Recording Skype Audio for Broadcast? 71
Jennifer Leonard asks: "I'm in desperate need of securing a way to record my Skype phone calls at broadcast quality. I just purchased a Plantronics Audio.85 headset with noise-reduction mic and 32-bit DSP ('enhances the audio signal for superior stereo sound and speech recognition') and used it for a phone conversation that's intended to be played for a radio show. What I got was totally unacceptable: the audio quality is horrible! There's a constant droney hiss sound over the entire track, which just ruins the interview. Unfortunately, my radio station doesn't have the capacity to do pre-recorded phone interviews. This is why I've had to go about doing it on my own. So far, what I've tried...sucks. Does anyone know how I can get broadcast quality audio by way of recorded Skype conversations?"
Re:Really (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Really (Score:1)
Re:The problem is Skype (Score:2)
Re:The problem is Skype (Score:1)
Identify the source of the problem before solving (Score:4, Informative)
At this point for all we know, you're trying to do this while sitting in the middle of a field on a windy day, or next to your 8-harddrive 12-fan full-tower PC.
Figure out the exact source of the hiss, then figure out how to get rid of it.
Re:Identify the source of the problem before solvi (Score:1)
As for the poster's insistence on "broadcast quality", that's another thing altogether, since it means different things to different people. One shouldn't expect too much from a phone conversation by comparison with a reco
Ask at Gamerswithjobs.com (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Ask at Gamerswithjobs.com (Score:2)
[Isn't there already a podcast at ItConversations.com that addresses this topic?]
two options (Score:5, Informative)
I'm curious though, what method for recording were you using before (that resulted in the hissing)?
Re:two options (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:two options (Score:3, Informative)
Record using Audio Hijack, but also put a splitter on the line out jack and run it into a tape recorder / DAT / MD / whatever. That way you have a backup -- if I was doing some interview over Skype that I was really concerned about getting a recording of, I'd make damn sure I was recording it in more than one way.
(Actually I probably wouldn't use Skype in the first place for anything that important, I'd just use a copper POTS line since I think it's more reliable and there are fewer failure
Soundcard direct (Score:2)
Audio Hijack (Score:2)
Gizmo! (Score:5, Informative)
I know how to record (Score:1)
Re:I know how to record (Score:1)
Two Soundcard Solution (Score:3, Informative)
Soundcard 1:
- Speaker out: Not necessary
- Mic: Primary microphone (your best!)
- Line in: From Soundcard 2
Soundcard 2:
- Front out: To Soundcard 1
- Rear out: To Headphones
- Mic: Secondary microphone (your cheapest!)
To record:
1. Setup Soundcard 2 to use 4 speaker mode to output to both Soundcard 1 and your headphones.
2. Have Skype use Soundcard 2 to record from mic. Your chat people won't care if they have a crappy mic nearly as much as your audience.
3. Record (using Audigy / Garage Band / etc) using "What U Hear" or "Stereo Mix" on Soundcard 1. Make sure you have Line In and Microphone unmuted in your mixer.
4. If you need a wide range of volume control (I know I do), you can also use front/rear balance on Soundcard 2 to do it.
For those who need the explanation:
Soundcard 2 outputs the Skype conversation not including yourself. This goes to your headphones for talking, so you don't hear yourself. It also goes to Soundcard 1. Soundcard 1 then takes that and mixes it with your quality microphone to produce the mixed recording of both you and the people you're having a conversation with. The people you're conversing with will have a worse mic, but since it doesn't wind up in the end recording, what does it matter if they hear a little static?
THOROUGHLY TEST YOUR VOLUMES BEFORE ACTUALLY RECORDING. Get at least 2 or 3 other people to test it! Skype will normalize the other users' voice, but you need to make sure that the master recording (your good mic + Skype) is on the same level or it will be weird and hard to fix!
After recording:
Use your sound editor to clear out hissing noise or apply other filters to make yourself sound better.
In my experience, the best cheap PC microphone you can get are the Sennheiser PC series. (PC-130 or PC-150) I tried Logitech, Plantronics (the
Re:Two Soundcard Solution (Score:1)
You need no such thing. There is always more than one way to solve problems, especially with computers. Here's two ideas that popped into my head with two minutes of thought:
1) Hardware: Get a headphone splitter and a male-to-male headphone cable. (Oddly, I have the male-to-male cable, but not a splitter...) Put the splitter in the computers speaker port. Then your headphones/speakers in one split, and the male to male in the other. Plug the other end of the male-to-male into the wa
Lots of tools (Score:3, Interesting)
Skype + Podcast Recorder
http://www.henshall.com/blog/archives/001056.html [henshall.com]
and for the Mac, Call Recorder For Skype
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/email_chat/
superior stereo sound (Score:2, Funny)
Wow, so it enhances the sound from both your left mouth and your right mouth!
Re:superior stereo sound (Score:2)
It must have been designed to record politicians.
Get rid of Skype (Score:3, Informative)
Try downloading a copy of Ventrilo [ventrilo.com] and running a small server and allowing your guests to log into that. It's a little less convenient than Skype, but the audio quality is limited only by the quality of your equipment.
Some MMORPG friends and myself use Ventrilo as our voice chat method. We tried using Skype the other night and not only is it adversely affected by the presence of other net traffic and high CPU use, it was N-O-I-S-Y, and so after about 3 minutes we switched back to Ventrilo and it was blissful.
Re:Get rid of Skype (Score:2)
Also TeamSpeak is not nearly as popular as Ventrillo in World of Warcraft, or at least it wasn't when I played. Probably because of the Mac issue. A good number of people play WoW on Mac, you'd be surprised.
Re:Get rid of Skype (Score:2)
Record from the wave-out. (Score:3, Informative)
Although you are recording for a radio show, others ought to bear in mind the laws related to recording such conversations. In Australia at least it is an offence under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) to record a conversation conducted via telecommunications devices (including VOIP) without all parties giving their express or implied consent (s 289, 290). Check with your lawyer (since IANAL) to be sure of your position.
Oh, unless you're the NSA. In which case, do what you like, the judge won't care.
Re:Record from the wave-out. (Score:1)
How?
Re:Record from the wave-out. (Score:2)
Now, most apps that try to accept sound will
Re:Record from the wave-out. (Score:1)
I just installed "FREE Hi-Q Recorder Version 1.9" http://www.roemersoftware.com/free-sound-recorder. html [roemersoftware.com] and it's very nice, timed recordings and other goodies, and no 60 second limit of Sound Recorder.
Re:Record from the wave-out. (Score:1)
--
"When you see one of your old ones trip and fall down, do you not point and laugh, just as we on Earth do?"
Virtual Audio Cable (Score:1)
Link to Virtual Audio Cable (Score:2)
Virtual Audio Cable (Score:2)
I haven't used it specifically with Skype, but I have used it with half a dozen other audio applications.
Noise Reduction (Score:1)
Re:Noise Reduction (Score:2)
It's the most obvious solution without spending hundreds (or thousands) on fancy equipment. With the best will in the world no equipment is going to magically make VoIP anywhere near FM quality broadcast material - all you can do is filter out some of the crap.
As the parent suggested, get an audio processing package, grab the noise profile, and strip it. You'd be surprised how good the results can be.
M-Audio baby (Score:2)
Audacity has decent noise removal (Score:2)
Recording...and playback (Score:2)
If your broadcast is interesting and insightful, the poor audio quality will not prevent you from getting early converters.
Re:Recording...and playback (Score:2)
i dont care how insightful and intelligent a show is, presentation still counts.
I am the admin for a live online station... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am the system admin for Wide Awakes Radio [wideawakesradio.com] and we use a combination of Asterisk and Icecast to make our streams work. Asterisk is capable of DIRECTLY sourcing an Icecast server so it's an all digital audio path.
I highly recomend you check it out.
MTW
Re:I am the admin for a live online station... (Score:2)
Re:I am the admin for a live online station... (Score:2)
As far as recording it, once you have Asterisk setup, it is highly trival to record a conversation. As I mentioned in my previous post, streaming to an Icecast server is directly supported for live broadcasting and a multitu
Hissing in audio can be controlled (Score:2)
I don't know Mac so good but I'd look for a master audio applet, and check if the volume control for your WAV output is set too low, and check the microphone applet's volume control for being set very high.
Skype-rec (Score:2)
Re:skype-rec (Score:2)
It actually uses sox for mixing both ends of the conversation into one wav file, and then uses lame or oggenc to convert to the final result (or, you can not encode it at all, and leave it as a mixed wav). You can give it arbitrary options to lame or oggenc.
Join AIR (Score:2)
Over the last two years many of the members of the Association of Independents in Radio [airmedia.org] (AIR) have been exploring options which would allow them to use VOIP for broadcast purposes. Skype is among the packages that some of our members have worked with.
If you are a broadcast journalist, especially with an interest in Public broadcasting, you should consider an AIR membership which will allow you to join our superb member e-mail list and access our mentorship program.
Seriously, if you need broadcast a
Re:Join AIR (Score:1)
Don't use Skype (Score:2)
What platform? (Score:2)
If the quality you get through your headphones from both sides of the conversation is good enough, then messing around with hardware soluti
Options and an example... (Score:1)
You have many software options aside from the hardware ones.
For our podcast we decided to use Hot Recorder [hotrecorder.com] because it "just works",. It also nicely puts my voice on one channel and all the other Skype users on another. This makes later mixing easy if there is a volume mismatch. You can also just use the mix output on your soundcard but honestly its so much easier to use a tool thats made for this its silly to mess with it. For the $29 or so just do it.
If you want to hear an example the latest p [powerinpractice.com]
a wideband handset? (Score:2)
USRobotics has a new wideband handset that's Skype certified. I don't know if it will fit the bill for your needs, you might be able to mic up a hi-fi handset and get better results than digitally capturing crufty audio. These wav files reflect the difference between the lo-fi [usr.com] and hi-fi [usr.com] quality.
Shameless product plug: USRobotics USB Internet Mini Phone [usr.com]
Pre-production, post production (Score:2)
It is a smart idea to run recordings through something that gives good signal strength. (I'm sure your headset is great for real-time listenting, but voice mics are significantly better at recording good sound and ignoring noise.) If possible, using a true voice microphone (like a Shure SM58 (industry standard) [musiciansfriend.com], or the Nady CM-100 (excellent value for the price) [musiciansfriend.com])) will genuinely and dramatically improve the sound of voice. Also, usin
Switch to SIP (Score:2)
If you *just* need to record, and don't have any experience with the other tools, it might be a lot simpler
You have options... (Score:2)
Here's the