Microphone for voiceover

[dvdrom]

Hey there,

I'm looking for a USB microphone for making a voiceover, after some time spent browsing amazon and bunch of other websites, I found these 3 pieces listed below.

Just before that I want to mention that the problem with my current microphone I have is that once I record my voice, and then put that file into my video software, the volume of that audio is very low. And when I try to increase it (by some software like Wavepad), it not only decreases quality of my voice, but also increases the noise background so much, that it's possible to hear.
So what I want to try to avoid by buying a new microphone looking for one with an option of increasing the recording volume. I have seen that some microphones have some option called "Gain" - is that what am I looking for?

My list of microphones that I'm interested in so far:

Blue yeti
Fifine USB Microphone
Neewer USB microphone

The price should be around these numbers. I know that the second one and the third one already have something like built-in amplifier (that I want for solving my problem mentioned above), but I'm not sure about the first one (Blue Yeti). Would you have any suggestion for me?

Thanks.

[James Perrett]

Before spending any money it might be worth telling us which mic you use already. Are you connecting it to an audio interface or directly to the mic jack on your computer? Could you post a sample recording somewhere for us to listen to?

[ef37a]

I have had two of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citronic-Ccu3- ... B01N2Z959Q
and can say they are smooth low noise performers with plenty of "gain".

Do however take note of Jame's comments. A USB microphone might not be what you really need, a much more flexible setup is a conventional passive mic and an Audio Interface.

Dave.

[Mike Stranks]

Welcome dvdrom!

As James has said, I suspect that this is more about your current way of recording than a problem with the mic you're currently using.

Please give us more information about the mic, how you connect and what software you're using to record with. Thanks!

[dvdrom]

Cheap one, Hama, but for recording I mainly use Wavepad. All I do is just connecting my mic to PC with USB. For increasing the volume I use amplify option in wavepad, I just select whole track and set amplify to 250% or so.

[Sam Spoons]

How close to the mic are you speaking? The further away you are the greater the background noise will be relative to the 'wanted audio' (i.e. your voice).

[James Perrett]

Cheap one, Hama, but for recording I mainly use Wavepad.

Is it the one at

https://cpc.farnell.com/hama/00139907/m ... dp/CS32818

If so, have you set the volume in the control panel as described in the manual?

Just noticed that the manual for the cheaper version also describes the same process.

[ef37a]

Ah yes James I was about to suggest OP check Windows Sound settings.

Good that there is something about it in the book but Windows sound panel can present in slightly different ways in different motherboards and W7 and W10 are very different*

*Both do EXACTLY the same bloody thing ONCE you have worked it out. WHY the eff did they have to re-write the whole shooting match to DO nothing differently?

Dave.

[dvdrom]

No, mine doesnt have any option to increase volume in Win10 settings. I only have microphone option 0-100, and I was already trying to change it but did not make any difference about audio volume. The second option (+ some amount of dB) my microphone does not have. Might this be the problem? Does any of those microphones listed above have this option? That might be what am I looking for.

[Mike Stranks]

No, mine doesnt have any option to increase volume in Win10 settings. I only have microphone option 0-100, and I was already trying to change it but did not make any difference about audio volume. The second option (+ some amount of dB) my microphone does not have. Might this be the problem? Does any of those microphones listed above have this option? That might be what am I looking for.

In Windows 10, what volume is shown in 'Device Properties'?

This little vid I've just made may help... https://youtu.be/VaMf6N4885E

[Guest]

Just wondering if the original poster found Mikes video worked.

[dvdrom]

Thanks for the video. That option, to increase / decrease volume is exactly the one that I was trying to use, but the volume was still the same, even at 0% or 100%. That´s why do I think that it doesn´t have any impact on my microphone as long as it doesn´t have the "gain" option. Is that correct?

[The Elf]

If you want proper control of mic levels then a USB mic is not the way to go. You would probably be advised to look at a USB audio interface that has a mic pre-amp and a standard mic connection.

[ef37a]

If you want proper control of mic levels then a USB mic is not the way to go. You would probably be advised to look at a USB audio interface that has a mic pre-amp and a standard mic connection.

That is very true Elf but I am not sure the chap is doing it properly?

I have just done a recording with my Citronics USB mic at first 100% setting in Windows sounds and then at 10%. The resulting levels are WAY different.

Now, if he is saying, "even with Win sounds at 100% I cannot get a good level" then I would say there is something wrong with the microphone.

Dave.

[dvdrom]

Recommendation that I got for making voiceover pretty much included USB microphone so I think it can work with it. Also on youtube, many guys making test videos just pluged USB into PC and the audio (mean volume) was just good. I do not know why is this not the case of my current microphone, but I still think looking for some with higher quality overall could solve it.

[Mike Stranks]

OK; so did you set WavePad so that it is definitely using your mic for it's input? And have you adjusted the recording level via the WavePad controls?

[wireman]

Thanks for the video. That option, to increase / decrease volume is exactly the one that I was trying to use, but the volume was still the same, even at 0% or 100%. That´s why do I think that it doesn´t have any impact on my microphone as long as it doesn´t have the "gain" option. Is that correct?

Just to be clear, did you change that setting, do a new recording and play it back?

I would presume that a microphone of this type will have a fixed input into USB and all that control in windows is doing is to digitally amplify or attenuate it for any application that uses it.

[ef37a]

Recommendation that I got for making voiceover pretty much included USB microphone so I think it can work with it. Also on youtube, many guys making test videos just pluged USB into PC and the audio (mean volume) was just good. I do not know why is this not the case of my current microphone, but I still think looking for some with higher quality overall could solve it.

What I would like you to confirm is that the microphone level in Windows Sounds is indeed set to 100%.

As for other recordings, it has been my experience that USB sound devices are almost always set to 100% in Windows by default. Yours may not be.

Going for higher "quality" is commendable but not likely to get you greater sensitivity.

Just a thought? You can get USB headsets, boom mic and headphones that give remarkably good speech quality for around £25. Now that we have SO many 'talking heads' in grotty rooms yodelling at their laptops I wish more people would get them!

Dave.

[dvdrom]

Yes, Wavepad is indeed using my microphone. And there is no separate option in Wavepad to increase the recording level, it only opens my Windows settings, where it is indeed on 100%.

On youtube, when I was watching some tests and reviews of microphones that have "gain" option, in Windows 10 settings they always had one more option - something like boost. I do only have the Microphone level (they also had this option), but not the second one. Might that be what am I looking for?

[ef37a]

Yes, Wavepad is indeed using my microphone. And there is no separate option in Wavepad to increase the recording level, it only opens my Windows settings, where it is indeed on 100%.

On youtube, when I was watching some tests and reviews of microphones that have "gain" option, in Windows 10 settings they always had one more option - something like boost. I do only have the Microphone level (they also had this option), but not the second one. Might that be what am I looking for?

No, I do not now think you have a wrong setting, more likely a faulty mic. I am not sure re reading the thread which USB mic you have? There is a glut of very cheap capacitor mics and although they can work quite well there have been a lot reported with faults such as low sensitivity, noise and outright not working.

The USB mic I mentioned at the top of this thread is easily sensitive enough. My son records classical guitar with his and has it over a mtr away and still gets 35-20dB fs with peaks to -8. Even for a 16bit device the result still has a low noise floor.

So, for speech at say 30cms, any USB mic should be easily sensitive enough.

Dave.

[Mike Stranks]

Yes, Wavepad is indeed using my microphone. And there is no separate option in Wavepad to increase the recording level, it only opens my Windows settings, where it is indeed on 100%.

So are you seeing a different menu screen in WavePad to the one in the image above? If you are seeing the same screen as shown above:

Have you tried adjusting the Input 'Master Volume' using the Volume (green) slider immediately below? (The 'Master Volume' is a 'pull-down' on the 'Input' setting.)

My confusion - and persistence! - is because, irrespective of whether/not the mic is faulty, these adjustments are software related and nothing to do with the mic itself. I'd be particularly interested to know if reducing the Master Volume on this menu option does affect the recorded input volume/gain.

[ef37a]

Morning Mike,
Irrespective of Wavepad, faulty mic or nay, there is a crude meter in the Windows Sounds menu. If OP's mic is not blipping half way up that for 'Mary had...' at a foot he has a duff'un.

Dave.

[Mike Stranks]

Morning Mike,
Irrespective of Wavepad, faulty mic or nay, there is a crude meter in the Windows Sounds menu. If OP's mic is not blipping half way up that for 'Mary had...' at a foot he has a duff'un.

Dave.

I've just read back through the thread and checked that the O/P is getting some sort of level from the mic. He is; his issue is that level is very low and when he boosts it it sounds pretty grotty.

Now it could well be the mic, but I'm concerned that he may be about to replace it when there might be something else in play. I'm just trying to be sure that it really is a duff mic.

One of my regular 'submitters' in these troubled times is using a USB mic (purchased for less than £30 in Argos) to record .m4a files on a Mac. The files I receive from him are peaking at -32dB. A swift pass through a normalizer brings everything up to sensible levels. But I then need to do very little other corrective work. He's working the mic at the distance I recommended to him in a 'dead' and quiet acoustic.

Others here have already pointed out the importance of a good acoustic and working the mic at the correct distance. I'm trying to eliminate as much as possible before 'sentencing' the mic as not fit for purpose. Otherwise there's a risk that the O/P will spend a significant sum and be back in a few weeks time saying that he's still having problems...

Which leads me to a further thought for the O/P... could you post a link (Soundcloud or Googledrive) to one of the files you're unhappy with? Please post an 'as recorded' file with no subsequent level-boosting or any other processing. It only needs to be a 10-second or so extract... Thanks

[dvdrom]

Well, I´m open to buying a new one. I think the price of my current microphone is around 15€, so it´s very low so I do really think any problem I have is indeed connected to it (as I have already tried a bunch of steps in terms of settings and so on).

You were right, in Wavepad, I wasn´t using Master Volume setting for the Input, so I tried it with that, then selected Volume to 12dB (what is the possible max) and the difference was like if you added travelling to san francisco from los angeles after coming from new york...

It´s simply very cheap microphone, I honestly do not think there is many ways to improve it, so I´m really looking into some more expensive and a better one. So far, after watching many videos on youtube I´m quite fine with Neewer nw 8000 USB microphone, but want to be sure that this one does indeed offer nice volume of the recording (thanks to it´s boost gain option in win 10 settings (shown in videos that I watched)) without neccessity of any other hardware (so really nothing else than just taking the USB cable and connecting it directly to my notebook).

[ef37a]

Well, I´m open to buying a new one. I think the price of my current microphone is around 15€, so it´s very low so I do really think any problem I have is indeed connected to it (as I have already tried a bunch of steps in terms of settings and so on).

You were right, in Wavepad, I wasn´t using Master Volume setting for the Input, so I tried it with that, then selected Volume to 12dB (what is the possible max) and the difference was like if you added travelling to san francisco from los angeles after coming from new york...

It´s simply very cheap microphone, I honestly do not think there is many ways to improve it, so I´m really looking into some more expensive and a better one. So far, after watching many videos on youtube I´m quite fine with Neewer nw 8000 USB microphone, but want to be sure that this one does indeed offer nice volume of the recording (thanks to it´s boost gain option in win 10 settings (shown in videos that I watched)) without neccessity of any other hardware (so really nothing else than just taking the USB cable and connecting it directly to my notebook).

Actually that looks very similar to my Citronics, same mic I would not be at all surprised.
The good thing is, Amazon are very fair about returns and so you are pretty fireproof but I very much doubt you will have a problem.

Dave.