Problem: Microphone too Quiet

lynn0301 · Post by **lynn0301** » June 27th, 2018, 7:53 pm

Hi, I've been having an issue that's rather mic-related.

Whenever I'm recording, I feel that I have to lean in and shout into the mic or else turn up my audacity recording volume to the max. Otherwise, my wave forms don't seem to hit the 0.5 level . Sometimes, it hits 0.5 or even 1, and then it starts to fall below the 0.5 line.

Here's a sample recording: https://librivox.org/uploads/xx-nonproject/librivox_disclaimer.mp3

Any help on how to fix this? Thanks!

[Split this off into its own topic from the "Help! I have an Audacity problem" thread - admin]

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » June 27th, 2018, 8:43 pm

Lynn,

I am not sure what it might be without more information what computer/OS, what microphone, interface (if any)... Just a hunch: check with your sound device properties that you don't have AGC (Automatic Gain Control) set on your mic. If you do, turn it off and try again.

Good luck!

lynn0301 · Post by **lynn0301** » June 27th, 2018, 9:06 pm

tovarisch wrote: ↑June 27th, 2018, 8:43 pm Lynn,

I am not sure what it might be without more information what computer/OS, what microphone, interface (if any)... Just a hunch: check with your sound device properties that you don't have AGC (Automatic Gain Control) set on your mic. If you do, turn it off and try again.

Good luck!

The computer that I am using now is a windows PC. My microphone is a Samson Meteor Mic

lynn0301 · Post by **lynn0301** » June 29th, 2018, 7:49 pm

Hi,

I've adjusted my microphone properties. I think that my recording volume is excellent, but I don't think it's showing up in the waveforms. The peaks are still at 0.5 or less.

Post by **annise** » June 29th, 2018, 8:08 pm

You are sure audacity is using your microphone not an inbuilt one ?. If you are using audacity the microphone needs to be plugged in before you open audacity every time.

Anne

lynn0301 · Post by **lynn0301** » June 29th, 2018, 8:34 pm

It's plugged in

Ealswythe · Post by **Ealswythe** » June 29th, 2018, 9:25 pm

You need to check at the top of the Audacity page. Make sure your microphone is selected. Being plugged in is not enough. And you do need to plug in the microphone before you even open Audacity, or Audacity will not recognize it.

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » June 30th, 2018, 5:03 am

There is a way to let Audacity see it when you plug the mic in after starting Audacity: main menu "Transport -> Rescan Audio Devices", and then select your newly recognized mic in the Device toolbar.

Post by **annise** » June 30th, 2018, 5:47 am

Must be a newer version than mine, glad they fixed that. I'm not saying this is necessarily the answer , but I'm all in favour of checking the easiest things first - like making sure things are plugged in properly , that you are using the right password etc etc

I see this has been shifted from the Audacity problem thread - if you aren't using audacity you better say - so you can get a more relevant answer

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » June 30th, 2018, 6:41 am

lynn0301 wrote: ↑June 29th, 2018, 7:49 pm Hi,

I've adjusted my microphone properties. I think that my recording volume is excellent, but I don't think it's showing up in the waveforms. The peaks are still at 0.5 or less.

The problem is not with overall volume, but

lynn0301 (emphasis mine) wrote: ↑June 27th, 2018, 7:53 pm Whenever I'm recording, I feel that I have to lean in and shout into the mic or else turn up my audacity recording volume to the max [...] Sometimes, it hits 0.5 or even 1, and then it starts to fall below the 0.5 line.

The only reason for the recording to start to fall is if the system adjusts the gain ("level") without you knowing. In other words, there is some kind of feed-back mechanism that tries to keep the level at some arbitrary value.

Do a simple experiment. Start talking normally, then lower your voice more and more, gradually. Do the samples diminish accordingly? Or does the system tries to keep up and increases the gain? Just move away from the microphone... Walk to the other end of the room if you have to. If you see the recording kept up so that the peaks are about 0.5, you have your automatic gain control somewhere in the chain. Find it and turn it off.

Post by **TriciaG** » June 30th, 2018, 7:54 am

The audio sample you posted has nothing wrong with it, volume-wise. Some vowels are going to blast out higher (A on "All", for example). But the rest of the recording is at an acceptable volume level. When I highlight the last part (from about 6 seconds to the end), ReplayGain tells me it's a little above the correct volume. Not so high to worry about, but still, perfectly acceptable.

Do you have a longer audio sample? If it's all like this, you've got nothing to worry about.

There's a plugin for Audacity that will tell you how much to amplify your recordings (or whether they're OK).
- Click THIS LINK and save the file to your computer - your desktop or somewhere.
- Then go to the folder in which Audacity is installed (on my computer, it's in C:\Program Files (x86)\Audacity) and open the Plug-Ins folder.
- Drag the file you saved into the Plug-Ins folder.
- Start up Audacity and go to Analyze/Manage.
- Find ReplayGain in the list and enable it.
- Now you can highlight your recording, then go to Effects / ReplayGain, and it'll tell you how much to amplify your file. On that 6-seconds-to-end portion, it told me -1.3 dB, which means you'd want to amplify it downward 1.3 dB. But I wouldn't amplify unless it told me more than 2 dB either way - so 1.3 dB too loud is no problem.