Mic sound quality in Win 7 vs XP

GRHanka1

Newbie Joined: Oct 03, 2012 13:44 Messages: 13 Offline

Solved by

Mar 06, 2013 17:44

I recently moved my PD11 project from XP to WIN7, and my mic sound capture quality has plummeted. Win7 has a fairly well known problem with mic sound quality, in that the normal recording level is too low (even with record volume at max) and the only fix is "boost" which adds terrible distortion. With boost, my voice at 16-bit 48 khz sounds like it was recorded at 5 khz.

Anyone found a solution? I already updated my drivers, and I am using the same mic that gives great results on my WinXP box at 8-bit 16 khz.

bolda

Member Location: Liberec, Czech Republic Joined: Feb 02, 2011 15:10 Messages: 96 Offline

Mar 06, 2013 18:21

Hi there,

I suggest using a microphone with digital output (USB microphone)...

Jirka

GRHanka1

Newbie Joined: Oct 03, 2012 13:44 Messages: 13 Offline

Mar 06, 2013 22:12

Can anyone verify that a digital mic does not have the win7 level problem?

vn800rider

Senior Contributor Location: Darwen, UK Joined: May 15, 2008 04:32 Messages: 1949 Offline

Mar 07, 2013 03:27

Depending on what I want, I use the Rode VideoMic Pro Shotgun Microphone for the best quality, but I still put it through an audio program and adjust it to my taste. I often avail of the on-mic boost as it is better than the internal boost on my camera or laptop.

http://www.rodemic.com/mics/videomicpro

Cheers
Adrian

EDIT
PS It does not work underwater

(Actually I haven't tried it - not at that price anyway)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 07. 2013 03:29

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bolda

Member Location: Liberec, Czech Republic Joined: Feb 02, 2011 15:10 Messages: 96 Offline

Mar 07, 2013 15:56

In my opinion, every computer's specific configuration may potentially produce different kinds of issues. Are you sure it's the operating system that is to blame in the first place?

I run Windows XP on my desktop and Windows 7 on my laptop. Microsoft started using new technology called Deferred Procedure Call (DPC) with Windows Vista. I experienced a problem commonly referred to as DPC latency on my laptop replaying media files. After spending a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how to fix the issue, I finally embarked on installing Linux Ubuntu on my laptop, which plays media perfectly fine.

Perhaps you could give it a try and install Linux Ubuntu on your computer to check if Windows 7 is really the culprit. It's free and there's really no risk as you keep Windows on the machine. You choose which system you want to run on booting. It's just that there are also different applications under Linux, definitely not PowerDirector.

I can imagine that even digital "signal" from a microphone can be deteriotated by software but that would have to be some wrong setting somewhere or disfunctional software...

Jirka

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 08. 2013 14:31

RonH

Contributor Location: Norway (from Australia) Joined: Sep 05, 2011 10:13 Messages: 364 Offline

Mar 08, 2013 11:32

Quote: Can anyone verify that a digital mic does not have the win7 level problem?

I always use a USB mike ... works just fine with Vista or Windows 7. No volume or quality problems.
Ron

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 08. 2013 11:33

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 11, 2013 14:24

I doubt very much that the operating system has an effect on mike performance, more likely the mike itself or the audio software or settings.
I use both W7 and XP as well as linear and digital USB mikes w/o any problems.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 11. 2013 14:30

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