no idea where to even begin with that!) but if there's a way to eliminate the noise with the USB mics, that would be my priority!

EDIT: Here's a sample of the noise I'm referring to both with audio, and as complete silence:

Sample Audio


I noticed there's a difference when I change between different Audio Hosts, but both still have a background noise. Here are 2 samples, both with silence and recorded voice, and on either the MME or Windows DirectSound Audio Hosts.



Windows DirectSound




MME


Here's how pure silence sounds in a 24-bit downloadable WAV format:

Sample Silence



Thank you in advance!
 
Last edited:
Hello all!

I've spent hours and DAYS trying to figure this out and it's become so very frustrating! I hope y'all can help me!!

I've been having a lot of trouble removing background noise/hissing from an Audio Technica 2500xUSB Cardioid Condenser mic. I actually bought TWO of them, both brand new, and they both have this problem.

The room has been deadened, the mic has a shock mount and pop filter, I've tried muting the mic levels etc. and nothing has helped. I've been using Audacity and even the noise reduction effect hasn't helped. The background noise gets louder the quieter the piano/vocals are. I've tried plugging it into different USB ports, unplugging the power cord, deactivating my antivirus programs, and tried both mics on another laptop as well; and nothing has helped.

Is there anything else I can try? I'm not sure if the problem is with the mic, the USB connection, HDD noise etc. Would a ground loop eliminator help? Is there specifically a way to lower the gain, other than just reducing the input levels on a laptop/Audacity?

I was advised to buy an XLR mic with an interface instead, which I might have to do 9although I have no idea where to even begin with that!) but if there's a way to eliminate the noise with the USB mics, that would be my priority!

Thank you in advance!

With electrical appliances problems are sometimes identified by a process of elimination. For a quick check just take the mic to a friend and plug it into their pc and see if the problem persists. This check will take seconds. If it does you will know where your problem lies.

When you have recorded an unwanted noise you then have an extra job to try and get rid of it. It is best 'not' to record that noise/problem in the first case.

The noise isnt your pc cooling fans is it?
 
It is best 'not' to record that noise/problem in the first case.

100%. They key to preventing it is figuring out what's causing it.
Could you attach an audio clip demonstrating the noise please?

Ideally a brief 'silence', then brief spoken word for some sort of volume reference.
 
For evaluating noise, I like to do some normal recording at a nominal level (-10 to 12dB), then just stop and don't make ANY noise for about 10 seconds. That way I can better determine if it is electrical noise from the equipment, or ambient noise from the room. It also lets you actually calculate a rough signal/noise ratio.

Self noise in a microphone is inherent in the design and can't really be reduced without processing. Unfortunately AT doesn't seem to state a self noise spec for the 2500USB. We had a user a while back who was trying to do voiceover work, and was struggling to get a clean quiet recording with his MXL770. He got an NT1 and the change was instantly audible. The NT1 just happens to be an incredibly quiet mic.

The suggestion of trying a different computer is a good one. If its the mic, it will follow to the other computer. If not, you'll hear a difference.
 
When you have recorded an unwanted noise you then have an extra job to try and get rid of it. It is best 'not' to record that noise/problem in the first case.

The noise isnt your pc cooling fans is it?

I 100% agree!! I'll try taking it to another computer and laptop today, but it isn't the cooling fan either. I just disabled it and it didn't make any difference.

What's weird is that I had an AT2020 USB before and it worked fine for about 8 years, and then lately has been getting static-y hence why I've now bought the ATR2500's, but their background noises have started straight away...
 
I've been trying to include an audio sample but because I'm a new user it's not letting me post a link until I post a few times. Anyone know exactly how many times I have to post? lol
 
I've just updated it, does it work now?
It would be better if there was some "pure silence" (i.e., at the beginning) so the noise could be isolated.

Upload a non-lossy clip (e.g., 24-bit WAV) with download enabled so we can play back the original recorded file. Do not Normalize or apply any FX to the recorded track.
 
It would be better if there was some "pure silence" (i.e., at the beginning) so the noise could be isolated.

Upload a non-lossy clip (e.g., 24-bit WAV) with download enabled so we can play back the original recorded file. Do not Normalize or apply any FX to the recorded track.

Here's how pure silence sounds in a 24-bit downloadable WAV format:

Sample Silence
 
Here's how pure silence sounds in a 24-bit downloadable WAV format:

Sample Silence
There's definitely a low frequency hum in there, which is could be entering electrically, but I'd guess through the mic, perhaps via the stand (suspension or not). It's hard for me to say how much of the hiss is environmental or equipment, though.

I was hoping for a sample that contains both silence and the recorded material, as suggested by [MENTION=43272]Steenamaroo[/MENTION], done at the same time without any gain adjustments, just for perspective on the recording level.

Some environmental noise is totally unavoidable in your average home recording space, so we mitigate it by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio by mic placement. So, in addition to turning things (lights, appliances) on/off, removing EMF sources, swapping cables, rotating the mics to see if the noise is directional, etc., you have to get the gain and mic location optimized.
 
There's definitely a low frequency hum in there, which is could be entering electrically, but I'd guess through the mic, perhaps via the stand (suspension or not). It's hard for me to say how much of the hiss is environmental or equipment, though.

I was hoping for a sample that contains both silence and the recorded material, as suggested by [MENTION=43272]Steenamaroo[/MENTION], done at the same time without any gain adjustments, just for perspective on the recording level.

OK, hopefully this will help!

I noticed there's a difference when I change between different Audio Hosts, but both still have a background noise. Here are 2 samples, both with silence and recorded voice, and on either the MME or Windows DirectSound Audio Hosts.



Windows DirectSound




MME
 
Is this a normal recording level for you? There is noise there, which was in the previous track I downloaded, but your peak level in this is -45dB!! When you lift the gain on a recorded track like that, it's going to bring the noise along with it. You should be recording so even the spoken word is peaking above -20dB, and a piano (acoustic?) should be peaking at -12dB or so. (Opinions vary)

If the noise is in the background, then the signal-to-noise ratio will be determined by the thing you want to hear compared to the "silent" part. The "noise only" portion of this recording shows the noise floor is down about -65dB. Not silent, but in comparison to a reasonably recorded signal going to be pretty quiet in most normal listening environments *if* you have say an average of 40+dB of difference over the noise.

So, maybe this is a Windows 10 record level problem, or I'm misunderstanding what you are doing here. (Sorry, Mac guy.) I know Dave (@ecc83) responded to your post about USB microphones. I too don't use them, but here you are, so let's figure it out.

Screen Shot 2020-11-18 at 7.36.30 PM.png
 
Is this a normal recording level for you? There is noise there, which was in the previous track I downloaded, but your peak level in this is -45dB!! When you lift the gain on a recorded track like that, it's going to bring the noise along with it. You should be recording so even the spoken word is peaking above -20dB, and a piano (acoustic?) should be peaking at -12dB or so. (Opinions vary)

View attachment 107398

I haven't touched any peak levels or changed any recording levels, so I'm not even sure if that would switch up like that on its own? Or how would I go about fixing that on Audacity?

I was able to record on a desktop computer, and that helped a ton; so I'm assuming the problem is with my laptop somehow; but is there a way to remedy that at all?
 
I haven't touched any peak levels or changed any recording levels, so I'm not even sure if that would switch up like that on its own? Or how would I go about fixing that on Audacity?

I was able to record on a desktop computer, and that helped a ton; so I'm assuming the problem is with my laptop somehow; but is there a way to remedy that at all?

I'm not sure what version of Windows you have, but I've read here about needing to mess with the input level in the Windows Control panel to get the recording level set correctly for USB microphones. The "Advanced Setup for Windows 10" starts on page 11 of the manual, so I would refer to that. (It may also apply to Windows 8, which seems to be where most of the USB mic problems started.)

https://www.audio-technica.com/media/wysiwyg/product/pdfs/us/p52831_atr2500x_usb_um.pdf
 
I'm not sure what version of Windows you have, but I've read here about needing to mess with the input level in the Windows Control panel to get the recording level set correctly for USB microphones. The "Advanced Setup for Windows 10" starts on page 11 of the manual, so I would refer to that. (It may also apply to Windows 8, which seems to be where most of the USB mic problems started.)

https://www.audio-technica.com/media/wysiwyg/product/pdfs/us/p52831_atr2500x_usb_um.pdf

I have Windows 10, and I have set the levels really low, but it still hasn't affected the noise unfortunately :/
 
Just checking that you have gone to your settings page, selected 'sound' from System.

Then click on to 'sound', 'input', then 'Device properties', make sure the USB mike is selected, and make sure Volume is at 100
 
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