Help!!! Sound Distortion...

[mojobone]

Pretty sure I'm not hearing what you're hearing, then. Perhaps your MP3 file was corrupted and later backed up? Are you still having difficulties? Not sure what you mean by Midi->MP3 converter, usually there's an intermediate step in there somewhere, MIDI just records note data, not actual sounds. Must say, your recording device sounds darn good for a camera. The mics in those are designed for leaving yourself notes about the pictures you took, I wouldn't expect very good sound quality from a glorified Dictafone, then again, I used cassette tape for years. Have you tried deleting (from SoundClick) and re-uploading the files? They play back okay on your computer? (streamed from your hard drive or your camera mounted as a USB drive, using your computer's player, I mean, not downloaded from SoundClick using their player)

[milfus]

lets see here, I can hear some distortion over the track, but you know what it sounds like? downsampling, do you do your own dithering when you render down to mp3? cause if you can, you might try manually dithering the tracks, and then when you convert to mp3, you have an A=A conversion, that way your stock downsampler wont kick in, also if you are mixing 0db, you might wanna drop it to -3 or -.3 to give any stock compressors headroom when it converts,I didnt hear that you sounded like a man at all though. just some clicks and pops, and that hard distortion from downsampling

[silvercord]

Linzi!your recording skillz are getting better from the 1st song..!dont be down...its this simple, Miss Diva..you are recording liveinto your computer with a less than good microphone...the job you are doing with it is great~ my only advice for you while you still use your current mic...just make sure you have a bit of "headroom" when you record(turn down the recording volume meter a little so no sounds willdistort the microphone) its better that the leves are a little lower than too high~keep it up! you are doing great!

[mewman]

Frankly, I think you need to seriously consider upgrading your recording system. There are many new pocket recorders available that could do a way better job of capturing your voice and piano than a cell phone!. From what I hear, you are worth it. Either that or just bite the bullet and find a decent home studio that will record you in a better environment. It isn't as hard as you think to get to that broadcast quality line. Plan B is to go with the low-fi sound, sing out of tune, and hold the piano pedal down so it sounds completely out and maybe you'll be the next big thing!!Mewman

[milfus]

well, when I first needed a boost, I got a little pre-amp to gain stage, and a shure sm 58, and the difference was rediculous, now itd be like 100-150 bucks, but I still use both on occasion

[linziellen]

I've been reading the above posts, thank you all. I wish I could make sense of it but I'm not very technical and to be honest, the time I spend trying to upload and convert to MP3 is making me think seriously about investing in some decent (at least better) gear. Here's what I'm having to do, this may cause a few giggles...1) Record piano alone onto Cybershot camera (so actually I'm filming), the mic is pretty good and much better than my MP3 player. I would sing along but on playback you only really hear the rickety piano. My voice doesn't break through and lyrics get lost.2) Upload piano film onto computer. 3) Play film over computer speakers and film again, this time while I sing. 4) Then upload piano & voice.5) Now I have to convert the whole thing into MP3. I downloaded Apex yesterday. It's simple and quick, thank goodness because by this time I've had about enough!6) At this point the song sounds like it was created inside a tin can but it needs to be put up on Soundclick. There's no wonder it sounds so dodgy when it finally gets there.I tried to put a new song onto soundclick yesterday but when I listened to it afterward the tempo was way out, the speed had increased somewhat and I quickly deleted it.I asked about a USB mic at the hypermarket the other day. The guy showed me a karaoke mic and said he wasn't sure what I was talking about. Must carry on, if anyone has any suggestions as to what mic I could try or where I might order some better equipment via the internet then please let me know!Thank you once again.

[ibanez468]

Hey Linzie!Maybe take a look inta' this place. Didn't check ta' see if they ship internationally, (don't see why they wouldn't) but you can find a great deal of gear here, especially a USB mic.http://www.sweetwater.com/c981--USB_MicsI-468

[linziellen]

That's wonderful, thank you for the quick reply looks like a good start. I'll read up on those, might even be able to get hold of some on ebay.Cheers I-468

[mewman]

Hi LinzieYou may want to consider one of these nifty toys as well....http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search. ... &go=Go%21I used to use a Roland VS-880 ex. They are basically tape recorders, as far as how they function, but have the advantage of being digital and all that entails. You can get a used one for around $100 us. Korg and Yamaha made their own versions and all of the older one's would be a HUGE improvement for you. I got a bunch of forwards at TAXI with mine, so the quality is good enough. Make sure it comes with a manual, though you can figure out the basic functions pretty fast, even if you have little or no experience.http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... gory0=Good luck!Mewman

[mewman]

Oops, the first link is a bit weird. You have to copy and paste the whole thing to get to the right page!