VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Lyssa]

Hi all, here's the problem. Doing a v/o gig for an IVR system. I'm running Audition 2.0 in Windows XP. The client wants the v/o in u-law (no problem) 8-bit, 8khz mono - BIG problem. I can convert my track into the required bit/khz combo but when I do, I get a horrible, hideous hiss. I could, if I did it word by word, selectively remove the hiss but that's not cost effective for me. I've talked to the Adobe people - nothing.

I've had this problem before with phone prompt gigs and the client had the file converted off-site. I know it's not an unusual problem but does anyone have a solution?

Thanks,
Lyssa Graham

[Frank F]

Lyssa,

Although this is a problem with how Adobe Audition handles some files there are a few things you might consider:

1) Are you coming from a 16 bit, 44,100, stereo - file or Mono?

2) Have you tried downsampling first and then converting to uLaw?

3) Have you tried using Vox Studio 3? http://www.xentec.be/

Good luck.

Toodles

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Lyssa]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the response. I am coming from 16 bit/ 44100 mono and have done it every way I know. I've done all the processing first - got that music bed, etc and still I wind up with the hiss. I've tried recording in 8/8 but all that got me was the hiss in on the ground floor.

I haven't tried the other software but I will - this is a first gig for a new client with the potential for lots of referrals so I don't want to lose it.

Any other suggestions? FYI, I'm running it from a sennheiser mic into a symetrics vocal processor, then a m-audio mobile pre amp and then into my computer. I'm loathe to screw with my set up as I stand a huge chance of not being able to put it back together correctly. (I just talk, I'm not an engineer. sigh)

[Dan-O]

I know this won't help you, but I have had the exact same problem. I am VERY interested if someone can come up with a solution.

[Philip Banks]

I'm no engineer but would suggest that any mic processing is pointless at that quality so set your Symetrix to by-pass and record the raw mic. If you client has existing audio you may like to listen to it as I would guess the hiss is the least of the problems. Would it be possible to post some audio here? May help the techies who lurk in the corridors to help you.

[Spacegypsy]

Hi Lyssa - There's a whole thread about this at
http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=801&highlight=mulaw

The penultimate post in this thread shows how i got better conversion, though there may be other solutions. I use an old version of adobe audition, which is cool edit, so the solution may well work for you too.

Best

Katrina

[ConnieTerwilliger]

Do not downsample to 8Bit - stay at 16 Bit and then save as a mu-Law file. That will help.
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[Lyssa]

Thanks all, great suggestions and I'm still working on the issue. My original v/o is, of course, perfect - it's that conversion that's killing me. I've had a software suggestion and I'll give it a shot and see what happens. And let you know.

This is not the first time I've encountered this problem. With luck the software solution will be the answer - it sure would be lovely if we could just convert to any old format without the hideous hiss appearing.

Thanks again, still frantically converting, flipping, editing, etc.

lyssa