Dave212321

There is VU meter Software that shows you audio level on your Digital System of your PC. It gives a pretty good idea of the sound level as seen by your PC.

If this post is not deleted here is the link:
http://www.darkwood.demon.co.uk/PC/meter.html

These are free programs, donation if you wish. I am not associated in any manner.

Audacity is a free Audio Editor that can set the peak levels very precisely
Search for it on Google. Get the beta version Audacity ® 1.3.12-beta (Unicode). Works in Windows 7.

Look at the top menu. Effect > Amplify. You can set the peak level to -6 DB.

"Broadcast Quality" Information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_quality
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Thanks Carl.

Not too sure what peak level -6 db even means right now.

Thanks Carl.

Not too sure what peak level -6 db even means right now.

In the digital world of audio. 0 db is the maximum audio level before distortion sets in. If you exceed 0 db, Clipping occurs.

- 6 db means that you are keeping the audio level (Volume) well below the clipping level.

If you look at the audio wave form in the audio line of PD9, the top of the line is 0 db.

A lesson In Decibel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel

As it applies to Sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure

An excerpt from above:
Sound pressure level (SPL) or sound level is a logarithmic measure of the effective sound pressure of a sound relative to a reference value. It is measured in decibels (dB) above a standard reference level. The commonly used "zero" reference sound pressure in air is 20 µPa RMS, which is usually considered the threshold of human hearing (at 1 kHz).




Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

What I needed to know by what scale or reference the decible readings are being take.

I see it is the scale of the VU meter is used. Now that makes sense. When measured by a VU meter, the sound has to be 0 to -6db.

And as you say, any rises above 0db gets clipped and distortion occurs. And thus the link to the VU meter you provided. That's quite valuable info there.

I have 70 Voice Overs to redo, and I may try and see if Public Access has a recording room. My webcam mic is not cutting it.

Thanks again Carl

Thanks

I have 70 Voice Overs to redo, and I may try and see if Public Access has a recording room. My webcam mic is not cutting it.

I saw a post by someone who gives shows and Videos on wildlife. The Microphone he uses is
Audio-Technica AT2020 USB condenser Microphone. I looked it up, Amazon.com sells it.

It should be a very good Microphone, and being USB would work on your computer.

On the subject of Microphones, you can find dozens of Microphones for small amounts of money. But as general rule, the low price mics are not "Broadcast Quality".

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

I see it is the scale of the VU meter is used. Now that makes sense. When measured by a VU meter, the sound has to be 0 to -6db.

That is backwards.

For sound levels -6 db is quieter than 0 DB. A VU meter is calibrated low level to high level -20 db to +3 db for analog.
-20 db to 0 db if Digital.

So 0 db is louder than -6 db. -6 db would be the loudest allowed. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

I see below -6db is desirable and some require -20db.

What confuses is me is that you can have a voice over below -6db and still have it sound bad.

So there must be a difference between bad sounding scratchy/noisy voice overs and distorted voice overs (higher db).

I need to learn more about this sound thing.

Before I buy a microphone, I need to borrow a good one to rule out that its not my computer creating the noise in my voice overs. Got my eyes on something similar and a snowball mic.

Please download and install this program.

http://www.minorshill.co.uk/PC/Meters/meters.zip
Once the zip is extracted you don't have to install, just double click the EXE, for the meter you want to run.

In the zip is two meters, a Vertical and a Horizontal.
The above is a basic peak reading VU Meter. It is the one I use on my PC when I want to see the sound levels on my PC.

Play with them you don't have to record anything to see the microphone levels. If you want to hear the mic, record a little of the Mic, You can use Power director Voice over room to record in Powerdirector. (Makes a Audio file).
I prefer to use Audacity to record audio, than bring the audio file into Powerdirector.

Having the VU meter on the screen gives a very good idea of what level you are recording.

If you have one of these meters on the screen while testing your microphone, you can see the levels. (They usually stay on top).

If you do not have the levels set correctly, you get the distortion. You control the Microphone in Windows Volume control

Attached is a view of Windows Volume Control with a VU meter. I captured the VU as I was speaking into the Microphone.
The level of the Microphone is controled by Windows Volume control in the Recording option.


The Image of the VU with no sound, shows the Green area, Yellow area and the Red area. Green is up to -6db, Yellow is up to -2db, Red goes to 0db, then there is a peak that shows if you are over 0db. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.