Audio is important.. Don't forget about it.

ThatDaveCarter

I've Got It
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
134
Reaction score
42
Location
Liverpool
Channel Type
Gamer
Hi Guys,

Just a quick informational thread really about audio. It's amazing how often audio gets overlooked when creating YouTube videos. It is one of the most important aspects of any video. It's more important than video resolution/quality, and it's even more important than content (in my opinion anyway)

Maybe I'm an audio snob? But I strongly believe that a video with audio that's way too quiet, or way too distant (echoey) is a problem. You can have a fantastical 1080p amazing quality video, but the audio is recorded through your in built laptop microphone while you're tapping away on your keys.. It's painful.

I write this, because I myself have been having some audio troubles lately, and I figured this was the best time to bring them up (while it's fresh in my brain).

What mic do I need then?

Laptop/Webcam/Video Camera audio
In-built microphones on laptops are not all that good. In fact, they're not all that good on iMac desktops etc either. These microphones are built for video calling with your dear old grandmother on Skype who can't hear you very well anyway.. Mine just spends the entire call smiling and waving.. Yes, hello Nan.. Yes Nan, I can see you... Yes, computers are fantastic!... Anyway..

Webcam audio isn't much better. The microphones in these webcams aren't built to a very high quality, and are mainly geared around picking up low volume noise.. The makers of the webcam know you are going to be sitting at X distance away from it, so they employ amplification circuits.. The problem with amplification is that you also amplify the background noise. This same amplification technique is applied to laptop microphones.

Video camera audio seems to fare a lot better here. It is all dependent, however on the type of camera you go for.. Your typical HD camcorder by Sony/Panasonic that you can get in Argos/ASDA (Wally world for the Americans :)) for £150 is a lot better than webcam and laptop audio but it's still not geared to picking up a single person in front of a camera. These cameras are designed to be taken on holiday, to the beach, and to the fairground.. They're designed to pick up all sounds, in order to retain the memory exactly as you remember it, and they do a pretty good job at that! In fact, I've noticed that video camera audio is getting a lot better, so give it a try.

DSLR Camera Audio
NO!! Just no!! Never, ever ever... And i mean ever! -- I ruined my first video shoot with this. We got some amazing visuals, and the script was comedy gold... But the in built camera microphone picked up every single focus adjustment, every camera body move, every finger press and even the mouth-breathing of the camera man... Me. -- Don't make the same mistakes I did.. Go for an external shotgun microphone, or alternatively some sort of boom mic/tie clip mics (if an interview etc) -- In fact, the same goes for video camera audio. If you're filming outdoors, always use a separate microphone.

Prosumer Video Cameras.
The mics on these are much better. Well, of course they are if you're going to be spending £1500-10,000+ on a camera you'd expect the audio to be better! However, that being said the top priority of the camera is to film video.. Audio is always a second priority when it comes to any sort of video camera, that's why professional video productions have sound recordists.

Fixing your audio depends on what type of video you're doing.. I've listed a few general types below, so I'm sure you can pull some relevant information from this.

The right tools for the job..

Gaming Video
Don't use laptop audio. It's echoey and ruins your otherwise awesome video.. Here, any external microphone is a plus! I myself have been using a cheapo (£5) headset I bought from Tesco and that's been doing the job well so far. The audio is a bit hissy, but it's better than an echoey laptop mic where you can hear every single keypress.. DO NOT WANT :)

So, go for a headset where you can, or.. if you find you've got a bit of spare cash to spend, go for a decent microphone. A condenser mic is great for this type of thing, as it very selective over what it picks up (audio wise) -- thus minimizing background noise. Bear in mind though, that condenser microphones need Phantom power (48V), so you'll need a mixer/preamp of some sort.. I suggest staying away from USB microphones altogether. I've never had a single good experience with them, although they may of really come along since I last used them. Read the reviews and see.

Also, one major thing to keep in mind here.. Try to record your game audio separately from your mic audio. I had this problem recently where the people on Mumble were coming through in sync with the game, but I was ahead by about 15ms.. VERY annoying. So, set Fraps to record only Windows audio, disable the mic on fraps.. Then, download something like audacity (freeware) http://audacity.sourceforge.net to record your mic audio. You can stitch it all together later in post.

Single Subject Vlogging
If it's just you on the screen talking about stuff, then your video camera mic may do you perfectly fine! However, if you use a Tape/DVD camera, your mic may inadvertently pick up the noise of the mechanism inside.. DO NOT WANT :)

I've found in these situations that an external microphone is always the best bet. Tie clip microphones (you know, the type the news anchors wear) are as little as £20 now and can be hidden out of shot quite nicely. Alternatively, a shotgun mic (highly directional) is your best bet. You can sit it on your desk in front of you, aimed at your mouth.

Multiple Subject Vlogging
By subject, I mean person. So if there's more than one of you in the frame, I would highly recommend tie-clip mics. Each mic could be plugged into your iPhone/iPod/droid device and could be recorded as separate audio clips. This will let you bring them all together into your production later on and will mean that you can individually make people louder/quieter as needs be. A lot of people talking into one single microphone is messy, and if you miss out an important piece of your vlog when someone else on scene coughs it's gone.. forever.. No amount of editing will bring it back. Plus, with all those voices talking at once, it'll become a real strain to listen to.. DO NOT WANT! :)

Note on multiple microphones: You need to make sure everything is synced up. So, hit record on the video, then hit record on all your iPhones.. Finally, have one of the team clap loudly in front of the camera. This will then let you line up the clap audio on all the iPhone audio clips, with the clap on the video making sure everything is in sync :)

Outdoor shots
You need a mic setup.. You should never rely on the in built camera mic (where possible), and should never mount the additional mic directly to the camera.. I did this, and the resulting video was unusable. We mounted a directional shotgun mic directly on the hotshoe of the camera. Every focus adjustment and camera rig movement was picked up.. I was not very popular with the crew after this. DO NOT WANT! :)

Finally, BIG note on microphone audio and this goes for all variants above..



It's easier to record good, audio than it is to fix bad audio!


Seriously though, if you record audio that's really loud to the point where it goes crackly (clipping) no amount of editing in the world is going to fix it.

The same goes for audio that's too quiet. If your audio is peaking at around -20db, you're way too quiet. Rule of thumb when you're recording is try and just hit the beginning of the yellow band on the VU meters when you're recording.. In the windows sound mixer on Windows 7/Vista etc. try and aim for the middle of the VU display. That way, you've got the best play range for your audio both up, and down.


Mixing your audio
So, you've got your audio recorded, and have got it in sync with your video. Awesome stuff! Now, the next step is to try and ensure a continuous, normal volume across the whole of the video. There's nothing worse than one scene being really loud, and the other being really quiet.. Who really wants to adjust their speakers every time a scene changes.


In your video editing software, you'll probably have an output audio meter, that shows two coloured bars going from green to yellow and then red.. This is a VU meter, and it basically shows you how loud your audio is.. The trick is to get the loudest parts as close to -1db as possible without making the red lights (peak limiters) light up.. so crank up the sounds.

Something important that I missed off.. Thanks Discern4!
Something else I would highly recommend is adding compression to your voice. I've been using Adobe Audition's multi-band compressor and it works great (not sure if Audacity has something similar). When you normally increase the volume of an audio track, you can only boost it so that the loudest part of the track is at the limit. But you will still have sections where your voice is not as loud. A compressor boosts every word you say to be the same volume as the loudest part of the clip. Think TV ads, newsreaders, etc. You can adjust it so it's not as harsh, and with certain compressors like Audition's, you can adjust the bass, treble, etc at the same time in order to make your voice stand out more.
Yes! A compressor is a great processing tool to add to your audio, but whatever you do -- don't over-do it.

Limiting is another good thing to use. Limiting basically says "I don't want any part of my audio to be louder than this" -- So you can set it to -2db and not worry about your audio ever hitting the red peak indicators. Too much on your limiter though can make your audio sound choppy. It's all about getting the right settings.

Which brings me seamlessly onto this article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/apr96/compression.html -- It explains all you need to know about compression & limiting.. However, if you want a quick fix; there's a handy table you can use at the bottom of that page.

If you're recording anything with background music/sounds from a video game on a separate track, always make sure it's in proportion to your audio.. If you're doing commentary on a gaming video, we want to hear you over the game.. Not at the same volume, so reduce the video game volume a little bit, and crank up yours to give yourself a stage!

I'll add more to this later, maybe with a few screenshots and links etc. but I hope this helps anyone having audio troubles (like me) get a bit of advice.

I've just upgraded from my £5 tesco headset to a proper microphone/mixer setup (will post a pic later)

Cheers,

Dave :)
 

gamerguyjoe

Loving YTtalk
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
268
Reaction score
75
Location
Canada eh?
Channel Type
Gamer
Excellent read my friend! I think many overlook the audio and focus only on HD visuals. in my opinion crappy audio us just as bad or worse than 240p!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThatDaveCarter

ThatDaveCarter

I've Got It
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
134
Reaction score
42
Location
Liverpool
Channel Type
Gamer
Thanks! :)

Yep, totally! It's sad to see videos that have awesome visual quality (good framerates, no tearing etc) and then have it destroyed by the built in laptop mic :(
 

Quacknor

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
Messages
64
Reaction score
12
Channel Type
Gamer
Just ordered a Blue Yeti, will use it both for my channel and my music! I think this microphone is a really proper fit for me!
 

Discern4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
55
Reaction score
14
Location
Australia
I agree that audio quality is more important than video. If I hear someone with a gaming headset or some other poor quality mic, I'm just itching to close the video.

I do a lot of voiceover/narration for my videos, so I'm rarely in front of the camera. When I first started, I didn't have a decent mic so what I did was get my consumer camcorder and hold it fairly close to my mouth like a tape recorder. Then I'd just put it in my video editor and remove the video. I was very pleased with the quality.

I have since gotten a USB mic. I'm not sure which USB mics you were talking about that had bad quality, but this gives a great sound:
http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/usb-microphones/c01u/
It's not too expensive either, I think around $50 USD.

It does tend to have background noise once you pump up the volume, but I just run it through Audacity's noise removal and it's fantastic.

Something else I would highly recommend is adding compression to your voice. I've been using Adobe Audition's multi-band compressor and it works great (not sure if Audacity has something similar). When you normally increase the volume of an audio track, you can only boost it so that the loudest part of the track is at the limit. But you will still have sections where your voice is not as loud. A compressor boosts every word you say to be the same volume as the loudest part of the clip. Think TV ads, newsreaders, etc. You can adjust it so it's not as harsh, and with certain compressors like Audition's, you can adjust the bass, treble, etc at the same time in order to make your voice stand out more.
 

ThatDaveCarter

I've Got It
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
134
Reaction score
42
Location
Liverpool
Channel Type
Gamer
Something else I would highly recommend is adding compression to your voice. I've been using Adobe Audition's multi-band compressor and it works great (not sure if Audacity has something similar). When you normally increase the volume of an audio track, you can only boost it so that the loudest part of the track is at the limit. But you will still have sections where your voice is not as loud. A compressor boosts every word you say to be the same volume as the loudest part of the clip. Think TV ads, newsreaders, etc. You can adjust it so it's not as harsh, and with certain compressors like Audition's, you can adjust the bass, treble, etc at the same time in order to make your voice stand out more.
I've added this to the first post :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Discern4

gamerguyjoe

Loving YTtalk
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
268
Reaction score
75
Location
Canada eh?
Channel Type
Gamer
The C01U looks like an interesting mic. What are your thoughts on it? I currently have a Blue Snowball. Amazing mic it is sensitive but yet doesn’t pick up garbage noise like a fan or fish tank. I am looking to get a higher quality mic thought since I want AMAZING audio not just good​
 

Jishk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
52
Reaction score
9
Age
36
Location
Cumming, Georgia
Channel Type
Director
Any advice for using effects live with a USB mic and/or reducing USB mic noise?

I've got a MXL Studio 1, and the mic noise is horrible if you're more than a few inches away. In my videos where I'm able to edit the noise from this mic, I can EQ most of it out without hurting the speech too much (so long as I'm not TOO far away), throw a noise gate over top, and it's hardly noticeable. However, this doesn't work for streaming or recording anything live (and needless to say, I can't record any decent music through it). If it weren't a USB mic, I could probably work out something with some outboard effects (which would be my preferred method, but is really quite costly), but alas... Has anyone dealt with this?

Also, my two cents:
It may be good to add a reference or recipe for a pop filter. It almost hurts to hear someone's P's and B's booming through an otherwise excellent mic.

For cheap outboard effects (like reverb, compression, eq, delay, etc), guitar/bass pedals can do the trick in a pinch. A compression pedal isn't going to sound as awesome as some glorious rackmounted compressor that you'd see in a studio, but you can get ~80% of the functionality for ~10% of the price. You may need some XLR-TS cables, as most decent mics use XLR. It's probably worth noting that, if you can, you should always try to record without any effects or anything, and edit them in post, so that if you'd like to change the settings on the effects later, it hasn't been recorded into the track itself.
 

Discern4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
55
Reaction score
14
Location
Australia
The C01U looks like an interesting mic. What are your thoughts on it?

Looking at the specs of the Snowball, I don't think the C01U is much different. They seem to be quite similar technically, so I don't think there'd be much of a difference. I haven't used many mics, but my only complaint with the C01U is a bit of background noise (hiss). As I mentioned, this can be removed easily using a noise reduction plugin. To my understanding the noise issue with cheaper mics can only be resolved by buying a fairly high-end mic, so I can't really complain much.
If I ever felt the need for a better mic, I'd probably go with the legendary Shure brand. They make USB mics now, like the PG27-USB. But it's about $200 USD.
 

Jishk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
52
Reaction score
9
Age
36
Location
Cumming, Georgia
Channel Type
Director
Forgot to mention... Shockmounts are worth looking into, especially if your mic stand is on your desk or close to your computer. They will do a lot to eliminate some of the hum from your computer or noises transferred through the desk/floor. Most high end mics will come with one already, but if not, you can get them pretty cheap. Just need to make sure to get one that will fit your mic. ;)