How much does audio quality affect the appeal of a vocal recording?

[Al B. Sure!]

I know we have a few people here with recording experience (self biased, mikeh, jrabbit, etc.) so I'm asking:

I record my vocals karaoke-like; that is, I use a $15 logitech USB computer mic in a random room, not set up for sound, without a pop filter and no vocal editing, so no punch-ins, no doubling of vocals, no editing whatsoever, etc. Completely raw.

Needless to say, my audio quality sucks. It's okay because these are proofs of concept and I want to know what sounds good before I devote money and studio time. Ideally, I could have a list of the best dozen tracks selected by friends and I would run through them in a studio.

However, none of the responses are where I feel they should be. The criticism I always get is that my 'delivery' is off, but no one can explain why it is. So I just keep working on that, trying to figure out what is wrong but I get no improved feedback.

My friend who has (sort of) recording industry experience (he was featured nationally on MTV) told me that there's nothing wrong with me, it's my audio quality which makes it sound bad.

So my question to those here is: is that possible? Could I sound unappealing in an ad hoc crappy recording but, without changing anything, sound significantly improved and professional in a professional studio recording? Or should I keep trying to 'fix' my delivery?

I realize this is partially a question specific to rap, but insights on voice recording in general would be helpful in determining how much my 'unlistenability' has to do with me or just the recording quality.

Here's two examples of very different tracks to get an idea:

http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/you-know-what-it-is

http://soundcloud.com/ramseya/superhero

Thanks

[Cort Haus]

Al, I've played bass guitar in rock bands on and off for 20 years, in which I did a lot of recording, and also used to do multimedia productions like software training CDs where I recorded and engineered the voice audio - so that's my background.

The first thing is that a decent microphone is needed. I'm not up on what's what nowadays but you can't go wrong with Shure SM58 - it's what I used to use. The thought of using some $15 USB mike sounds a bit horrifying tbh.

You should really either record through a compressor, or use audio editing software to compress after the recording. This brings up the level of your voice to a consistent amplitude and stops it dropping away behind the rest of the instruments, while squashing down bits that are too loud. Live compression allows more signal through without hitting the ceiling, which you should never do with digital recording, or it distorts.

I don't know anything about rap, but on the first track you posted the rhythm of the vocal didn't match the backing track. Maybe it's supposed to be like that, but eg: the 'you know what it is' around 2 mins was noticeably behind the music.

[-Jrabbit]

Yes, Alby, audio quality makes a huge difference in how music is perceived. A good mic and a touch of reverb go a long way toward making a recording sound "like a CD." It's also possible you're overmodulating (input gain set too high), which causes distortion (haven't followed the links yet). As Cort noted, digital recording media are extremely sensitive to overmodulation, which is why some judicious compression is a good idea. There's plenty more involved.

The SM58 is a great $100 mic (I worked at Shure for 20 yrs btw). You can get one used online for less. Interfacing it to your recording device is doable; there are devices designed to do just that. There are also plenty of good USB mics these days. But not for $15. You can't get a decent audio A-to-D converter for $15, much less the mic itself.

BTW, I assume you're using some shareware recording software on a laptop. Correct? Do you have a choice of file formats/sample rates/bit depths?

Best is to find someone with a decent home rig and check it out. Or go to Guitar Center, hang out in the recording dept. and ask them to demo some stuff for you. Throwing money at the problem without learning basic recording techniques is not recommended. But it's fair to say that the gear you're using would be pretty tough to make a quality recording with.

[Al B. Sure!]

I have a SM58 but I can't use it because I need a pre-amp and then a converter (my laptop doesn't have a female jack for the SM58's 1/4" TRS). I tried it once before with a converter and it was crazy quiet. I need a pre-amp.

[Hauldren Collider]

Jrabbit, is there a difference between a $300 guitar and a $3000 guitar, in terms of sound quality?

I'm not interested in playing one, I'm just curious how much of it is snake oil and how much of it is actual quality improvement.

[Al B. Sure!]

BTW, I assume you're using some shareware recording software on a laptop. Correct? Do you have a choice of file formats/sample rates/bit depths?

Shareware... umm... yeah... *cough* Let's just say I'm using full-featured software *ahem*


Thanks for the replies. Any other knowledge will be helpful. Basically, though, I need to ask around with people with home setups and maybe even try recording something at their setups and seeing how much of a difference quality makes.

The problem is I don't know what is a legit setup or not. I guess just play by ear with how the stuff that comes out of that setup sounds.

[-Jrabbit]

I have a SM58 but I can't use it because I need a pre-amp and then a converter (my laptop doesn't have a female jack for the SM58's 1/4" TRS). I tried it once before with a converter and it was crazy quiet. I need a pre-amp.

Alby, this is easy: Call Shure. They have an entire department for this purpose.

Call 1-847-600-8440 -- the Applications Engineering Group.

Or you could do some actual research. They have an online knowledgebase of thousands of Q/A.
Product support link: http://www.shure.com/americas/support/index.htm
You can also post questions there and actually get an answer.

Like this one:

QUESTION:
I connected my SM58 to my computer sound card microphone input for recording. The problem is that the sound is very quiet even with the computer volume control turned all the way up.

ANSWER:
What you are experiencing is the difference in level between different devices. Low impedance microphones, like the SM58 have a very low output level. A guitar, on the other hand, has a much hotter output. The sound card on your computer requires a hotter level.

Computer has a USB port.
To connect a professional microphone to a computer, you will need to bypass the computer sound card and use a USB interface, such as the Shure X2u XLR-to-USB Signal Adapter. This is a high quality microphone preamp with a USB computer interface. It is an outboard audio interface. That is, you would no longer use the sound card that came in your computer. It does supply phantom power for condenser microphones. You can also purchase a microphone, such as the Shure PG42USB or PG27USB, that have built-in USB ports.

Computer does not have a USB port.
If you do not have a USB port on your computer, you can try one of the following solutions. The X2u USB adapter will work better than the following solutions.

The first non-USB possibility is to interface a professional microphone with a computer soundcard through the use of a microphone preamp.

The second non-USB possibility is to use a transformer, such as the Shure A96F, to help boost the level of your SM58 to something that would likely be appropriate for the sound card. The A96F has a female XLR on one end and an 1/8" connector on the other end. Place the transformer at the computer and use a standard XLR cable between it and your SM58. The transformer will be less expensive than the microphone preamp, but it may not provide enough gain for your particular sound card. The A96F will not work with a phantom powered condenser microphone.

Hope this helps...

[Al B. Sure!]

Oh and my recordings were at 320kbps 44100hz CBR, but bad in, bad out, regardless of bitrate.

[Al B. Sure!]

Alby, this is easy: Call Shure. They have an entire department for this purpose.

Call 1-847-600-8440 -- the Applications Engineering Group.

Or you could do some actual research. They have an online knowledgebase of thousands of Q/A.
Product support link: http://www.shure.com/americas/support/index.htm

Like this one:



Hope that helps...

Thank you.


Well, that will be step 1; then, it's pop filter, sound-proofing a room (how can I know what good acoustics are? Is a bathroom okay?), and then audio editing (which is a crapload to learn). Long way to go

[Al B. Sure!]

And you were right, Jrabbit. The adapter costs as much as the SM58 did

[Asher]

Jrabbit, is there a difference between a $300 guitar and a $3000 guitar, in terms of sound quality?

Acoustic or electric?

Acoustic most certainly. Whether you find it better or not is subjective.

Electric is more questionable, but there will be a difference for sure.

[-Jrabbit]

Jrabbit, is there a difference between a $300 guitar and a $3000 guitar, in terms of sound quality?

I'm not interested in playing one, I'm just curious how much of it is snake oil and how much of it is actual quality improvement.

Mass-market guitars are generally considered inferior. A $300 Korean-made guitar may be every bit as good as the $800 US-made version, but quality professional guitars are crafted by human luthiers (wherever they live). $3K isn't even particularly expensive for a pro axe. But for some players, it's as much about playability as it is tonality. Quality wood is critical for tone, but pickups, fretwork, bridge design, width and curvature of the neck... there are a million factors that go into making a guitar great, and they vary with each individual.

You can find cheap guitars with decent tone, but they will likely be thicker and heavier, feel clunky to play, fall out of tune constantly, etc.

There's snake oil in everything, but it's also true that quality costs.

And let me say: I'm very glad that I'm not a guitar freak.

[MRT144]

I have a SM58 but I can't use it because I need a pre-amp and then a converter (my laptop doesn't have a female jack for the SM58's 1/4" TRS). I tried it once before with a converter and it was crazy quiet. I need a pre-amp.

get a usb soundcard with XLR inputs. Maybe even get protools. When I was making music I was very happy with it.

http://shop.avid.com/store/product.do;jsessionid=43B63ECEC86DAF782FC4AA3EB0053CD1.ASTPESD1?product=324834580940304

[Cort Haus]

Jrabbit, is there a difference between a $300 guitar and a $3000 guitar, in terms of sound quality?

I'm not interested in playing one, I'm just curious how much of it is snake oil and how much of it is actual quality improvement.

Not just sound quality, but build quality and playabililty - including the fret action and how well it stays in tune. Price alone might not automatically mean quality, but quality will cost more, if you see what I mean. Cheap guitars will probably have cheaper pickups for example, which would affect quality, but that's only part of what delivers the sound, and the set-up of a guitar is important too. A badly set-up expensive guitar can sound worse than a well set-up cheaper one, if the intonation is wrong.

Like many aspects of audio, an untrained ear won't noticed the subtle differences that the trained ear can, so expensive stuff can be wasted on someone inexperienced who won't be able to get the best out of it. I think it's best to start on something cheap until you know a bit more about it and then try out better stuff until you find what you want.

[-Jrabbit]

Oh and my recordings were at 320kbps 44100hz CBR, but bad in, bad out, regardless of bitrate.

44.1 kHz is baseline "CD quality" sample rate, which should be sufficient for your purposes, but it sounds like you're recording in mp3 format. That's not surprising, but not preferred, as it's a "lossy" format. Better would be .WAV file format at 48 or 96 kHz. (Don't know if you have that option.)

There are websites for this kind of thing...