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skaltpunk
New member
i have a high noise floor (constant) hiss in the background of my recordings. i suspect my computer's sound card, is there anything i can do to reduce this besides buying a 300 dollar sound card?
Eurythmic
majordomo plasticomo
Sure...
Make sure that you aren't using extra cheap cables. They don't necessarily have to be Monster, but Radio Shack might not be the best idea, either.
Try recording with your computer monitor off.
Make sure that you have the most possible signal going into your mic, rather than recording a quiet signal and turning the gain up to compensate.
I use Steinberg's Clean! (an older version than what they're currently selling) to get rid of hiss on individual tracks, as I also have a noisy sound card (The Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold). I'm able to get some very nice results that way.
Oh, and make sure your microphone isn't pointing towards any of your computer's fans. It's possible that what you're hearing is partially ambient noise.
Make sure that you aren't using extra cheap cables. They don't necessarily have to be Monster, but Radio Shack might not be the best idea, either.
Try recording with your computer monitor off.
Make sure that you have the most possible signal going into your mic, rather than recording a quiet signal and turning the gain up to compensate.
I use Steinberg's Clean! (an older version than what they're currently selling) to get rid of hiss on individual tracks, as I also have a noisy sound card (The Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold). I'm able to get some very nice results that way.
Oh, and make sure your microphone isn't pointing towards any of your computer's fans. It's possible that what you're hearing is partially ambient noise.
Eurythmic
majordomo plasticomo
Oh, hey. Kalamazoo. Cool.
One of my best friends from high school is at Western. Good school.
One of my best friends from high school is at Western. Good school.
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skaltpunk
New member
western
yeah, im a student at western. it is a good school.
yeah, im a student at western. it is a good school.
Eurythmic
majordomo plasticomo
Oh, one more tip. Forgot this one.
If you're plugging your microphone straight into the microphone jack on your sound card, that adds a lot of noise. The line input is far quieter. So if you don't have one already, pick up a high quality microphone preamp, then plug into the line input.
If you're plugging your microphone straight into the microphone jack on your sound card, that adds a lot of noise. The line input is far quieter. So if you don't have one already, pick up a high quality microphone preamp, then plug into the line input.
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skaltpunk
New member
thats the problem
yeah, my soundcard in my laptop (which i use for recording) is very low-end. the line-in and mic inputs are one and the same. so, not much option there. i have my line-in level on my computer set to the highest... is that right?
yeah, my soundcard in my laptop (which i use for recording) is very low-end. the line-in and mic inputs are one and the same. so, not much option there. i have my line-in level on my computer set to the highest... is that right?
Eurythmic
majordomo plasticomo
Ooooh...
I've got to pass the ball to someone else, here. I know that laptop soundcards have a pretty bad reputation, but I don't have a laptop myself. So I don't know what I'd suggest for you.
Anyone?
In the meantime, you might try lowering the input level on the soundcard and making the source louder. If you try that, and it's too quiet, there might not be anything you can do other than noise reduction (such as with Steinberg).
I've got to pass the ball to someone else, here. I know that laptop soundcards have a pretty bad reputation, but I don't have a laptop myself. So I don't know what I'd suggest for you.
Anyone?
In the meantime, you might try lowering the input level on the soundcard and making the source louder. If you try that, and it's too quiet, there might not be anything you can do other than noise reduction (such as with Steinberg).
Gidge
Lapdance Test Dummy
what is your noise floor (in db) when you have nothing plugged in and when you have the mic plugged in.......
kristian
New member
laptops are HORRIBLE for noise floors. RME audio makes a PCMCIA card for their 2 to 8 channel I/O cards. But thats alot of money. Echo Audio makes one for their layla24 as well. A/D converters are suceptible to computer noise in a desktop and even more in a laptop. There is nothing you will be able to do to make it very bearable. I remembering commenting about that on your mp3.