77 replies to this topic

[fcxSanya]

Sweyn78, on 06 November 2011 - 12:25 AM, said:

I just showed this to my mom and now she's obsessed with getting me a better microphone (I'm using the one built-into my webcam right now).

I don't know anything about voice recording, but built-in webcam mic definitely sound like not best thing for recording. You probably can look at devices like Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, there is whole class of devices like this, I just remembered this one, because I heard it's name before. Maybe they are too expensive, or don't suit for your needs, but it is just something related what I remembered so I decided to post this here

[Sweyn78]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[feneur]

Sweyn78, on 06 November 2011 - 02:31 PM, said:

Thanks! I'll check it out.

I'll see if I can get Ryan and perhaps Omri and Paul to offer some more suggestions (Hopefully not too many, so you never will be able to choose due to the number of choices =) , but at least they might give you some advice on what to look for and what to avoid )

[Sweyn78]

Okay, sure. Thanks!

[ryan827]

A USB Micrphone like the Samson co1U or the Audio Technica AT2020 are great places to start if you are looking for microphones (the AT2020 is better and comes with the stand but is slightly more expensive)

I would recommend either of those or a Zoom H2 as was mentioned earlier

[quantumstate]

Another thing if you are recording outside is a windshield. Even the very cheap ones (< £5) make quite a big difference.

[Sweyn78]

I'm sorry it's been so long since last I replied!
A lot has happened that prevented me from being able to record sounds for you guys, most notably:
* I had a bunch of essays to write for school again
* It took us a while to get a microphone
*Skyrim came-out (a three day (weekend-only) distraction from recording things)
* [Immediately after that] A cold knocked-out my voice for about a week, so I wasn't able to record.
* [Immediately after that] My family and I for Thanksgiving were in Indiana for an entire week with my grandparents who have a weak internet-connection and underpowered computers running Windows 98 (plus, I didn't want to risk travel-damage to my new Logitech microphone (I would have gotten one of the ones you guys suggested, but this was the only microphone available at the BestBuy near where I live (if it still isn't on-par with what you're looking-for, I suppose I can always return it and look-for a different one))). Consequently, I wasn't able to record.

I have run some preliminary tests on the new microphone, and its noise-cancelling technology is working quite nicely.
I'll hopefully get some sound-files to you all by tomorrow.

Edited by Sweyn78, 27 November 2011 - 11:23 PM.

[Android_]

Sweyn78 I really like your samples, keep up the great work!

[Sweyn78]

Android_, on 27 November 2011 - 11:03 PM, said:

Sweyn78 I really like your samples, keep up the great work!

Thanks!

[feneur]

Sweyn78, on 27 November 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

I'm sorry it's been so long since last I replied!
A lot has happened that prevented me from being able to record sounds for you guys, most notably:
* I had a bunch of essays to write for school again
* It took us a while to get a microphone
*Skyrim came-out (a three day (weekend-only) distraction from recording things)
* [Immediately after that] A cold knocked-out my voice for about a week, so I wasn't able to record.
* [Immediately after that] My family and I for Thanksgiving were in Indiana for an entire week with my grandparents who have a weak internet-connection and underpowered computers running Windows 98 (plus, I didn't want to risk travel-damage to my new Logitech microphone (I would have gotten one of the ones you guys suggested, but this was the only microphone available at the BestBuy near where I live (if it still isn't on-par with what you're looking-for, I suppose I can always return it and look-for a different one))). Consequently, I wasn't able to record.

I have run some preliminary tests on the new microphone, and its noise-cancelling technology is working quite nicely.
I'll hopefully get some sound-files to you all by tomorrow.

Looking forward to hearing your new recordings And I'm sure almost any microphone is better than a webcam microphone, so hopefully it should be more than good enough

[fcxSanya]

Sweyn78, on 27 November 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

I'm sorry it's been so long since last I replied!
A lot has happened that prevented me from being able to record sounds for you guys, most notably:
<...>

It is good that after all these distractions/delays you managed to come back. And I second what Erik said

[iap]

Just to add few notes:
* It is better to record inside your room, and not outside, because outside you have to consider so many different aspects to get a good recording that it doesn't worth it
* If you want to clean the sound recorded in your room from echos, I recommend not doing it with digital effects, but by taking care of the room acoustics
* The acoustic (easy) way to clean a room from echos is to hang blankets or sheets on the walls, and to have a carpet on the floor
* Off course an expensive microphone will give the best results, however if money is an issue, you can do it with cheaper one
* Well, even a desk microphone can give you better results then a webcam's
* The result sound should be EQ'd to correct the frequency response of the microphone - but NEVER compress them

Other then this, I like your original talks

[Sweyn78]

Alright, another week of way too much homework. I promise I'll get the files up by the end of the day tomorrow; it's the start of the weekend -- plenty of time to record.

Oh, and thanks iap for the advice!

UPDATE: Currently recording.

Edited by Sweyn78, 02 December 2011 - 07:42 PM.

[Sweyn78]

Here they are!
 WFG_Latin_2.zip   4.02MB   110 downloads

[iap]

Sweyn78, on 02 December 2011 - 08:26 PM, said:

Here they are!
WFG_Latin_2.zip

"My lord" and "Destroy charthage" is recorded pretty well (did you use any of my advice?)
in the long Latin you sound a little distant, but this can easily be fixed with the right filters.

[Sweyn78]

iap, on 02 December 2011 - 08:35 PM, said:

"My lord" and "Destroy charthage" is recorded pretty well (did you use any of my advice?)
in the long Latin you sound a little distant, but this can easily be fixed with the right filters.

That's because I didn't edit the Long Latin one.

iap said:

* It is better to record inside your room, and not outside, because outside you have to consider so many different aspects to get a good recording that it doesn't worth it
* If you want to clean the sound recorded in your room from echos, I recommend not doing it with digital effects, but by taking care of the room acoustics
* The acoustic (easy) way to clean a room from echos is to hang blankets or sheets on the walls, and to have a carpet on the floor
* Off course an expensive microphone will give the best results, however if money is an issue, you can do it with cheaper one
* Well, even a desk microphone can give you better results then a webcam's
* The result sound should be EQ'd to correct the frequency response of the microphone - but NEVER compress them

I recorded inside in a room with a rug on the tile floor (we don't have any carpet in the house; mom and iIwould have have bad allergies if we did). I didn't hang any blankets on the walls this time because doing so in this room would be quite difficult and I wasn't such if with this microphone I'd need them (and apparently, I didn't). I used a $30 Logitech desktop microphone with noise-cancelling. It records 16-bit PCM's at a rate of 48000 Hz. I did not compress anything.

Edited by Sweyn78, 02 December 2011 - 08:48 PM.

[Pureon]

Sweyn78, on 02 December 2011 - 08:26 PM, said:

Here they are!

Sounding a lot better buddy

My Lord.wav - This recording has a sound click near the beginning, when you say the letter 'D'. Audacity's effects like 'Click Removal' may help, but I suggest you re-record it.

Carthage Must Be Destoyed.wav - Sounds good. You may want to say it with more emotion to emphasis it's a strong call to action.

Your new microphone has definitely helped remove the sound errors I noted a few weeks ago. Very impressive

[quantumstate]

This is much cleaner, they sound great. I will look forward to having them in game.

[Sweyn78]

Pureon, on 02 December 2011 - 09:34 PM, said:

Sounding a lot better buddy

My Lord.wav - This recording has a sound click near the beginning, when you say the letter 'D'. Audacity's effects like 'Click Removal' may help, but I suggest you re-record it.

Carthage Must Be Destoyed.wav - Sounds good. You may want to say it with more emotion to emphasis it's a strong call to action.

Your new microphone has definitely helped remove the sound errors I noted a few weeks ago. Very impressive

I couldn't hear any clicking noises in "My Lord" (no matter how many times I played it on WMP/Winamp/Audacity... Are you sure it was that audio file which was causing that problem for you? I haven't tried playing it on my Linux's media-players, but I don't see why they would be any different (except perhaps driver-differences than my Windows' media-players).
I'll work on Carthage.

I will try to get more stuff to you guys this week. I should be able to finish all the sounds you need for the Romans over Christmas break (well, hopefully, anyhow -- at this point, I don't see why not).

quantumstate, on 03 December 2011 - 11:46 PM, said:

This is much cleaner, they sound great. I will look forward to having them in game.

Thanks! Me, too.
It'll be nice not to have to hear "Pranto" all the time anymore (or whatever it is they're saying).

Edited by Sweyn78, 04 December 2011 - 07:42 PM.

[Sweyn78]

...So, may I have a list of what all you'd like me to say for the game?