Any microphone that can minimize/eliminate noise made by roommates?

[Crown]

What about a shot gun mic? Which one would be better at eliminating everything else except my voice?

Shotgun is more for long distance work. Cardioid is more for very closeup work, like voice acting, commentary.

 

[aspirations530]

Shotgun is more for long distance work. Cardioid is more for very closeup work, like voice acting, commentary.

Yes, but my cardioid microphone picks up so much sound from outside my room such as my dogs barking, my roommates talking, doors closing, etc. I want to minimize these sounds when I stream live. Should I get a shotgun or will these sounds not be minimized much?

 

[Crown]

Yes, but my cardioid microphone picks up so much sound from outside my room such as my dogs barking, my roommates talking, doors closing, etc. I want to minimize these sounds when I stream live. Should I get a shotgun or will these sounds not be minimized much?

Are you sure you have it on the cardioid setting? It shouldn't be doing that.

 

[aspirations530]

Are you sure you have it on the cardioid setting? It shouldn't be doing that.

I don't think you can change "settings" on this microphone. The only way I can reduce ambient sounds is if I turn the microphone volume from 100 to 70 or 50. I have found then I need to speak really close to the cardiod mic to hear myself using headphones. Is this how cardioid microphones work? Are you supposed to turn the mic volume down from 100 and speak right into the mic?

Lastly... will a shotgun mic be better for my purposes and for only getting my voice? I just want my voice in my crazy apartment setting with roommates, dogs, etc. Which is better in this case, cardioid mic or shotgun? I also don't want to have to speak right into the mic because I am live streaming and want to "hide my mic."

 

[Prefix]

I would go for the yeti microphones, just that they are expensive however, the quality of the voice is quite rich and just stable, I wish to get one soon myself, so far i don't use a microphone for my videos

 

[Crown]

The only way I can reduce ambient sounds is if I turn the microphone volume from 100 to 70 or 50. I have found then I need to speak really close to the cardiod mic to hear myself using headphones. Is this how cardioid microphones work? Are you supposed to turn the mic volume down from 100 and speak right into the mic?

Yeah, you should be putting the recording levels at about 70 and position the mic reasonably close ( a few inches ) from your mouth, but at a 45% degree angle to one side so you won't have problems with pop sounds. You shouldn't be putting the mic at 100% - No wonder, it's picking up all the background noise.

If you aren't already doing this, I recommend you use audacity to record your audio. Before you start talking, leave 5 seconds of silence. Then do your commentary. After recording, you should do the following 2 effects:

1)Normalize http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/normalize.html (just keep the default settings and click ok) - This will readjust the levels so it's loud enough without distortion.
2)Noise reduction. This gets rid of any background noise. http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/noise_reduction.html Select the 5 seconds of "silence" I mentioned above, then click on "noise profile" Then come back into the "noise reduction" screen and this time click on "ok"
3) You can now save your audio.

 

[aspirations530]

Yeah, you should be putting the recording levels at about 70 and position the mic reasonably close ( a few inches ) from your mouth, but at a 45% degree angle to one side so you won't have problems with pop sounds. You shouldn't be putting the mic at 100% - No wonder, it's picking up all the background noise.

If you aren't already doing this, I recommend you use audacity to record your audio. Before you start talking, leave 5 seconds of silence. Then do your commentary. After recording, you should do the following 2 effects:

1)Normalize (just keep the default settings and click ok) - This will readjust the levels so it's loud enough without distortion.
2)Noise reduction. This gets rid of any background noise. Select the 5 seconds of "silence" I mentioned above, then click on "noise profile" Then come back into the "noise reduction" screen and this time click on "ok"
3) You can now save your audio.

I see. Yeah I can't have my microphone next to my mouth when I stream and do other things. I want to have the mic at least 1 feet away from my mouth and only pick up my voice and nothing else. Is a shot gun mic the best for this job? Thank you so much for your replies!

 

[Crown]

I see. Yeah I can't have my microphone next to my mouth when I stream and do other things. I want to have the mic at least 1 feet away from my mouth and only pick up my voice and nothing else.

I suggest you test the process I explained above by playing around with the levels and positioning of the mic.

 

[KatyAdelson]

Are you supposed to turn the mic volume down from 100 and speak right into the mic?

If you look at your recorded sound wave, you don't want to see any flat horizontal lines at the edges in the recorded audio. Flat horizontal lines indicate clipping, or a loss of details. It's like painting a big picture on a canvas that is way too small -- the painting ends up being cropped and you've lost a lot of the painting. Changing the 100% down to a smaller number will shrink your audio "painting" down in size. You want it to fit in the audio "canvas" without scraping the top and bottom edges and creating a flat, horizontal line (called "clipping" or "peaking"). Lower microphone volume levels also reduce the ability for the microphone to pick up other quieter sounds. Ideally, you want the loudest volume that will record your voice without clipping -- finding this balance will create the most detailed recording. The closer your voice is to the microphone, the lower the volume you will have to use to prevent clipping, and the lesser you will pick up background noises from your roommates. I think your microphone will do the job, but you need to experiment with its settings a little more. ^_^