Question / Help Getting rid of background noise?

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Manacheli

New Member
Hello there, fellow streamers,

Currently I'm setting up my new PC and streaming settings. Now I got to the point where I am testing audio input and output, and I found out that I got some background noise whenever I am talking (small buzzing sound). I did play around with the noise reduction but that only helps whenever I am not talking.

Now this could be because I have got the jackplugs in my motherboard on the back of my PC (I'm almost 100% sure of this), so I was looking into a soundcard to assist me in this. Now my question is, would this be a possible solution or is there a different way to do this (I.E. software, like adobe audition)?

What would you guys recommend?

EDIT: Linking Psynaps YouTube tutorial, easy steps into removing background noise using Adobe Audition and Virtual Audio Cable together. Needs some small tweaking once setup to match your mic output, but for the rest you get a long way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzjvjnHsUrk
 
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A

AndehX

Member
A dedicated soundcard will not make any difference, unless it's software has some kind of noise reduction. If you're not happy with the noise reduction from your motherboards sound, then yes, Adobe Audition has some nice noise cancellation features.

The only other option you have, is to buy some kind of mixer/amp that you can plug your microphone into, like the Astro Mixamp for instance. That has its own built in noise filter.
 
M

Manacheli

New Member
Thank you for your reply AndehX.

I was indeed looking for something like you described, the Astro Mixamp. I found my way across several similiar, like the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro or maybe the Asus Xonar U7.

I'll try out Adobe Audition first though before spending some good money on a piece of hardware. If it doesn't work out as I wish, I could always try the hardware ones I guess.

Again, thank you for your help, much appreciated!
 
D

dping

Active Member
Just to note, rear mic inputs often have less noise than front ones. also, sometimes turning on a setting called spread sectrum could help but dont do it if you are overclocking.
 
M

Manacheli

New Member
@dping - The reason why I put it in my motherboard is because on the front end there's a fan, and in every Skype conversation it is apparently being picked up as an even worse buzzing sound.

What I'm going to try right now is to setup a workaround by using VAC + Adobe Audition, surely that should cancel the background noise, right?
 
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george passmore

Member
another thing that wasn't suggested it may be the mic itself, a sound card might not fix the problem if it is the mic itself
have you tried the mic on anything else ?
 
I

Isegrim

Member
Manacheli said:
Thank you for your reply AndehX.

I was indeed looking for something like you described, the Astro Mixamp. I found my way across several similiar, like the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro or maybe the Asus Xonar U7.

I'll try out Adobe Audition first though before spending some good money on a piece of hardware. If it doesn't work out as I wish, I could always try the hardware ones I guess.

Again, thank you for your help, much appreciated!
Click to expand...
You don't need expensive sounds cards if you just want to reduce noise from the mic in. I bought a 2 € usb sound card of amazon which got rid of the background noise completly.
 
M

Manacheli

New Member
george passmore said:
another thing that wasn't suggested it may be the mic itself, a sound card might not fix the problem if it is the mic itself
have you tried the mic on anything else ?
Click to expand...

Possible, but the mic is not the problem in this one. I thought the same before, but simply muting the mic on everything and then test it on stream and I still got a small background buzz sound. It's some sort of static sound that's always there.

XeiZ said:
Jack0r made a simple tutorial for the same stuff with reaper which is a much (basically free) cheaper alternative to audition, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ROArGlpG4 that might be enough to get rid of the noise.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's a cheaper alternative, indeed. However, I have got all the tools ready which I apparently succeeded in. I receive almost to none background noise when I talk (maybe needs a little bit more tweaking), plus I can change my voice to be a bit more "pro" if you get what I mean :).

Isegrim said:
You don't need expensive sounds cards if you just want to reduce noise from the mic in. I bought a 2 € usb sound card of amazon which got rid of the background noise completly.
Click to expand...

Yeah good call there. Still system dependant though, but definetly worth looking into.
 
M

Manacheli

New Member
Almost forgot to post this, but in my previous post I managed to fix my sound pretty well following this tutorial from one of Twitch's streamers, Psynaps. Apparently it worked and while testing it on stream I had almost to none background noise.

Big thanks to Psynaps for this tutorial. Does require Adobe Audition + Virtual Audio Cable though, thank god I have both! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzjvjnHsUrk
 
C

Cryonic

Member
Actually every halfway decent USB soundcard would help. Some boards are just crap, so the onboard soundcard will have problems. Going outside the case with the soundcard often helps.
But dont forget about the mic, the preamps in cheap USB soundcards are just pure crap, so dont connect a halfway decent microphone to a 5$ soundcard...
 
FerretBomb

FerretBomb

Active Member
You can also try using the Mic DSP plugin:
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/microphone-dsp-plugin.127/

As I understand it, it runs the mic through the same noise filtering as Skype/Teamspeak/etc, instead of using the raw/unfiltered mic audio that OBS normally grabs. As an added benefit, no need to pirate Audition, or worry about its realtime processing foibles (squeal, robotting, outright crashing leaving you with no mic audio).
 
N

Nirty

New Member
So here is what I have set up and have done so far... I use a laptop and it only has one audio/mic jack so I've been using trrs jacks. I have tried a few different headsets and they all sound the same so I figured it was the jack itself. I looked up usb headsets and decided on the Razer Kraken usb. Picked it up last night and plugged it up and same background noise. You're probably thinking I actually have a lot of noise around me but here's the thing... I also have a Tritton ax720 but those things mics are notorious for failing. I took it apart and bent the prongs in for the mic and it helped some but can still cut out or pop if you turn it the right way. It has a split line for mic and then headphones which I can't use on this laptop. So I picked up this thing: http://www.frys.com/product/8351707?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
I hooked the Trittons up and perfect mic quality, I mean zero background noise. I'd be fine with this setup if it wasn't for the fear of my mic cutting out while recording without me knowing and having however long a stretch with no speech.

FerretBomb said:
You can also try using the Mic DSP plugin:
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/microphone-dsp-plugin.127/

As I understand it, it runs the mic through the same noise filtering as Skype/Teamspeak/etc, instead of using the raw/unfiltered mic audio that OBS normally grabs. As an added benefit, no need to pirate Audition, or worry about its realtime processing foibles (squeal, robotting, outright crashing leaving you with no mic audio).
Click to expand...

I downloaded the plugin and all of that, not sure if it is supposed to do this or not but it puts my mic through the desktop O_o which I guess I'm fine with if it works but it seems to do the same thing as the soundgate. It's nice and quiet when I'm not talking but as soon as I talk I hear the noise and for a second after I finish talking.

Isegrim said:
Look for logilink usb soundcard.
If you can't find that one anymore, look for any other good rated inexpensive usb soundcard. Look for reviews that go into detail about the sound input, in that case.
Click to expand...

Don't know if the one I picked up (linked above) is just as good or not to the one you are referring but here are the two I have found made by logilink. Don't know if it would be worth it buying a splitter for for my trrs jacks so I can plug it into one of these or not.

Logilink USB Soundcard with virtual 3D soundeffects: http://www.logilink.org/Products_Lo...SB_Soundcard_with_Virtual_3D_Soundeffects.htm

Logilink USB Soundcard with virtual 7.1 soundeffects: http://www.logilink.org/showproduct/UA0078.htm?seticlanguage=ne

I'm just getting frustrated because I know I can have a good quality mic sound come through OBS but it's only working with one way that could make me waste my time. If you'd like I can upload a video of my mic sounds using different things.
 
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