Topic: Quiet Recordings

[Rich.]

So i've got about 12 shows all on minidisc and its time I got them recorded. Most of these are a year old, the last time I tried uploading them I got pissed of and just left it.

So here's the problem; in my opinion the recordings i’ve got have come out pretty well, just damn quiet. I was playing a show through my hi-fi through the aux input and to get the show at a reasonable sound you have to crank the volume up to about 35 (my hi-fi max is 40 and usually I’ll be rocking out at 21).

I’d like to know how I can make my recordings louder without clipping and how not to continue getting quiet recordings. I’ve got alot of upcoming gigs and festivals and I dont want to fuck them up!

When I've been recording I’ve always used the automatic recording function but the last gig I went to I used the manual setting and set the volume at 25. But there doesn’t seem to be much difference. Of course this will differ depending on venue, loudness, closeness to stacks and i’m sure many other variables.

Please any help will be greatly appreciated cos i'm sick of fudging up recordings and I also wana start sharing them as some people have taken interest.

Im using Giant squid cardiod mics with bass roll of and line in on a sony mz r410 minidisc player. I'll use a different minidisc next time but I cant see it helping.

Below is a link to a sample mp3 (one song) of a frames gig I went to, you'll have to turn your speakers pretty high, let me know what you think of it. I am a newb in every sense of the word when it comes to recording, so If anyone could help me out with this or guide me through recroding I’ll be eternally grateful.

https://s31.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2W0YNUQQ2B8RL22JU657GSE9BH
 

[pepper]

More than likely you have checked this but what about the volume on your mini disc.I made this stupid mistake( and couldnt hear hardly anything through my pc speakers,and had to turn it up really loud to hear anything). and thought my recording was useless.If you have plenty of volume on your md then i dont know what to suggest.The mp3 sample sounds fine to me,volume and quality wise.

[Humbug]

I've only made a couple of minidisc recordings (Sharp MT99), but they were pretty quiet too, and needed a lot of post amplification. I quickly switched to the Nomad JB3 after getting annoyed with media flips.

Some cool stuff you're taping there..

Humbug

[guru56]

Which mini disc do you have?  Some of them have only headphones out while others have a selection for both headphone out and line out,  If yours has line out there shouldn't be any problems.  Headphone out you will have to crank the volume up on both the md and your receiver.  Also check out the forums at mindisc.org.

[Rich.]

Which mini disc do you have?  Some of them have only headphones out while others have a selection for both headphone out and line out,  If yours has line out there shouldn't be any problems.  Headphone out you will have to crank the volume up on both the md and your receiver.  Also check out the forums at mindisc.org.

Ah, this may be the problem.

[Rich.]

Do differnt long play modes effect the levels/quality of the recording?

[guru56]

As far as levels no.  Quality is another issue.  In a nutshell the shortest recording time is the best.  If you have one of the new HI-MD's PCM will give you uncompressed recordings that sound great.  All other forms use compression and depending on what you are recording can and often does affect the final recorded sound.  Even the older MDs use compression but the shortest recording time uses less and is still very good,  Hope this helps.

[Rich.]

I think i may have found a way to solve the volume problem. Someone on another board suggested I use the amplify effect under the efffects tab, this seems to be working.

How do I change the chanel from mono to stereo? Also have alook at this print screen, does anything look wrong? Shouldnt they're be a red bar on the left chanel?



You're help is highly appreciated.

[silverbullet]

How about Normalizing to 99 or 100% ? I usually do this on my more quieter recordings where I had the manual recording level set too low.

[Humbug]

Yikes! No idea what you're doing there, but if you're opening a stereo track, it should have left and right channels..

And yes, amplify works well in Audacity. I usually have to boost one channel slightly over the other as my mics aren't 100% matched.

[sml42]

The pull-down arrow to the right of "Audio Track" will give the option to convert to stereo. Is this really a mono track?

The red bar on the left channel is the peak level since you hit 'play'.

If you select > all, then effect > amplify, it will fill in the correct amount of gain to make peak level = 0dB. Usually there are a bare handful of real large peaks, so I sometimes crank the gain slighly higher (I think it's OK to have a handful of "overs"), if you choose to do that you'll need to unselect the "don't allow clipping" checkbox.

Hope this helps,

best regards,
stephen

[Humbug]

Off topic, but look at what some jokers put about a show I recorded:

Whatever normalization the original seeder used clipped the peaks of the waveform. I joined the files in shntool and used Sound Forge's Clipped Peak Restoration and then retracked in CD Wave. Intro music track was deleted as well as 2 fade tracks.

[/size]

I kinda liked that intro music, too. Still, at least I don't have to listen to his "corrected" version!

[sml42]

"Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do"

[Rich.]

The pull-down arrow to the right of "Audio Track" will give the option to convert to stereo. Is this really a mono track?

The stereo option dosent seem to be there .

Does anyone know any other free recording programs I could use?

[Humbug]

Rich, you need to figure out why you've only got a mono recording:

- how are you transferring?
- is it a cable / connector issue?
- soundcard problem?

Changing editing program probably won't change a thing, although if its just a recording program you're after,  you could try CD Wave.

[Rich.]

When I record should they're be a red bar for the right and left?

Im transfering via headphone out on my minidisc to line in on my pc. Don't think there's anything wrong with my soundcard.

This is confusing that shit outta me .

[sml42]

Oh... are you saying you're trying to use the 'record' button in audacity to capture from your MD? I've never tried that - I have a JB3, and do USB transfers. I had just assumed you'd already transferred the file, and were using audacity to edit/master...

There is a config setting: file > preferences > audio i/o, default is mono, try changing this to stereo and re-run. Let us know if this helps.

best regards,
stephen

[Rich.]

There is a config setting: file > preferences > audio i/o, default is mono, try changing this to stereo and re-run. Let us know if this helps.

best regards,
stephen

Worked. Nice one.

[AgentMJZ]

I have a similar problem , I have the MZ-N505 and I have my input on my battery box set to max and manual record volume set to max and i gotta amplify it twice to get any sound on my PC. When i play it back on my MD after recording on max volume its almost unhearble. Any suggestions?
I'm using SP-BMC12 > SPSB-6 > Sony MZ-N505

[Rich.]

Below is a link to the song "When Doves Cry" (Prince) Covered by Incubus. Can some people sample it and tell me what they think. I amplified it abit and it sounds ok (I think). This was my first ever recording and the mics were positioned well low. Apart from that I dont think the recording came out that bad. Giant Squid cardioids were used by the way.

http://s44.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0H0UWTNHNBKIE2KDQNJ7C4WQZ9