what can i do to make my voice recordings on my laptop sound louder and better?

Question

i am recording my music album on my laptop using the Audacity program, my vocal track always sounds low, when i boost the amp and or mix it it sounds static i dount know what to do

Answer 1

perhaps configure the "mic boost"... i bet it's off

click start, control panel, sound and audio devices, advanced button in "device volume" section, advanced button under "microphone" and click the "microphone boost" button under "other controls"

Answer 2

EDIT: Also try the mic boost thing the other guy said before trying any of this.

If you are using the in built mic, buy an actual mic, because if it's anything like my laptops inbuilt mic, it sucks.


If it's not an inbuilt mic, make sure its a decent quality mic.

And if it's a decent quality mic, to may want to pick up a mic "pre-amp" (You can probably find it at an electronics store). This will make it louder without as much distortion.

If all else fails, you may need a better audio card, there are a couple USB Audio cards that may have better audo pickup.

Answer 3

hi, I'm not well grounded with the software you use but I mix my records by sonar 4 and there is an effect called Dynamic Compressor which makes the maximum and minimum pics of the graph more equal so when you normalize the silent parts will sound as louder as the other parts. There is also an effect called "Wave hammer" in Soundforge that makes almost the same but should be more careful when you use it cause it may make some background noise stand out

Answer 4

Hi. Use external powered speakers first. The amp in a laptop is way too weak.