Microphone Gain

PopsLetsPlay

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I have a blue snowball microphone, and i am stunned at how low i have to turn the gain down lol.

Firstly.. I used to record my gameplay and audio all in the same recording, which now i realize was a mistake ..for reasons so complicated i can't even explain them here.

I have started to record my audio seperate from gameplay. Since then, I have been hearing MEGA keyboard and mouse clicks in my audio and it was hella annoying. Sooo.. i experimented a bit and turned my microphones gain down to 15% O .O' like..that's pretty darn low right? lol well it did the trick. It got rid of my clicking noises, and on top of it..after i amplified my audio (to not allow clipping i may add) it's stunning and beautiful. Buutt..i always watch my rendered videos on my Roku TV using the YouTube app after i am finished. I find that i have to turn my volume aalll the way up just to hear it. It doesn't seem right because i can watch other YouTube videos and the volume of my TV will be on like 30. When i watch my videos the volume is on like 80 lolll. So..yea kinda weird. I want to fix this so bad.

I use Sony Vegas Pro 13 to edit my videos..it seems that the only way i can increase my volume is to allow clipping.

When i edit my audio i do these steps:

1 -- Import Audio
2 -- Standard Bass Boost
3 -- Standard Treble Boost
4 -- Get Noise Profile & Remove Noise
5 -- Amplify to the max that i can (but not allow clipping, it is an option i can check)
6 -- From here i kinda just experiement with Compressing and Normalizing?

Im by no means an expert but i hope one comes across this thread and can help me. pleeaasee.
After I increase my volume once more in my Video Editor..the clipping starts. How can i max out my volume and have no clipping?
 

Sladee

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Have you watched your videos anywhere else besides the Roku TV app?
 

PopsLetsPlay

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well.. when im editing my video the audio sounds great in my headphones at like 50%. i haven't checked mobile
 

Sladee

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I know sometimes YouTube will mess the audio after you upload it to make sure the levels aren't too out there in terms of storage size, it might be affecting the level of volume. But yea be sure to check other platforms before making editing changes to your workflow.
 

Tarmack

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Loud clicks from the keyboard simply means the mic isn't close enough to your face. As to the rest, audio is benchmarked in db. Look for a normalize function and normalize the audio track to somewhere between 0 and -2 db, rather than amplify. This will introduce noise, but that can be reduced by again, having the mic closer to your mouth.

If you have to turn the speakers way up to hear it, so does everyone else which makes the next video they watch, very painful.

I've narrowed down my workflow to just a couple of steps. Compressor to knock the peaks down to about -6db. Normalize TO -2db. And a mastering preset in Adobe Audition. All that with the mic (granted I'm using a more expensive one than the Snowball) about 5-6 inches away from my face and skewed about 30-45 degrees to the right. I don't even use noise removal anymore.
 

PopsLetsPlay

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It's just that my keyboard is literally right in front of me lol I have to sit my microphone to either the left or right..bleh. how do i get it right in front of me, sit it on my lap? lol

What kind of microphone do you have Tarmack?
 

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I have a yeti, and I used to get the same exact problem.
if you have loud clicking, keyboard mashing, etc you'll still be able to hear it a bit no matter what. To reduce this a bit there's a few options.
- Make sure the back side of the mic (the part that doesn't catch sound as well is facing the keyboard, and the part that does capture sound is facing you. That means having to place the mic between you and your keyboard. I use a scissor arm mic stand to do this personally.
- Place a towel or something else to dampen the noise coming from your keyboard by placing it on top of your hands (bit awkward, but it does work actually)
- As stated above, use whatever audio recorder you have for your mic to normalize the sound by decreasing the dB, otherwise you also enhance the sound of the clicks and keyboard. (not sure what you use otherwise I'd go into more detail on how to do that)
- Use your video editing software that you exported your audio track to, to then increase the overall volume of yourself, voice, etc. The editing software is probably going to be much louder than it will after uploading to YouTube, so keep that in mind. Personally I lowered the volume of my editing software with my sound mixer so I could hear it fairly well at a low volume percent.

in the end though, just keep playing around with all the levels and things because each and every computer, mic, and encoder are different and need to be treated as a snowflake. Don't be afraid to waste time on getting everything PERFECT.
 

Tarmack

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It's just that my keyboard is literally right in front of me lol I have to sit my microphone to either the left or right..bleh. how do i get it right in front of me, sit it on my lap? lol

What kind of microphone do you have Tarmack?
I'm known for being a bit snarky towards Blue mics, so I'm not a fan. That said, the mic you're using isn't really designed for what you're doing. It's a podcasting mic, and most podcasting doesn't involve a whole bunch of keyboard clicks. So the issue you're running into is that the mic is closer to the keyboard than your face, which means the volume from the keyboard will be more noticable. It's just a basic audio mechanics issue. There are stands you can get for the Snowball, but at the price level, I'd just duct-tape it to a regular mic stand rather than buy the overpriced mount because everything Blue is proprietary nonsense. :p The mount to put the mic on an industry standard mic stand costs more than the Snowball itself does.

I use a Shure SM7B mounted above me on a Rode PSA-1, so I can pull the mic down and move it where I need it at all times. That said, most of my recording is done from a script, so keyboard is a non-issue but when I do more live comm stuff, this setup does a good job of keeping even a mechanical keyboard out of the mix.

My recommendation is always for people to save up and get real gear. The Snowball is nice as a starter kit item, but that's about it. I usually suggest people look into the AudioTechnica AT2020, an audio interface like the Scarlet Solo or 2i2, a proper mic stand (floor mounted is fine, but scissor mount is better, think radio mic stand). Or if people are still very price concious, a Samson C01U which has better audio quality than the Snowball and at least uses industry standard mounting threads for mic stands. samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/usb-microphones/c01ucw/
 

IceTwig

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I'm known for being a bit snarky towards Blue mics, so I'm not a fan. That said, the mic you're using isn't really designed for what you're doing. It's a podcasting mic, and most podcasting doesn't involve a whole bunch of keyboard clicks. So the issue you're running into is that the mic is closer to the keyboard than your face, which means the volume from the keyboard will be more noticable. It's just a basic audio mechanics issue. There are stands you can get for the Snowball, but at the price level, I'd just duct-tape it to a regular mic stand rather than buy the overpriced mount because everything Blue is proprietary nonsense. :p The mount to put the mic on an industry standard mic stand costs more than the Snowball itself does.

I use a Shure SM7B mounted above me on a Rode PSA-1, so I can pull the mic down and move it where I need it at all times. That said, most of my recording is done from a script, so keyboard is a non-issue but when I do more live comm stuff, this setup does a good job of keeping even a mechanical keyboard out of the mix.

My recommendation is always for people to save up and get real gear. The Snowball is nice as a starter kit item, but that's about it. I usually suggest people look into the AudioTechnica AT2020, an audio interface like the Scarlet Solo or 2i2, a proper mic stand (floor mounted is fine, but scissor mount is better, think radio mic stand). Or if people are still very price concious, a Samson C01U which has better audio quality than the Snowball and at least uses industry standard mounting threads for mic stands. samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/usb-microphones/c01ucw/

Completely accurate, this man knows what hes talking about for sure. if only I'd known all this when I had started and bought a Yeti mic