How to get good audio when recording
I'm trying to record, but I can't seem to get rid of my laptop fan noise. (It's a gaming laptop, so built for performance, not style.)
I've tried a couple of things, like placing my laptop as far away from my mic as I can and manually tweaking the fan speed, but I can still hear a slight wheezing on my recorded audio.
How do you guys deal with things like this?
UPDATE: I've found a solution that works well enough for me. I'm recording video + audio with ActivePresenter, then I export the audio and remove the noise in Audacity, and overlay that back in ActivePresenter. It only takes a minute or two for a single track. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
Trending on Indie Hackers
Ideally you'd want to prevent introducing noise into the recording. If you can't hide the laptop away into a closet or another room you have a couple of options.
I read in another comment you're using a condenser mic. These things will pick up anything in the room. A chair creaking, some fan in the distance, reverb, etc. Maybe your mic can change the polar pattern from omni to cardioid. Dynamic mics are much less sensitive and work much better where you don't have the perfect acoustic environment. It's what Joe Rogan and many others use for example.
If you can't change the mic you could use some audio repair software to reduce or even completely remove the noise. Adobe Audition has some noise removing capabilities, but the tool pros use is Izotope RX. Also, Nvidia has RTX voice which removes noise in realtime using AI or something:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-mETIjcIV0
Another option, is to simply put some sort of blanket to cover you and the mic to create an improvised DIY isolation booth.
Boya BY-M1 - is a good lavalier mic to use. You can use that hooked up with your phone to get a great quality audio in a silent room.
Takstar SGC-598 (get it on aliexpress - $30max) is a shotgun microphone, which also works pretty awesome with your phone.
Tascam DR-05 - you can get this handheld recorder (like Zoom H1N) for <$75 and use it.
Or get a Shure-SM57 and Focusrite-2i2 and you'll be set with a studio quality setup.
I wouldn't record on your laptop personally whether you're using the laptop's mic or your earphones. Any laptop's audio quality sucks and I wouldn't rely on it.
I actually tested using a fancy condenser mic for 100+ Brit pounds vs my iPhone 8+'s mic. It was more or less the same quality if it helps!
$20 lapel mic makes all the difference
Like others have recommended, you should get an external mic, and ideally a pop filter as well. Check out this article from @brianhsugreen: https://curricular.dev/blog/essential_gear_course_creators/
If you insist on using your built-in mic, I find Krisp (referral link, one month free Pro) to be amazing at reducing all kinds of noise, including fan noise.
This comment was deleted a year ago.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago.
Thanks👍. Mine isn't really a mic problem though. Tried with a condenser mic, same result. Eventually found a workaround—manually reduce my laptop's fan to minimum, then use Audacity to reduce noise on the recorded audio. Audacity's pretty good.
Are you sure it is a fan problem and not noise from the microphone? What is important to know is the pattern of capture of the microphone, if you have something like hypercardiod, then you can be recording the sound from behind the mic. I use a Rhode Video Micro that has virtually 0 capture right behind it, and you can definitely tell the difference when there's noise behind it.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago.