Audio & Microphones
Having good audio is critical. There really is nothing worse than having great pictures with not so great audio or a podcast with a noisy or distracting background - it can be disengaging and may render all your hard work useless. Here are some pointers that can help make your audio better.
Keep as close as you can
Many (if not all) video recording devices these days have built in microphones. Laptops with webcams, mobile phones, tablets and camcorders have microphones and if you have to rely on these built in microphones for your recording, it's always best to keep them as close as practically possible (preferably, with a headset microphone (to keep the microphone close to your mouth), no more than 8-10 cm or with a free standing microphone, no more than 30-40 cm from your mouth). Of course, you shouldn't compromise your scene by having the recording device so close you actually miss the point of the video! So, how can we achieve this balance? Here are a few ideas that can help:
Use an external microphone wherever possible
Computers have USB and microphone input sockets and these can be used to plug in an external microphone. On your desktop PC or laptop, your microphone socket will look something like this:
Keep as close as you can
Many (if not all) video recording devices these days have built in microphones. Laptops with webcams, mobile phones, tablets and camcorders have microphones and if you have to rely on these built in microphones for your recording, it's always best to keep them as close as practically possible (preferably, with a headset microphone (to keep the microphone close to your mouth), no more than 8-10 cm or with a free standing microphone, no more than 30-40 cm from your mouth). Of course, you shouldn't compromise your scene by having the recording device so close you actually miss the point of the video! So, how can we achieve this balance? Here are a few ideas that can help:
Use an external microphone wherever possible
Computers have USB and microphone input sockets and these can be used to plug in an external microphone. On your desktop PC or laptop, your microphone socket will look something like this:
Here are some useful tips if you plan to use these types of microphones:
PLEASE NOTE: Neither the Swinburne Learning Transformations Unit (LTU) or Swinburne IT endorse or support any of the equipment discussed below. The information is given as a guide and is purely from a personal perspective. This list is by no means exhaustive - if you believe there should be more microphones listed, please send me a message via the comment box at the bottom of this page.
- You can purchase microphones for these sockets relatively cheaply but beware - you get what you pay for! The quality could potentially suffer and that's precisely what you're trying to avoid.
- Certain mobile phone handsfree headsets (both wired & wireless) may work in these sockets so, if you plan to go on the cheap, try your own phone headset first and see whether the microphone works.
PLEASE NOTE: Neither the Swinburne Learning Transformations Unit (LTU) or Swinburne IT endorse or support any of the equipment discussed below. The information is given as a guide and is purely from a personal perspective. This list is by no means exhaustive - if you believe there should be more microphones listed, please send me a message via the comment box at the bottom of this page.
Click on one of the links below to jump straight to that section on this page:
• Standalone USB Microphones
• USB Headset Microphone
• Wireless Microphones
• Using Your Mobile Phone to Record Audio
• Separate Your Audio From Your Video
• Software to Make Your Audio Sing!
• Audio File Types
• Standalone USB Microphones
• USB Headset Microphone
• Wireless Microphones
• Using Your Mobile Phone to Record Audio
• Separate Your Audio From Your Video
• Software to Make Your Audio Sing!
• Audio File Types
Standalone USB Microphones
Blue Microphones make the Yeti range of USB mics and are excellent quality. These are great for studio quality sound without the studio quality price tag.
Kogan are a large reseller of audio equipment and you can find a full range of products from various manufacturers with prices to suit many budgets
Samson have a range of USB microphones to suit all budgets, including the portable Go Mic which is ideal for people that travel and need to record good quality audio.
USB Headset Microphones
Microsoft offer a range of headset microphones. They are plug & play, multi-platform and provide excellent sound quality.
Logitech have a large range of headset/microphones and these are ideal for a wide array of tasks. Many of their units offer noise cancelling technology and provide very good audio quality. They are plug & play and require no special drivers or software to function and they work across many platforms/devices.
Wireless Microphones
Another option for people on the move is to use a wireless microphone with a wireless receiver. This typically consists of a wireless transmitter unit with a microphone and a wireless receiver unit that can be connected to a computer, video camcorder or audio recording device. Although these types of units can be more expensive, they give excellent results as well as the flexibility to move around. Here are a few examples of these types of microphones:
Jabra make several wireless USB headsets that can also work via Bluetooth. This makes them ideal for use where you need the ability to move around and make a perfect companion to Echo360 Universal Capture if you plan to use the software in a classroom situation. I have personally tried the Jabra Motion UC MS and it provides very good results, again ideally targeted for something like Echo Universal Capture. It's plug & play and multi platform/device compatible so will work with mobile devices with Bluetooth as well as desktop computers.
Samson make the XPD2 Wireless lavalier kit which is an excellent package. The USB receiver is fully self contained, has a simultaneous analogue wired output & is plug & play on macOS, Windows, Android & iOS. The transmitter pack is light & runs for up to 20 hours off 2 X AA batteries. They also have a wireless microphone buyers guide page to see a variety of wireless options.
Use the Microphone in Your Mobile Phone
Your mobile phone is an ideal device for recording audio. Why? Because it is optimised for voice transmission & reception. The microphones in modern mobile phones are optimised to pick up your voice & reproduce it as clearly (whilst minimising background noise) as possible. They're also very useful for recording interviews with a few people around a small table or space. Nearly all modern smartphones have built in software for recording audio & you can export the recording file to your computer for further manipulation (or even do it all on the phone).
Separate Your Audio From Your Video Where Appropriate
In some cases (eg, screen recording demonstrations), it's best to record your audio track independently of your video content then edit them later. I find this technique useful for screen recordings where I record my screen actions first, write a script based on the actions I've recorded, record the script as a file then match the audio to the video using some editing software. Here's an example of this technique:
You can, of course, record your voice-over directly whilst displaying your slides on screen to save time. Separating audio, where possible, can give great results and ultimately, better control over your final product.
Software to Make Your Audio Sing!
Recording and editing your audio can be fun and rewarding and it's important to have good, easy to use software to achieve this goal. One package that stands out head and shoulders above the crowd is the open source package Audacity. Audacity is a free, cross platform audio recorder and editor which is both relatively easy to use and quite a powerful tool for digitally manipulating audio files (think of it as Photoshop for audio). Most of the computers at Swinburne have Audacity pre-installed but if it isn't, it should be available on the Application Catalog for Windows computers and the Self Service option for Macintosh users.
Another powerful audio editor which is also part of Swinburne's Adobe license is Audition. Audition is a very powerful audio editor with many of the features of Audacity and is a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It is a little more complex than Audacity but does offer features and functionality normally reserved for higher end audio production packages.
There are many audio editing packages available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms and they all have their merits. Here are just a couple of points to remember when deciding on an audio editing package:
Another powerful audio editor which is also part of Swinburne's Adobe license is Audition. Audition is a very powerful audio editor with many of the features of Audacity and is a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. It is a little more complex than Audacity but does offer features and functionality normally reserved for higher end audio production packages.
There are many audio editing packages available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms and they all have their merits. Here are just a couple of points to remember when deciding on an audio editing package:
- Make sure it is easy to use
- Check to see how many file types the package can support to save your final recordings
- Multi-track editing/recording is very useful when you wish to create more complex sounds (such as music or sound effects behind a voice-over)
Audio File Types
Many audio recording/editing packages give you the ability to save your files in a number of different formats. Knowing which file type is best for your needs is really important. When you are creating audio files for your video resources, it's always good practice to record at the best quality possible. This ensures that any processing you perform after you've combined your audio with your video will keep your sound quality great and with little degradation. So, what file types are best for video? Let's have a look at 3 major audio file types and discuss their merits:
WAV files WAV stands for Waveform Audio file format and is used by (and compatible with) nearly all modern computer operating systems and mobile devices. Created by Microsoft and IBM, It typically stores your recordings in an uncompressed format, meaning that your audio is kept at the highest quality. The big trade-off is that the files kept in this format are quite large in comparison to more modern compressed audio file types (approximately 10 megabytes per stereo minute for WAV files). Due to the quality of WAV audio files, they are great for use in video creation packages such as Camtasia, Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro. If you plan on creating 'audio-only' files for your students, it's not recommended to leave your files in the WAV format as they will be larger to download (and conversely, longer for you to upload) - see MP3 files below.
AIF(F) files AIF or AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format and was created by Apple and is also playable on most modern computer systems and mobile devices. This file format also stores recordings in an uncompressed format, similar to WAV files and has exactly the same attributes in terms of file size and quality. AIFF files are more typically seen on Macintosh systems than Windows based computers. Again, due to their quality, they're ideal for use in video creation packages but, like WAV files, this format is not ideal for the creation of online 'audio-only' files.
MP3 files MP3 stands for Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG) Layer 3 file format and was designed by the Moving Picture Expert Group in conjunction with Fraunhofer IIS, University of Hannover, AT&T-Bell Labs,Thomson-Brand, CCETT, and others. This is, by far, the most widely recognised and popular audio file format in current use and is playable by all modern operating systems as well as mobile devices. It stores recorded audio in a compressed format which creates smaller files sizes whilst maintaining quite reasonable audio quality (typically, MP3 files are approximately 3 megabytes per stereo minute). For the audio purist, MP3 files are seen as a lossy file format and do not sound as good as AIFF or WAV files but the general feeling by most users is that MP3 files sound fine and offer little degradation to the audio quality over other lossless audio files (such as WAV and AIFF).
MP3 files are great for 'audio-only' recordings for online use as they are much smaller than AIFF or WAV files and are easier to upload and download. MP3 files can happily be used in video creation packages as well but sometimes MP3 files sourced from different places can be of variable (and sometimes dubious) quality.
WAV files WAV stands for Waveform Audio file format and is used by (and compatible with) nearly all modern computer operating systems and mobile devices. Created by Microsoft and IBM, It typically stores your recordings in an uncompressed format, meaning that your audio is kept at the highest quality. The big trade-off is that the files kept in this format are quite large in comparison to more modern compressed audio file types (approximately 10 megabytes per stereo minute for WAV files). Due to the quality of WAV audio files, they are great for use in video creation packages such as Camtasia, Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro. If you plan on creating 'audio-only' files for your students, it's not recommended to leave your files in the WAV format as they will be larger to download (and conversely, longer for you to upload) - see MP3 files below.
AIF(F) files AIF or AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format and was created by Apple and is also playable on most modern computer systems and mobile devices. This file format also stores recordings in an uncompressed format, similar to WAV files and has exactly the same attributes in terms of file size and quality. AIFF files are more typically seen on Macintosh systems than Windows based computers. Again, due to their quality, they're ideal for use in video creation packages but, like WAV files, this format is not ideal for the creation of online 'audio-only' files.
MP3 files MP3 stands for Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG) Layer 3 file format and was designed by the Moving Picture Expert Group in conjunction with Fraunhofer IIS, University of Hannover, AT&T-Bell Labs,Thomson-Brand, CCETT, and others. This is, by far, the most widely recognised and popular audio file format in current use and is playable by all modern operating systems as well as mobile devices. It stores recorded audio in a compressed format which creates smaller files sizes whilst maintaining quite reasonable audio quality (typically, MP3 files are approximately 3 megabytes per stereo minute). For the audio purist, MP3 files are seen as a lossy file format and do not sound as good as AIFF or WAV files but the general feeling by most users is that MP3 files sound fine and offer little degradation to the audio quality over other lossless audio files (such as WAV and AIFF).
MP3 files are great for 'audio-only' recordings for online use as they are much smaller than AIFF or WAV files and are easier to upload and download. MP3 files can happily be used in video creation packages as well but sometimes MP3 files sourced from different places can be of variable (and sometimes dubious) quality.