Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming • Hacker News Board

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#91

Post by sysashi » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 7:46 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #76

One small point I'd like to make regarding USB mics (and USB headsets): the #1 rule of digital audio is to only have a single sample clock for the entire system (the sample clock is the thing that defines when a voltage value gets converted to/generated from a digital sample). Although I understand the plug-n-play appeal of these devices, they uniformly violate this rule because they cannot share whatever sample cloc…

I've recently made a present for myself on birthday - behringer umc22 + sm 58 mic. previous to that present were m40x headphones.

After using those headphones for couple years, I now see the difference between audio output of a laptop and simple interface like umc22 (which has own DAC + amp as I understand).

I have not found much use for mic yet (guess no one has called me since), besides recording birds outside, and generally having fun with it :D but I definitely love how headphones sound after getting audio interface (or DAC+amp part of it)

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#92

Post by mikey_p » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 8:21 PM UTC

adamwathan wrote: post #14

nickjj wrote: post #10

You can spend $700+ on his high end audio recommendations but 90% of home office style recording environments (even with acoustic panels) are going to have a noticeable amount of background hiss (computer fans, etc.) get picked up and his set up doesn't account for that. If you goto the OP's Youtube channel and listen to his recordings, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA , there is a HUGE amount…

A noise gate does not remove hiss or static, it simply reduces the volume of the signal when it gets below a certain level. As a professional audio engineer in a past life, I can say the SM7B + Triton Fethead is a great recommendation. The SM7B has very good off-axis rejection characteristics and will pick up _much_ less room noise than most alternatives.

I have alot of experience with live audio, and from my understanding I can't see what the point of the Triton Fethead is? Is that used in addition to the pre-amp in your interface? If so why? Does the SM7B have super low output? It's not used much live, but when we did, we never had trouble with level, and I'm pretty sure an inline pre-amp would have added more noise.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#93

Post by robbrown451 » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 8:45 PM UTC

nickjj wrote: post #10

You can spend $700+ on his high end audio recommendations but 90% of home office style recording environments (even with acoustic panels) are going to have a noticeable amount of background hiss (computer fans, etc.) get picked up and his set up doesn't account for that. If you goto the OP's Youtube channel and listen to his recordings, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA , there is a HUGE amount…

In that linked YouTube video, I didn't hear hiss or find anything objectionable in the sound. But I found it really distracting the way the microphone was so big in the picture. It even looked like it could be easily adjusted so the mic was in the same place but the stand was more out of the way. But if it was me, I'd go for a smaller / less obtrusive one even if the sound wasn't quite as good.

Funny how different people are sensitive to different things.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#94

Post by modernerd » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 8:48 PM UTC

nickjj wrote: post #20

adamwathan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A noise gate does not remove hiss or static, it simply reduces the volume of the signal when it gets below a certain level. As a professional audio engineer in a past life, I can say the SM7B + Triton Fethead is a great recommendation. The SM7B has very good off-axis rejection characteristics and will pick up _much_ less room noise than most alternatives.

> A noise gate does not remove hiss or static, it simply reduces the volume of the signal when it gets below a certain level. But the end result is with a configured noise gate the audio coming out will not appear to have as much hiss or room noise. Check out the Youtube video I linked of his. It's super noticeable. With Sony MDR-V6 headphones, I hear a huge amount of hiss in his audio. To the point where it's distra…

What USB interface do you use with the DBX 286?

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#95

Post by klodolph » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 8:55 PM UTC

leviathant wrote: post #90

nickjj wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure you'll find something to nitpick over but I think it's pretty good for a programming tutorial recorded in my home office. It's not nit picking. The video you linked sounds much much better and really really good. Besides turning off your heater did you do any other processing with software afterwards? Such as using your video editor's noise cancellation filters or a proper DAW? I'm just asking because taki…

I listened to the first clip expecting it to be much worse than it ended up being. I'm listening on HD280pros, the headphones I keep at work, although I use Sony MDR-7506s when I'm in front of my audio gear. The noise floor sounded more to me like bad gain staging than it sounds like fans and room noise. And I honestly think that the majority of people who watch that video aren't going to notice. I think you're too c…

> I would venture that almost no one else in this thread would watch that video and call that an all-caps HUGE amount of noise.

I listened to the video and while I wouldn’t go all-caps, it’s way more noise that I like to listen to. So I downloaded the audio track and measured the RMS noise and signal levels, getting about a 30dB SNR. That’s a somewhat bad number, which matches my subjective experience.

A few years ago I converted some old audio cassettes with voice recordings of deceased family members to MP3. I heard all sorts of weird noises, but I spent a while getting rid of them with EQ and notch filters. I don’t know if anyone else in the family cared about the work I did cleaning up the audio, but I did.

Everyone has different standards, and it’s not quite fair to say that nobody in the audience cares about these things, just like it’s not quite fair to say that everyone in the audience cares.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#96

Post by nickjj » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 9:05 PM UTC

robbrown451 wrote: post #93

nickjj wrote: post #10

You can spend $700+ on his high end audio recommendations but 90% of home office style recording environments (even with acoustic panels) are going to have a noticeable amount of background hiss (computer fans, etc.) get picked up and his set up doesn't account for that. If you goto the OP's Youtube channel and listen to his recordings, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA , there is a HUGE amount…

In that linked YouTube video, I didn't hear hiss or find anything objectionable in the sound. But I found it really distracting the way the microphone was so big in the picture. It even looked like it could be easily adjusted so the mic was in the same place but the stand was more out of the way. But if it was me, I'd go for a smaller / less obtrusive one even if the sound wasn't quite as good. Funny how different pe…

Headphones play a big role here.

If I plug in my budget earbuds I can't notice anything but with my studio headphones (which I normally use for everything) it's super distracting.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#97

Post by klodolph » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 9:07 PM UTC

nickjj wrote: post #50

lostapathy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to disagree on a lot of this. The Triton fethead is just a "plug it in and go" solution in a lot of setups. That dbx preamp has a lot of knobs that, for the most part, need to be set right in order for it to work at all - let alone help the situation. Also worth noting that the fethead is tiny - it sits inline with your cable, whereas that dbx requires you to mount 19" rack gear at your desk, which is a big…

> The Triton fethead is just a "plug it in and go" solution in a lot of setups. That dbx preamp has a lot of knobs that, for the most part, need to be set right in order for it to work at all - let alone help the situation. But that's the thing. The Triton is just a pre-amp, the Scarlett also has its own pre-amp, but maybe it's not strong enough to drive the Shure mic (it's strong enough for most other mics). The DBX…

> But that's the thing. The Triton is just a pre-amp, the Scarlett also has its own pre-amp, but maybe it's not strong enough to drive the Shure mic (it's strong enough for most other mics).

An awkward reality is that while prosumer preamps like those in the Scarlett are very nice for what they are, you often find yourself needing more clean gain than they comfortably provide. The Scarlett Solo’s gain range is listed as 56dB, and while that seems like a lot, and it seems like it should be good enough, for voice applications at normal speaking volumes and with typical microphones, you want more gain. From what I understand, this is more or less the amount of gain you can get in a single gain stage without introducing tons of dirt.

I personally have a Scarlett and a small assortment of mics, including dynamics, small and large diaphragm condensers, and ribbon mics. It’s only for louder sources like drums and guitar amps that I feel comfortable plugging straight into the Scarlett. For everything else, I plug into an outboard preamp.

While the DBX is nice, everything but gain can be done in software later on. I’d go ahead and recommend the DBX to most people because it solves the problem “once and for all” rather than forcing you to configure every different piece of audio software you use, but for my own personal use I’m much happier doing all EQ, compression, gating, de-essing, etc. in software.

That stuff isn’t necessary in hardware, but you really do need the gain.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#98

Post by nickjj » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 9:17 PM UTC

klodolph wrote: post #95

leviathant wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I listened to the first clip expecting it to be much worse than it ended up being. I'm listening on HD280pros, the headphones I keep at work, although I use Sony MDR-7506s when I'm in front of my audio gear. The noise floor sounded more to me like bad gain staging than it sounds like fans and room noise. And I honestly think that the majority of people who watch that video aren't going to notice. I think you're too c…

> I would venture that almost no one else in this thread would watch that video and call that an all-caps HUGE amount of noise. I listened to the video and while I wouldn’t go all-caps, it’s way more noise that I like to listen to. So I downloaded the audio track and measured the RMS noise and signal levels, getting about a 30dB SNR. That’s a somewhat bad number, which matches my subjective experience. A few years ag…

Thanks for doing the work to get the RMS noise and signal levels.

Yeah just casually comparing it to other random videos and podcasts, IMO it's really noticeable.

I was going to post a screenshot comparison of that between all 3 videos but it's probably not worth the effort. It's tricky to compare just by hearing because headphone quality plays a massive difference. On some headphones you can't hear anything but on others you hear all sorts of stuff.

Here's a funny story... I recorded a video course once, and even with a dynamic mic, RDX, etc. a crow was going BERSERK outside of my window, like you would think it was having a fight to the death with a pterodactyl.

Since the video came out pretty nice, I decided to keep it in as a joke since it didn't last too long, and during a spot where it was super loud I decided to throw up a 1 second picture of a crow.

Since the course has come out, I've had about 20 people e-mail me asking me why I showed a crow picture while talking about Docker. Turns out, they couldn't hear it even after I mentioned why I did it and requested to them to play it back a few times in a loop at max volume. Some headphones are just mechanically limited to not emit certain frequencies. Sadly, these are common frequencies in voice, instruments and random background noises that humans can hear.

A pair of MDRV6s can go a long ways. It's no wonder they are used in almost every recording studio.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#99

Post by klodolph » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

SuddsMcDuff wrote: post #6

I think the section on mics could be enhanced by explaining a little about the different pickup patterns available. A cardioid pickup is a lot more appropriate for these uses than an omni pickup would be. The author mentions the Yeti mic picking up a lot of background noise - I'd bet that that mic has an omni pick up pattern. Some mics even have a small switch which allows you to cycle between different pickup patter…

Most inexpensive mics ($100-$400) are cardioid only, but I’d say the most important information is how to do placement. Beginners think in terms of pointing the microphone at a sound source you want to pick up, but you should also think about what directions the microphone rejects and point the mic away from noise sources you don’t want to hear.

That, and stop putting the mic so damn close to your mouth.

Re: Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

#100

Post by klodolph » Fri, Feb 07, 2020, 9:29 PM UTC

uncensoredjrk wrote: post #58

Spending money on decent lights and cameras to then block the view with a GIANT microphone doesn't make sense to me. I've been involved with professional audio for 23 years--if I were doing this, I would use a decent single ear, earset style mic. That would keep the mic out of view, provide excellent sound quality, and keep the audio consistent if you turn your head (away from a fixed mic). It actually drives me nuts…

> 99% of the pre-amp options don't matter as long as you get a strong, clean signal into a decent ADC stage.

It turns out this is actually hard, when you use inexpensive preamps, typical microphones, and you’re recording voice at home. Getting a strong signal means more gain than onboard preamps in inexpensive interfaces typically provide, which is why you might want to get an outboard preamp or use an inline device like the fethead. Getting a clean signal means learning how to do mic placement, doing some room treatment, etc.

From what I understand, there’s a limit to how much clean gain you can get from a single amplifier stage, and it’s often just not enough. I was very skeptical about getting an outboard preamp but it ended up making a much larger difference than I thought it would.