Microphone sounds weird?

I didnt know where to post this so I hope you find it in your hearts to forgive me if this is the wrong place.

I have an MSI gx640 running Windows 7 64 bits and no matter what audio settings I use, I cant get myself to sound like a human

Heres a sample:
Microphone settings problem - Microphone settings problem, please help me fix it. Thanks.

I sound the same on both the integrated mic and the headset mic

thanks!

 

I thought this would be an easy one...

oh well.

 

It sounds like the bit rate at which it is recording is just too low; if so then this should solve it:

Right click on the sound icon in the task bar, choose "Recording devices", right click on the 'microphone' or whatever device you are using and choose "properties", then navigate to the "advanced" tab, then use the pull down menu to choose the highest bit rate recording.

 

-> Yepp, definitely that.
That's very, very, very compressed -> up the bitrate and it should become better.

Another aspect - your voice will be distorted by most inbuilt microphones, if you are after sound quality, get an external one.

 

okay changed froom 44100 Hz to 192000 Hz and this is what I get:

Microphone background noise - background noise

I sound normal now but I dont know where the background noise is coming from (its so quiet here I can hear an ant scratching its balls)..

in settings theres no option for background noise reduction anymore

thanks

 

Try a bit-rate that is a bit lower than 192000Hz (I tested my laptop on that setting, and I get the background noise as well) not sure what the best setting is, maybe just 1-4 steps down? (keep it on 'DVD quality' or 'Studio Quality')

 

192000 is the highest, then comes 96000 then 48000 then the lowest which is in OP.

Heres 96000:
96000Hz Mic - 96000Hz Mic

Heres 48000:
480000Hz - 480000Hz

 

That's the sampling rate, not the bitrate.

44100Hz will be fine there.
On that note, I just checked my settings in Vista and the lowest is 16Bit at 44100Hz with a note "CD quality" which in theory it is.

-> Could your recording program be at fault? Or try an external microphone, although that does really sound like ompression.

 

Only available bitrate is 16 bits, I can only choose between different sampling rates.

Just tried recording in Audacity instead of the Win 7 audio recorder, using both the external headset microphone and the internal microphone. The background noise is still there

 

It is not background noise, it's compression distortion, but if you used Audacity it shouldn't be there.
-> Can you try an external microphone? If it sounds the same there is something very wrong, if it doesn't then it would seem as if the internal microphone compresses the output... which sounds rather illogical... and I've never seen it either.

 

All the recordings I posted are from an external mic (headset). The distortion is also there when the external mic isnt pluggeed in and I speak into the internal mic

 

This sounds strange indeed...
-> Could it be your soundcard? But I can't imagine that not allowing a higher quality signal....


So, let's start the tedious path

Soundcard, drivers? (as exact a name as you can find please)

 

Realtek High Definition Audio

Latest driver from 24.02.11

At first I had a driver from 2009 so I updated it and it didnt solve anything

 

Its background noise/line distortion

I can tell. Its not bad quality, the quality is there just not enough volume.

You need to adjust you soft preamp ( microphone boost) all the way up and leave it there. Then use the separate recording volume to control with more accuracy:

Spoiler

Also accessible in win7 by right clicking the volume control, > recording devices > microphone properties > levels. While you're there, check out 'enhancements', I generally turn the more complicated sounding ones off.

Unrelated, I've never seen 30db boost on a laptop before, which is cool. Also, in the realtek control panel, go to "device advanced settings > separate input jacks" and you'll find we have 3 independent inputs, which is honestly just really really awesome for a laptop.

 

Volume was already at 100. Increased boost from 20 to 30 db and the noise was even louder this time

 

Reduce it to zero, the boost shouldn't be needed.

 

now i sound very quiet and the noise is still there:

No boost mic - no boost

 

The noise you have right now is just a "standard hum" that you will get from any cheap microphone.

-> Try a boost of 10.

But it still doesn't explain the compression distortion.

And the Realtek HD card should give you a better sound -> heck, I'm not even sure if the 2nd and 3rd laptops we had at home had an "HD" Realtek or just a normal one and the results were better...

 

Still there.. and very loud/noticable.

Whats going on here

 

That's a good question... -> And it has me confused too.
The hardware is definitely OK.

Have you tried completely removing the driver and reinstalling it? Just in case it's a badly installed driver (which I doubt)

 

Done and same

The quality of my sound is okay (I guess) but that noise wont go away

 

Well, it was gone without the boost - except the humming.

 

Well thats the worst part lol, and without boost you can barely hear me

 

For the huming -> get a better microphone? One with a built in amplifier so you can turn the level down in windows.

You will always (!!) get a hum when recording, the quality of the equipment will only determine how good/bad it is.

Still, it shouldn't be that quiet - and that's where I'm at a slight loss.

 

On my old computer I had the cheapest microphone imaginable and there was no noise whatsoever. It is definitely not the mic, which is new. Are you really telling me that the huge background noise is normal?

 

It will depend on the microphone - and potentially gain applied, which generally is linked to the microphone.

-> My Vaio has a microphone that's better than the built in microphone in my 5D MK II and better than the microphone on an old laptop with my grandfather.

Even though the lid is quite thing - i.e. there isn't much space for the microphone.
I could have gotten a worse microphone too though.

If I want higher quality I have a "hotshoe microphone" for my camera, it would plug into the computer too, Röde VideoMic stereo.
It won't hum at normal recording levels, apply a lot of gain and it will start humming too, but pretty late.

Now I would agree that your results are not normal - the hum is too loud compared to the recorded sound, but a hum in itself is normal with most microphones, on the high end ones you just need a lot of gain to expose it.