Quiet Sound while recording using the "Stereo Mix" option on Windows XP

Question

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Solution

Don't know if you're using a PC, or Mac, or which version of operating system, so I'll pretend it's a PC.

Go to START/All Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Volume Control. That's the legacy Windows volume controls, not the generic ones that come with the soundcard driver. Make sure everything's on full there. Then check up everything's on full in your generic controls - the ones that came with the soundcard driver - there should be an icon for those in Control Panel. They're supposed to talk to eachother, sometimes they have a lover's tiff.

Then try recording something. If it's still no better, check the recording software you're using (Hypercam) and make sure that all of its sound controls are on full (I've never used Hypercam in my life but it might well have its own sound controls.)

I don't know if you're entering sound via a microphone or if the sounds you want are on the computer already, but if you're using a microphone - they're dodgy things. They're all about wavelengths, you see. You have to make sure there's NO other background sounds going on - they might sound faint and immaterial to you but their lower/higher wavelengths could be close enough to those of your voice to be cancelling part of your voice out! The same goes if you're recording any other sounds with an external mike. Just because you're hearing the main sound loudly and the mike's close to it doesn't mean that, to the mike, there aren't other sounds blocking the signal. Computer fans (they're the devil if you're anywhere near them). Murmurs coming in from outside (might be quiet to you but could still be masking some of the sounds from hitting the mike.) Anything else along those lines. This is why pop singers are recorded in soundproofed rooms (which have the added side benefit of preventing us from listening to them BEFORE they've been Vocaloided!)

If you've done all that and it's still too quiet - it's Audacity time. Audacity is a good freeware sound manipulator. If the sounds are in .WAV or .MP3 format - if not, convert them to one of those formats or play them as best you can and use Audacity itself to record them - and then use the Amplify function in Audacity to make them as loud as you want. Or there's a gain slider in Audacity on the left-hand side of the buff box which the oscilloscope-like sounds are in. Each sound has its own buff box, so you can manipulate them separately. Please, do any testing on COPIES of the soundfile, NOT on the original! Audacity will DEFINITELY make the sound louder - but it's got a habit of making background sounds louder you mightn't even have known were there. If THAT happens, work out what the sound is and kill that sound before doing a retake.

Hope this has been of some help to you.

Yours respectfully

Chris.

Comments

[Kez]

Do you have the SoundMAX software installed? You will see an icon in the Control Panel if you do.

[Tamara Wijsman]

Welcome to Super User! +1 for writing up a detailed and helpful post. :)

[aedaf]

On XP it worked differently and you could just record everything at 100% volume and while having a different output volume.

[user496949]

can you explain in more detailed way, I am new to this area?