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wyliejonathan
Participant
April 19, 2018
Answered

Improving Audio from a Web Conference Audio Call

  • April 19, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 760 views

So, I have this audio that I recorded for a podcast. My audio, the host audio, is fine because I recorded it locally and with all the equipment I use for podcasting. No problems there. However, I didn't want to "burden" my guest with too much technical requirements, so I just recorded the audio from the web conference call we were on. I didn't have the equipment or the know how to do a mix minus or anything like that, so it really is just the raw audio, and it's not great.

I don't normally record this way, but it sounds like the microphone on the guest's computer was less than ideal so I am looking for a way to clean it up and add some clarity. You can hear a sample here: Untitled 1.mp3 - Google Drive  ! !

I have been through the effects rack a few times, but I am not even sure what I am looking for. Any ideas??

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer SteveG_AudioMasters_

wyliejonathan  wrote

I don't normally record this way, but it sounds like the microphone on the guest's computer was less than ideal so I am looking for a way to clean it up and add some clarity. You can hear a sample here: Untitled 1.mp3 - Google Drive  ! !

The thing about audio that people don't get (and I blame programmes like CSI for this) is that ultimately, the quality of audio is absolutely limited by the equipment used to create it - you simply can't improve on that. You can filter out interference, get rid of noise, etc and that's fine, but what you simply can't do is things like 'add clarity'. That clarity simply isn't there, and clarity doesn't come in a can. You have audio here where the quality is limited firstly by the mic used, and then by the transmission medium, and there's simply no getting around that - otherwise people would be doing it all the time as a matter of course.

So I'm sorry, but you aren't going to be able to add anything to this that will add anything useful. It's not that bad; I can understand the words being spoken. You won't even be able to EQ this to improve it, as it's already optimised for the speech band, as all of these transmission systems are.

The best way to achieve good quality whilst you're doing this is to get your guest to record his part of the conversation locally on something like a small portable recorder, and email you the file of that. With care when you rebuild the sequence, you can make it sound as if you're in the same room...

1 reply

SteveG_AudioMasters_
Community Expert
SteveG_AudioMasters_Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
April 19, 2018

wyliejonathan  wrote

I don't normally record this way, but it sounds like the microphone on the guest's computer was less than ideal so I am looking for a way to clean it up and add some clarity. You can hear a sample here: Untitled 1.mp3 - Google Drive  ! !

The thing about audio that people don't get (and I blame programmes like CSI for this) is that ultimately, the quality of audio is absolutely limited by the equipment used to create it - you simply can't improve on that. You can filter out interference, get rid of noise, etc and that's fine, but what you simply can't do is things like 'add clarity'. That clarity simply isn't there, and clarity doesn't come in a can. You have audio here where the quality is limited firstly by the mic used, and then by the transmission medium, and there's simply no getting around that - otherwise people would be doing it all the time as a matter of course.

So I'm sorry, but you aren't going to be able to add anything to this that will add anything useful. It's not that bad; I can understand the words being spoken. You won't even be able to EQ this to improve it, as it's already optimised for the speech band, as all of these transmission systems are.

The best way to achieve good quality whilst you're doing this is to get your guest to record his part of the conversation locally on something like a small portable recorder, and email you the file of that. With care when you rebuild the sequence, you can make it sound as if you're in the same room...

W
wyliejonathanAuthor
Participant
April 19, 2018

Thanks for looking. I appreciate that local recordings are best, and I normally do that, but like I said, I wasn’t confident that this particular guest would be able to facilitate that on their end. Maybe I underestimated them. Who knows.

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