Reducing noise in digital recordings

[Bill Bremmer]

Hello,



I'm doing some voice production work at home for a local radio station.

Using Cool Edit along with M Audio's Mobile-Pre, a Pentium 3 computer, a
Shure PG-58 mic, Windows XP.



When everything is powered up and the mic is on, I'm showing a -54 dB
reading on my Cool Edit screen. I think that that is too noisy. Obviously,
I can just about eliminate any of this noise (hiss or system noise) by
using Cool Edit's Noise Reduction software after I have recorded, but no
matter what percentage of reduction I use, I will hear some artifacts.



On the Mobile Pre, the gain control is set at about 4 o'clock, six is about
maximum. The recorded wave form is showing peaks at about 30%. I then must
"normalize" the recording to 95-100% for the final recording. It seems that
I should be getting more mic gain from the pre-amp, so that I don't need to
set the output gain to 4 o'clock and then normalize in Cool Edit. I must use
about a 12 foot USB cable to connect the pre-amp to the computer, but I
don't think that this is much of a factor.



I would appreciate any thoughts you might have.



If I wanted to improve the sound quality, without spending a lot, what areas
do you think I could improve?



Thank you,

Bob K at .

[MiNe 109]

In article >,
"Bill Bremmer" > wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> I'm doing some voice production work at home for a local radio station.
>
> Using Cool Edit along with M Audio's Mobile-Pre, a Pentium 3 computer, a
> Shure PG-58 mic, Windows XP.
>
>
>
> When everything is powered up and the mic is on, I'm showing a -54 dB
> reading on my Cool Edit screen. I think that that is too noisy. Obviously,
> I can just about eliminate any of this noise (hiss or system noise) by
> using Cool Edit's Noise Reduction software after I have recorded, but no
> matter what percentage of reduction I use, I will hear some artifacts.
>
>
>
> On the Mobile Pre, the gain control is set at about 4 o'clock, six is about
> maximum. The recorded wave form is showing peaks at about 30%. I then must
> "normalize" the recording to 95-100% for the final recording. It seems that
> I should be getting more mic gain from the pre-amp, so that I don't need to
> set the output gain to 4 o'clock and then normalize in Cool Edit. I must use
> about a 12 foot USB cable to connect the pre-amp to the computer, but I
> don't think that this is much of a factor.
>
>
>
> I would appreciate any thoughts you might have.
>
>
>
> If I wanted to improve the sound quality, without spending a lot, what areas
> do you think I could improve?

You should try rec.audio.pro with this question.

The best I can do is to suggest turning up the preamp to maximum or
until it actually distorts.

Stephen

[Bill Bremmer]

Thank you I did post the question to rec.audio.pro.

Is it logical to conclude that if I send a stronger pre-amped signal to the
PC it will reduce the "background" noise?

"MiNe 109" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Bill Bremmer" > wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm doing some voice production work at home for a local radio station.
>>
>> Using Cool Edit along with M Audio's Mobile-Pre, a Pentium 3 computer, a
>> Shure PG-58 mic, Windows XP.
>>
>>
>>
>> When everything is powered up and the mic is on, I'm showing a -54 dB
>> reading on my Cool Edit screen. I think that that is too noisy.
>> Obviously,
>> I can just about eliminate any of this noise (hiss or system noise) by
>> using Cool Edit's Noise Reduction software after I have recorded, but no
>> matter what percentage of reduction I use, I will hear some artifacts.
>>
>>
>>
>> On the Mobile Pre, the gain control is set at about 4 o'clock, six is
>> about
>> maximum. The recorded wave form is showing peaks at about 30%. I then
>> must
>> "normalize" the recording to 95-100% for the final recording. It seems
>> that
>> I should be getting more mic gain from the pre-amp, so that I don't need
>> to
>> set the output gain to 4 o'clock and then normalize in Cool Edit. I must
>> use
>> about a 12 foot USB cable to connect the pre-amp to the computer, but I
>> don't think that this is much of a factor.
>>
>>
>>
>> I would appreciate any thoughts you might have.
>>
>>
>>
>> If I wanted to improve the sound quality, without spending a lot, what
>> areas
>> do you think I could improve?
>
> You should try rec.audio.pro with this question.
>
> The best I can do is to suggest turning up the preamp to maximum or
> until it actually distorts.
>
> Stephen

[Eeyore]

Bill Bremmer wrote:

> Thank you I did post the question to rec.audio.pro.
>
> Is it logical to conclude that if I send a stronger pre-amped signal to the
> PC it will reduce the "background" noise?

That depends what the source of the noise is, clipping level and gain
structure... various things.

Graham

[MiNe 109]

In article >,
"Bill Bremmer" > wrote:

> Thank you I did post the question to rec.audio.pro.
>
> Is it logical to conclude that if I send a stronger pre-amped signal to the
> PC it will reduce the "background" noise?

The noise could come from any part of your set-up. The Shure 58 is the
kind of mic some studio types use to pound nails, but it shouldn't make
that much noise on its own.

Good luck with the pros.

Stephen

[Codifus]

On Jul 29, 2:48 am, Soundhaspriority > wrote:
> "Bill Bremmer" > wrote in message
>
> news:1185669152.741273.15928x35g2000prf.buzzardnew s.com...
>
> > When everything is powered up and the mic is on, I'm showing a -54 dB
> > reading on my Cool Edit screen. I think that that is too noisy. Obviously,
> > I can just about eliminate any of this noise (hiss or system noise) by
> > using Cool Edit's Noise Reduction software after I have recorded, but no
> > matter what percentage of reduction I use, I will hear some artifacts.
>
> Your always better off eliminating the noixe before you record. If you can't
> do that, I've had good luck with vintage gates. I recommend a Kepex.
>
> Bob Morein
> Dresher, PA
> (215) 646-4894

That noise may simply be the circuits in the soundcard. I've had my
CoolEdit run on a Santa Cruz and presently an Echo MIA. The Mia's
noise floor was always substantially lower than the cruz.

CD