How can I filter microphone hiss from my headphones?

hmfriendly

New member
I am recording with a Samsung C01UPro, which has a functionality where I can plug in my headphones into the mic for zero-latency monitoring. But a problem I have is when I go into the Windows recording devices and boost the gain of the mic so that it is a good level in Audition, the mic is indeed more sensitive, but it comes with a really loud hiss/buzz through the headphones which gives me a headache pretty quickly. I am wondering if there is some kind of software, or some other technique that can filter this hiss out of my monitoring headphones?

Thanks!

~
H.M. Friendly
 
Yes, the mic has a headphone output...

Check the Sounds setting in Windows. Does the mic make good, quiet recordings, can you post a clip of one?

Could be a noisy and therefore faulty headphone amp but my money is on level settings.

Dave.

Hey, here's an example of a raw recording. The hissing sound you hear is pretty similar in quality, but tends to be much louder in the headphones using the direct monitoring. (just listening to this recording through speakers, it's much less audible unless you crank the volume, although you can hear it easily if you use headphones)

I got this mic specifically for the headphone jack; with previous mics which I've plugged into the proper sound jack, I can use the "listen" function in the recording settings, but since it's a usb mic, there's a dreadful latency that makes realtime monitoring impossible, so the mic jack eliminates that latency.

But I am wondering, is there a way to filter the hiss in realtime, similar to the noise reduction process I would use in audition?
 

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  • mic raw.mp3
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I'm not really hearing hiss - I think I can hear a fan (in the computer maybe) but the hiss I expected is absent. This is why USB mics that have preamps in are so limiting - when you try to sing to track, the latency wrecks the usefulness. I have a USB mic, bought a few years back that sounds quite nice, but the driver is very basic, the latency for the return unacceptable like yours, and the actual quality of the audio rather poor, due to the available power from the typical USB socket - 5V and low current doesn't make for noise free amplifiers. The good bit is that the mic itself sounds better than I expected, and the noise floor low enough to reveal some room noises - so as a mic, it's usable. You're just limited by the return audio - can you not use the computer audio out for the monitoring? If the latency there is also bad, you're stuck. It will never be nice to use.
 
I'm not really hearing hiss - I think I can hear a fan (in the computer maybe) but the hiss I expected is absent. This is why USB mics that have preamps in are so limiting - when you try to sing to track, the latency wrecks the usefulness. I have a USB mic, bought a few years back that sounds quite nice, but the driver is very basic, the latency for the return unacceptable like yours, and the actual quality of the audio rather poor, due to the available power from the typical USB socket - 5V and low current doesn't make for noise free amplifiers. The good bit is that the mic itself sounds better than I expected, and the noise floor low enough to reveal some room noises - so as a mic, it's usable. You're just limited by the return audio - can you not use the computer audio out for the monitoring? If the latency there is also bad, you're stuck. It will never be nice to use.

Perhaps it's not a hiss, but it's a constant background noise; maybe it's the fans, I have two external drives and a tower with loud CPU/power fans. But I cant really do anything to isolate that noise, I don't think.

I originally tried using the audio out for the monitoring but I'm guessing because it's USB the computer won't let the mic be used as a playback source like it would when I had an analog mic. It just doesn't show up.

I guess the noise floor is too low, if it picks up the fan noises... After all I don't want room noises, just my voice. :/
 
put the mic in something - a box with a towel, or a suitcase, or something you can shut and record that and see if the noise floor drops. I'm hearing rumbles at the bottom and a higher pitch wind noise, but not hiss.
 
I have two external drives and a tower with loud CPU/power fans. But I cant really do anything to isolate that noise, I don't think. /
You can get longer cables for the external drives and hide them somewhere. Y0u can also replace the fans in your tower with noiseless ones.
 
That noise is preamp gain. I'm also hearing background that shouldn't be there. Back off the gain. You don't need to record hot in the digital age.
 
learn me here

I get noise when the preamp gain is too low
never got it from the preamp nor because the gain was too high

please do explain how that can happen
do you mean the gain is picking up room noise not that it is causing the hiss which would be electrical white noise

Unplug any microphones (or any other input) from your interface (or mixer). Plug a set of headphones in and turn their level up to usual listening level. Pick a channel, any channel. Turn its gain up full. You will hear preamp gain noise.

If the source you want to record is very quiet, and you have to increase the channel gain to capture it, you will get a commensurate increase in both preamp noise and background noise.
 
I agree - pull the plug during recording and see what happens. If the his remains, it's generated AfTER the mic socket, if it drops, it's either a noisy mic, or room sound. However, noise is usually the familiar wide band hiss, and the recording we listened to has noise at lower frequencies, and to my ears (which could easily be faulty) it's sound in the room. An easy test to do.
 
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