Mechanical Keyboard

[Shadeypwns]

this isn't in the main post? :L or have i missed it? I just re-read the thread and didn't see this information.

From the main post - I'm using a Blue Yeti mic, which is fantastic quality, with a Black Widow Ultimate Razer keyboard. I use Sony Vegas 12 to edit, and I have Audacity, Dxtory, and Fraps as options for recording mic audio.

And in a the 6th or 7th post, in the first sentence, I state that it's on a full mic stand. It's often best to read your way through a thread, so you can capture an idea of what's already been said so you don't end up repeating things or asking question that have already been answered in your post. Just a helpful tip

 

[Andrew Flint]

From the main post - I'm using a Blue Yeti mic, which is fantastic quality, with a Black Widow Ultimate Razer keyboard. I use Sony Vegas 12 to edit, and I have Audacity, Dxtory, and Fraps as options for recording mic audio.

And in a the 6th or 7th post, in the first sentence, I state that it's on a full mic stand. It's often best to read your way through a thread, so you can capture an idea of what's already been said so you don't end up repeating things or asking question that have already been answered in your post. Just a helpful tip

ahh well in that case.. what gain is your blue yeti on? and how far away is it from the keyboard?

 

[Tarmack]

A more important question is, how far away from your mouth is the mic.

All Condensers (perhaps an overly liberal use of the word all) benefit from what is known as the proximity effect. The closer you get, the more your sound has presense. However as they are also often designed to be multi-directional devices in many cases, this can also cause issues in an untreated room.

My mic is a dynamic (Shure SM7B), but it has many of the same pitfalls. If I'm right up next to it, the volume of my voice is such that I don't have to increase it's volume much in Audition later. So the keyboard clicks relative to my voice are quiet and not noticable. If I'm further away, the power of my voice isn't hitting the diapragm quite as heavily which leaves the relatively quiet clicks much more noticable, even when you try to crack the volume in post production.

Barring that, you could try an old prank trick. But lacking the water and seeds.

Pull the keys off your keyboard and stuff a cotton ball everywhere 4 key corners meet. No more clicking noise.

 

[Shadeypwns]

ahh well in that case.. what gain is your blue yeti on? and how far away is it from the keyboard?

This has been answered in previous posts as well, I apologize but I really don't feel like saying the same things over and over in this thread. If you get caught up and have advice for me, I'd love to hear it

A more important question is, how far away from your mouth is the mic.

All Condensers (perhaps an overly liberal use of the word all) benefit from what is known as the proximity effect. The closer you get, the more your sound has presense. However as they are also often designed to be multi-directional devices in many cases, this can also cause issues in an untreated room.

My mic is a dynamic (Shure SM7B), but it has many of the same pitfalls. If I'm right up next to it, the volume of my voice is such that I don't have to increase it's volume much in Audition later. So the keyboard clicks relative to my voice are quiet and not noticable. If I'm further away, the power of my voice isn't hitting the diapragm quite as heavily which leaves the relatively quiet clicks much more noticable, even when you try to crack the volume in post production.

Barring that, you could try an old prank trick. But lacking the water and seeds.

Pull the keys off your keyboard and stuff a cotton ball everywhere 4 key corners meet. No more clicking noise.

Proximity has been tested, and it does have a small effect. This so far has been my best option, lowering the gain and placing the mic inches away from my mouth. Does that cotton trick work on mechanical keyboards? From what I understand it's the switches that click, not the contact with the board by the keys themselves. (Unless you're slamming them of course, which I don't do, treat it light, treat it right!)

 

[Tarmack]

Proximity has been tested, and it does have a small effect. This so far has been my best option, lowering the gain and placing the mic inches away from my mouth. Does that cotton trick work on mechanical keyboards? From what I understand it's the switches that click, not the contact with the board by the keys themselves. (Unless you're slamming them of course, which I don't do, treat it light, treat it right!)

You may well be correct with your keyboard. I don't know, not a Razer fan. Pop a key off with a butter knife and have a look. Or just try very slowly to press a single key and see if it's quiet. If it is, then the sound is plastic on plastic impact even though you're not slamming them.

Depending on the game (at work, can't view your channel) you could always try a USB controller.

On the proximity thing, for most "podcast" style condensers (Snowball, Yeti, AT2020, Samson CO1U) and honestly any broadcasting mic of any kind, a few inches is the expected distance. Rule of thumb, 1 hand width away from your mouth and 45 degrees to either side so that you're talking past rather than into the mic. The exception of course is a sound treated room which is out of the price realm of most of us.

 

[Shadeypwns]

You may well be correct with your keyboard. I don't know, not a Razer fan. Pop a key off with a butter knife and have a look. Or just try very slowly to press a single key and see if it's quiet. If it is, then the sound is plastic on plastic impact even though you're not slamming them.

Depending on the game (at work, can't view your channel) you could always try a USB controller.

On the proximity thing, for most "podcast" style condensers (Snowball, Yeti, AT2020, Samson CO1U) and honestly any broadcasting mic of any kind, a few inches is the expected distance. Rule of thumb, 1 hand width away from your mouth and 45 degrees to either side so that you're talking past rather than into the mic. The exception of course is a sound treated room which is out of the price realm of most of us.

Thank you for the advice, I have used a controller on a few games in the past when it was a possibility. As far as the keyboard goes, the clicking sound doesn't come from it being a Razer keyboard, it comes from the switches in the keys, which is why it's labelled as a "mechanical" keyboard. Most keyboards nowadays are digital, with very soft rubber mats that are pressed against a circuit board by the key, causing a digital signal to be sent as a keypress. Mechanical keyboards use actual switches to do this instead, which means a lot of different things. They're absolutely awesome to type on and they feel amazing, and have a lot of perks. If you spend a lot of time typing you should definitely look into them, they're quite awesome!

About the mic position, 45 degree angle? Everything I've ever read has said one of the most important things to do with a condenser mic is to make sure you're speaking directly into it. I have a double screen pop filter, so even at a few inches my audio is very clear and has no pops or bursts in it, so I think I can get away with having it positioned in front me, unless there's another reason besides pops to angle it off a little?

 

[Tarmack]

About the mic position, 45 degree angle? Everything I've ever read has said one of the most important things to do with a condenser mic is to make sure you're speaking directly into it. I have a double screen pop filter, so even at a few inches my audio is very clear and has no pops or bursts in it, so I think I can get away with having it positioned in front me, unless there's another reason besides pops to angle it off a little?

This all comes down to vocal control. In Radio for example, a pop filter is considered a duct tape solution for someone being interviewed who doesn't know how to work a mic.

The reason I say common rule of thumb is that just about anybody can put the mic that close and as long as it's off center they won't be overwhelmed with pops. It's much harder, even with a pop filter to pull off direct 3-4 inch range and no pops because the pops are caused by the direct force of air coming from your mouth.

Technically any off axis positioning colours the sound. This could be ideal, or not. For example, high frequency sound reflects off of the roof of your mouth when speaking or singing, so if you position the mic slightly below the mouth (the reflections are travelling downward) you can record that aspect better.

If you can pull off no pops in less than 6 inches from the mic with the pop filter, then you'll be ok. Consider that the pop filter also colours the sound a bit too though.

I get too technical when I start down this tangent. The rule of thumb thing is just because most people don't need to read my textual floods sometimes.

 

[Shadeypwns]

This all comes down to vocal control. In Radio for example, a pop filter is considered a duct tape solution for someone being interviewed who doesn't know how to work a mic.

The reason I say common rule of thumb is that just about anybody can put the mic that close and as long as it's off center they won't be overwhelmed with pops. It's much harder, even with a pop filter to pull off direct 3-4 inch range and no pops because the pops are caused by the direct force of air coming from your mouth.

Technically any off axis positioning colours the sound. This could be ideal, or not. For example, high frequency sound reflects off of the roof of your mouth when speaking or singing, so if you position the mic slightly below the mouth (the reflections are travelling downward) you can record that aspect better.

If you can pull off no pops in less than 6 inches from the mic with the pop filter, then you'll be ok. Consider that the pop filter also colours the sound a bit too though.

I get too technical when I start down this tangent. The rule of thumb thing is just because most people don't need to read my textual floods sometimes.

Understandable, thank you for the in-depth post though! I love the technical aspects of things, and research them on my own quite often. I'll take your advice into account