Olympus ME34 Compact Zoom Microphone - Not picking up my voice over the white noise!

husseinHr

husseinHr

New member
So... I bought this mic as it was £23 instead of £80, but I'm not very happy with it. I'm trying to record just my voice, but it's picking up everything but my voice. I have a computer under my desk which is not all that noisy, yet the mic picks up the sound of it's whirring fans more than my voice. I'm speaking moderately loudly, and definitely much louder than the computer, but I can't hear myself over all the stupid white noise. this makes recording almost pointless, and I'm considering selling the thing to get something else (suggestions welcome)...

This is the mic: Olympus ME34 Compact Zoom Microphone: Amazon.co.uk: Office Products
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While I don't consider £23 or even £80 much to pay for a mic, it gets good reviews on the site so it may be something you are doing wrong?

Are you sure the noise is being picked up by the mic and not noise from some electrical circuit or loop in the system? Have you tried it in a different location to see if it works better?

Alan.
 
arcaxis said:
How close are you to the mic when speaking and is it pointed directly at you?

Assuming you're plugging the mic into your computer, does the microphone jack on the computer have the voltage available to power the microphone? I'm assuming it might, but it's been a while since I've used the jack on the computer, so I'm not sure all would.
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+1.
I don't believe the mic is getting the required power.
It's designed to be used with cameras and recorders that provide 2-10v DC.

You're probably just getting white noise on your recordings. If it sounds like your computer fans, I'd say that's coincidental.

Any budget USB mic would be adequate for basic V/O work. What are you hoping to record?
 
I'm just plugging it into my PC. It's got a 650W PSU, so I hope that's enough power, or do you mean a different type? I'm just recording my voice at normal speaking volume. I've heard cheaper mics sound better than this, which is why I'm so peeved.
 
It may need power supplied via the plug, similar to phantom power (I don't know how camera supplies work). The PC power supply is not relevant.

You have the wrong thing for what you are trying to do, the mic its self will probably work fine plugged into a camera.

Alan.
 
I think the mic is looking for "plug in power", sort of the little brother of phantom power. This all goes back to the often repeated concept that real mics don't plug into computers. Computer sound cards aren't designed as an audio interface. The mic you have is designed to plug into a camcorder. If you are just trying to record speech for social media, you need a USB mic. If you are trying to record music, you need an audio interface and a real XLR mic. Note that the second option would work even better for speech than a USB mic. The real deal is- there is no such thing as a cheap mic that plugs directly into a computer and produces high quality audio.
 
If your intent is to capture spoken word, then a dynamic mic would be my choice. But with any mic,,, the closer you are to the mic, the better the sound, and less noise the mic will grab from your surroundings. A condenser mic, used in a less than optimal studio, will pick up a pile of noise. A dynamic will too, just less than a condenser. An inexpensive dynamic that has both XLR connection and a USB connection is the Audio Technica AT2050USB might be a good choice, and at $50 US a good value for the quality. But a quite room, and 4 to 5 inches away from the mic will go a long way.

If you want to hear a sample of how the Audio Technica sounds here is a direct link to my podcast where you can hear the Audio Technica
 
You're right... I don't have a high budget, so I can't really avoid the white noise. The main problem with it is adding music to it in Premiere, for example. The white noise makes it really hard for me to decide on a good volume for the music to go with my speaking... Adjusting it every time I say something is a bit of a pain.
 
What I've done to "fix" the problem is lower the Db that are picked up in the recording program I use. Minimally reduces the white noise, but I can hear myself pretty okay now. Also, I moved a few inches closer to the mic.
 
Thanks very much, Mark. I'll try to return it and get this AT mic. Can I simply return it without it being broken or it malfunctioning? Some people say you keep these items as Amazon just don't want to deal with them. My friend just gets a refund and keeps the item.
 
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