VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[MelissaVoicer]

Ok, no jokes...I KNOW I have lots of problems that ARE NOT related to audio...ha ha.. Now back to business!

When we last left our heroine, she was poised in front of second-story window, microphone in hand--ready to hurl that sucker out the window! After some wonderfully generous diagnoses from you fine folks (thanks Stevie and Frank, esp) and two onsite audio "guys" trying to diagnose...I am still at square one...well, what square are you on when you've bought an entire new studio, trying to fix a problem, and you still have it? Anyway, here are two samples. I'd love opinions on what the noise is. You must use headphones to hear it. Also, the second sample is MY thing that I've been trying to explain forever and finally managed to capture on "tape." I call it the "aperture effect" in that, like a camera, whose lens opens to let light in for a specified amount of time, and then closes when capturing the image...and if you set it to stay open too long you get an overexposed image; too short, an underexposed one... my mic seems to be doing that too... you hear how AFTER NOISE REDUCTION on the "silence" of my studio, you hear an "open mic" tone (at least that's what it sounds like to me) that then gradually disappear to blissful nothingness (how it's supposed to be!)???? WHY IS IT DOING THAT?? I'm using Adobe Audition, a MOTU UltraLite, a RODE NTK mic, and a FMR RNC compressor. Thanks for those who've muddled through this. Here are the links:

http://www.melissavoiceover.com/AudioFiles/testaftermatt.wav
http://www.melissavoiceover.com/AudioFiles/ApetureThingy.wav

[CWToo]

Shucks, I've worked in noisier professional studios. I wouldn't sweat it.

But if you are really OCD, are all the input channels except for your mic turned down or off? Try that. You might be adding noise--which in your case really is minimal--because of an open channel.

Good luck!

[Bill Campbell]

I work in one of those "Professional" studios. I thought the file was clean enough, also.

Without a gate or expander, there's going to be some noise. Yours was fine.
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[asnively]

Sure sounds terrific on my studio monitors. Maybe you need new headphones? Or a Q-tip?
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Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Forum

[MelissaVoicer]

well, thanks guys, but I put a file up that really didn't illustrate my problem. I'm so confused I must have gated that one or something. Here is absolutely raw audio without anything done to it.

http://www.melissavoiceover.com/AudioFiles/raw.wav

You will no longer think it's quiet! The thing is, my Audition noise reduction doesn't seem to be working right! It reduces the noise at the very beginning, but then it comes back...I've tried reinstalling and it doesn't help.

[Gp]

Kind of hard to tell listening to the file. The noise really is minimal....through my monitors anyway. It sounds to me like a fan noise....maybe from your computer??
Send over a file with no voice talker stuff on it....then we can hear it better.

[Deirdre]

It sure sounds like an open channel to me.

I hear it plain as day on the last thing you posted. Yipes!
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[MelissaVoicer]

You really need to listen through headphones...but then it's plain as day. if you listen to the second sample I put up initially -- http://www.melissavoiceover.com/AudioFiles/ApetureThingy.wav
you can hear it with just "silence" but this is after noise reduction! And it's still rotten!

It can't be computer fan because I'm in a sound booth.... No ceiling fan, a/c NOT on...etc. etc. etc.

[MelissaVoicer]

Well, for those of you keeping tabs on my little "saga" here, I think it's finally solved. Although kind of with a whisper, rather than a bang... I had FOUR, count 'em, FOUR audio "experts" come to the house before finally solving it and it has been very frustrating for both me and my clients...but it seems that it was a combination of a bad xlr mic cable AND a bad tube in my mic...that's why when I changed mics I still had the problem, but when I switched xlr cables I must have been hooked up to the tube mic, and so again, still had the problem. I was trying to be too "scientific" and didn't eliminate the right COMBINATION of equipment. Anyway, I now have my very quiet recording back again, although in the mess of things we went everywhere from 60 cycle hum to a bad power supply in my computer...my vote was always for demon possession or gremlins...but I digress. Thanks for all who pondered with me! I'm SOOOOOO relieved! Now back to my huge backlog of work!

[asnively]

Congrats on solving the problem! What kinds of projects are you backlogged with? Good luck on catching up!
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Katana

[Deirdre]

It's always a cable.
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DBCooperVO.com
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[MelissaVoicer]

2000 words for that darn Irish Math thing that some of you heard me whine about in Vegas

10,000 words for some new updates to an old elearning project

2250 words for another update to another old elearning project

A handlful of MOH's

and various commercials, etc...

Good problem to have, I know, but it seems that clients come out of the woodwork when you're having tehcnical difficulties. The gear sends out subliminal messages....

[asnively]

I've been there. It's stressful when it all piles up.
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1940 recession

[MelissaVoicer]

especially when you're used to trying to overdeliver and make clients really happy and then suddenly everyone is mildly annoyed with you even though they realize it's "not your fault."