DMGer
Offline
Cincinnati, OH

I need to rerecord my songs so that they're crisp and actually LOUD. Audacity isn't working and energyXT was working, but is made for guitar so I'm stuck with a mono signal. My best experience so far was just with the regular windows sound recorder. I'm not sure if it's my computer or the sound recorder, but it sounds TERRIBLE.

Judge for yourself:
http://chipmusic.org/dmger/music/stop-pretending

It's has an echo and fades in and out at some parts, not to mention the crunch at some parts.

So what do you think is the best for recording? What do you use?

tempsoundsolutions
Offline
TSSBAY01

soundforge 10.

my.Explosion
Offline
Finland

I use Audacity mostly. I'm used to the damn thing and it mostly works.

Sometimes though I get this weird bug where stereo sound is automatically collapsed into two combined mono channels (which sucks because in the past I never noticed until it was too late) but that might just as well be a hardware->software miscommunication or driver error or whatever it is we computer eggheads call them. Or maybe it's a thing with my setup. *shrug*

smile

chepe!
Offline
Mexico

Ableton 8

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America

What do you mean by "Audacity isn't working"? Do you mean it does not run on your computer or do you mean it's not giving you the quality that you want? Make sure you have your the recording quality settings turned up to a high-quality setting.

If you need your recordings to be "loud", simple use "Effects>Normalize" tool in Audacity to boost the volume as loud as it can go without clipping (or louder if you want).

It would be useful if you specified what exactly it is you are recording (although I think it is pretty safe to assume it is Gameboy)

I'm yet to find a good recording program that will record stereo and not produce static.

It sounds more like you're having problems with your sound-card/chip hardware than with the program you're using to record it. "... and not produce static" sounds like your line-in is picking up noise from your computer itself.

Cementimental
Offline

Audacity is fine. Reaper would give you more options and possibilities for mastering (which is probably what you actually need if your recordings don't sound 'loud' enough) but if you can't get a good recording in Audacity you probably won't in Reaper since it's more complicated. (I say all that having not listened to your sample, possibly it may be some problem with your sound card or the cable you're using or something for all I know)

Last edited by Cementimental (Oct 9, 2013 10:26 pm)

TylerBarnes
Offline
Dallas, Texas

Some tips for recording. I know this isn't directly related to your specific issue but if you are concerned with optimizing audio quality hears some things you can do.

Unless you are on an old school analog mixer/console/tape you do not need to get your signal anywhere near 0db. I know it's always been said that you should record your sounds as hot as possible, but that is only because of noise floor issues on old gear. If you're going line in or even through a personal mixer, you will be gaining nothing by recording very hot. In fact it will be detrimental to the signal if anything. I would recommend just use any sound recorder that have available to you that can record at 44100/48000 and above. (I use 48000). Now only feed in a signal that is only at like -10db and -6 at the very most. Since we are now in the digital realm these days, you can always turn up the volume using normalization and limiting techniques. Which brings me to normalization. Only normalize up to like -.3db or -.1db if you leave it at 0db clipping can still occur.  If after all this you still need recommendations. I would suggest Audacity, Amadeus Pro, Presonus Studio One, or Ableton Live. Amadeaus and Audacity are geared more toward soundwave recording/editing. and Presonus and Ableton are more for sequencing/arranging/mixing

Last edited by TylerBarnes (Oct 9, 2013 10:36 pm)

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America

yeah I set my normalize setting to -0.01db :3 (I don't know if it actually goes that low or not, haha)

Turn on the "Show clipping" View option so you can see where it's clipping (if it is).
If you have a setup that DOES have Signal/Noise issues, I recommend turning down your Line-In/Input volume until any computer noise it may pick up is inaudible (I usually keep it at just one notch from 0) and DO maximize your input volume just enough so that it doesn't sound bad, but isn't too soft that when you normalize the background noise becomes audible, and also so you can use "Noise Removal" to maximum effect in case you can't get around any floor noise.

tempsoundsolutions
Offline
TSSBAY01

i mainly suggest soundforge 10 because i like to compare it to wordpad but for sound. i know it sounds dumb, but its the kind of prgram where i personally have a bit more luck on the ideas side of things than with anything else.

i found audacity to be a bit daunting and clunky, sort of like goldwave compared to cool editshop 2000 pro. for editing or mastering, soundforge once you set all your prefs in the way that works for you the best might cut down your time spent on processing and help keep your workflow balanced, but allows for experimentation more freely.

SuperGammyBoy
Offline
Dublin

Ableton 8 or FL Studio work fine for me but €€€€€€€

mk
Offline

On mac i reallly like twistedwave. Even better for editing samples.

DMGer
Offline
Cincinnati, OH

Thanks for your advice, guys. From what I've read it sound like my computer that's the problem. I'll mess around with the settings and see if I get anywhere with that.

DMGer
Offline
Cincinnati, OH

Well it fixed the static problem and it's not getting lower in volume randomly, but the echo is still there... I don't even want to mess with removing echo so I'm done. Thanks so much, guys!

Alpine
Offline
UK, Leicester

Reaper for recording, audacity for cutting the extra bit off of the beginning and end of the recording. Reaper may be great at recording, but I can't be bothered to work out how to do anything else on it.

sandneil
Offline

you are probably recording with the microphone input on your computer with loads of windows settings designed for people who use the microphone for skype enabled

use the line in or an audio interface & record at a sensible level

3ndymion
Offline
NYC

Something like Audacity should work fine.  It sounds like the problem is somewhere in your setup, not with the software.  Make sure you have a good, tight connection with the wire.  If you're using the headphone jack for recording, the recorded sound will be very low in volume because there is nothing to amplify the signal.  In that case, you'd have to use some kind of program, like Audacity, to raise the volume of the recorded sound.  It's better to plug into a mixer 1st, or some kind of amplifier, & then plug into your recording computer from there.

Don't overlook the most simple of things: make sure the volume on the Gameboy is raised all the way up.  tongue  And mentioning that, make sure whatever volume you have the knob at isn't cutting out.  These devices are old, & the volume potentiometer on many of them have dead spots & areas that cause static.  Feel free to look here concerning that issue:
http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/12200 … is-repair/

Echos???  Make sure that any microphone device on your computer is turned off while you're recording, just in case.  Check for that in volume settings & audio settings.