Whether you are making a home office and you need to have video meetings with the rest of the team or you are looking to launch your own podcast and want to give your listeners the best sound quality possible, knowing how to tweak devices to get better sound is always helpful. In fact, even the average person can benefit from this knowledge as it can help out in many ways.
You don’t have to be an audiophile to have a love for great sound quality. Creators often face challenges with sound quality and struggle to find solutions. Here are a few easy tips that you can implement to get better sound quality no matter what kind of equipment you are using.
Environment
The first thing to check is the environment. Where you are recording and the acoustics of that space make a big impact on the final product. You need to remove hard surfaces, eliminate extra sounds, limit interference and try to minimize echo. If you are usually out and about it will be difficult to create the right environment to record in but there are a few things you can do. If all else fails and you are left with an audio recording full of background noise that’s ruining the overall feel of the product, you can always use third-party software for edits.
Removing background noise through editors for videos is a bit more challenging since you usually need to separate the audio from the video, edit the audio, and then sync the edited audio with the original video. However, if you can’t manage the environment this is still a viable option.
Good Mic
Make sure you are using a good mic. If you have the budget and the space for it, then get a specialized mic for your recording needs. This could be a condenser mic or any other kind of mic that works well for your situation.
Today, a lot of devices such as smartphones and AirPods also have some great mics which can also be used for recording. If you aren’t getting great quality audio from your AirPods then read more here to see how you can fix that issue. Even with a set of AirPods or even a wired headset you should be able to get great audio for the people speaking. If you want to pick up ambient sounds then these mics won’t cut it. For a small range of sound where you want to focus on a single person, this is a great choice to consider.
Proper Settings
If you do end up getting a proper mic for your situation then make sure you set it upright. Without the right settings for your needs, even an excellent mic will sound bad. Before you get started make sure you test it to check all essential things such as frequency response, direction settings, sensitivity, and others. Going through a proper test before you actually start recording will make your life a lot easier in the edit. In fact, there are a lot of things that simply can’t be changed in the editing phase but they can be achieved if you just set up the mic the right way when you record.
If you are listening to audio then the same rule applies to your speakers. If you are using regular home audio speakers then the only settings you will need to tinker with are the bass, treble, and volume. However, if you are using more advanced speakers such as a set of monitor speakers, then there is a lot more to be configured. At the same time, you also need to check amplification for externally-powered speakers.
Interface Management
If you really want to step up your audio quality game then you need to invest in a good interface. This is essentially a bit of kit that processes the sound signals before sending them to your computer or mixer or whatever else you are recording on. This behaves as a DSP would in a car audio setup except that it specializes in input from mics rather than head units.
With all of these things taken care of, make sure you also check your cabling or signal settings if you are using a wireless recording setup. The cabling in particular is very important for sound quality. If you are using a wireless system then make sure signal strength is good and that you don’t have any interference in the environment. Now, you are well on your way to getting great-sounding audio.