@@wolverinebeats6043 I mean that works but I do believe in investing in something to up quality, sure what this video explains it is alright but music,voice-over, content creation at a high level, and Voice acting being what I do I feel it is needed to invest in the gear. And saying you can't afford it isn't too valid because you can always save money for it.
@@DevGambit i just won a song submission and a dj with 106k followers asked me if I engineered it. I recorded it in a closet. I'm always continuing to learn but as far as getting a good mix you don't need anything fancy. Go blow a bunch of money on equipment you don't need.
I always apreciate Tutorials on the Equalizer APO. People really need to become aware of this awesome software. But 9 Plugins! Well… you can do a lot of fine tuning on your microphone, but usually, exactly 2 Plugins will do 90% of the job on their own. Still, i apreciate the effort in explaining the rough whereabouts of certain frequencies. This makes getting into the process of EQing the microphone sound quite a bit easier for beginners. That being said: I didn’t yet check if you have a tutorial on this as well, but nobody who stumbles across this video will do that anyways, so maybe they will see this comment for additional advice. 80% of good sound come down to two things you need to do before even doing any of the things in this video. The first thing is using the microphone at the correct distance. This is physics and there is no way around it. You need the microphone close to your mouth. The closer you can get, the better the signal to noise ratio can be. The closer you are, the louder your voice is, compared to the ambient- and background-noise. But how close you should get for the best sound, depends on the microphone design. There are two major designs out there: Condenser and Dynamic microphones. Condenser Microphones are best suited for a certain distance between the microphone and the sound source. The best tradeoff between signal to noise ratio and sound quality can be achieved with a distance from 10cm to 15 cm (roughly 4 to 6 inches). This is where you get the best sound out of condensers, without sacrificing a lot of signal to noise ratio. Again, the closer you get, the higher the signal to noise ratio will be and the richer the bass response of your microphone to your voice will become. If you get even closer than 10 cm / 4 inches tho, the bass will become overpowering and muddy. My best bets in terms of sound are: 10 cm / 4 inches for a rich bass response, for a more broadcast-like sound. 15 cm / 6 inches for a rather clear sound with more top end. Dynamic microphones are best suited for a very close distance. This is why you can use a dynamic microphone as close as 5 cm / 2 inches. (This - and the fact that a dynamic microphone by design doesn’t pick up as much background- or ambient-noise - is the reason why dynamic microphones are somewhat better in terms of noise rejection.) 5 cm / 2 inches is the best bet for a rich bass response, at 7.5 cm / 3 inches gives you a clearer sound. Next, set the gain properly. The correct gain is set, if your signal strength hovers around -20dBFS while talking normally. You can monitor the signal in Voicemeeter, having the input and output both set to 0dBFS. You can also monitor it by simply read the input in OBS, with the source in OBS set to full loudness. (And all filters disabled, if you have any) As for the actual setting of the gain correctly, There are actually 3 ways of doing it. 1. If you have a USB Microphone without a microphone gain knob on the microphone itself, the gain can only set up in Windows. Open the Windows Control Center (not the Windows Settings) and open the sound settings in there. Inside the sound settings open the tab for the recording devices and look up the microphone and open its properties by doubleclicking it. Inside the properties, go to the level tab. The slider in here sets the gain for the microphone. If you set it to “0”, you get the base signal level. At “100” its raised quite a lot. Find the correct setting by talking and monitoring your signal level. 2. If you have USB microphone with a gain knob on the microphone itself, set the level I talked in 1. before, to “0” and use the gain knob to dial in the correct signal strength. Raise the level on the recording device of the USB microphone in Windows only, in case the gain knob cannot vice you the desired signal strength. 3. If you have an audio interface and XLR microphones, set the level for the the audio interface’s recording device to 100 and leave it there at all times. For an audio interface, the level slider acts as a fader and does nothing to set up the signal strength correctly. You will only use the gain knob on the interface. If you followed these two steps, you will already have the best signal to noise ratio and a sufficient signal strength to begin with. Remember, when I wrote about two Plugins being enough for a basic setup of the microphone for streaming? All, I use without the EQ, are: ATK Expander and LoudMax, both of which are available on GitHub for download. The first Plugin in the Equalizer APO should be ATK Expander. Set its threshold to -40dBFS for to keep even whispering audible, or -36 dBFS, to demand normal talking, but removing more of the background noise. Don’t forget to set the slope as high as it can go without the value rising to 2. The second plugin in the Equalizer APO should be LoudMax. And LoudMax is ridiculously easy to set up. Set the first slider to -20dBFS to reach the highest volume possible. Set it to -22dBFS, if you want a certain level of compression. Don’t worry about clipping here. With the signal level from your microphone coming in at -20dB, there is no way, this will start to clip. Simply set he second slider to limit the signal. Either choose -4dBFS (for professional line level) or -10dBFS (for consumer line level). If you want to modify the sound of the microphone, make sure, the ATK Expander is always the first plugin and LoudMax is always the last plugin in your vocal chain.
you sir, you are a legend. thank you so very much, this one comment solved a long and confusing search of mine into how to make my microphone work properly. thank you so very much, I took a screenshot of it and recorded my screen with all the current settings after listening to your advice. (just in case I'll need it all in the future again). THANK YOU
Thanks for the in depth look into how all of the plugins are working. I am still using your setup when you gave it to us in the earlier Mic setup video and its still rocking solid. Keep it up man, be well.
Had bad settings for years and didnt know what to do with my blue snowball. I just wanted to start up streaming and found this video. Im pretty sure this saved me hours of research and videos to fix my settings. Thank you!
This is much smarter than having to do all of this in post every single time with audacity. This is a one and done setup that works everywhere not just in audacity.
Wow, I must have asked 5 different questions before finalizing this comment. 🤣 I couldn't figure out what to download off of your Discord, so I just went with the latest mic setting text file. After looking at the various config files once I had saved some things, I realized how to just import your settings by copying the text file and, of course, installing replugs, too. I couldn't be happier! Thanks!
How did you configure it? I have the same microphone, but watching this video I don't understand how to configure it, did you download a configuration to apply it? thank you, it would be very helpful
I would recommend running reafir and reagate FIRST before any other plugins - this will remove the audio you don't need to be amplified BEFORE you get to smoothing things over with EQ and Compression. By working this way, your EQ and Comp plugins will not use as much CPU (working less due to less noise).
As you can tell i use the downward expander as my gate -> its first in the lineup. I included the gate so i could explain its function aswell. The config was slightly different that what I normally would setup because the setup of the refir plugin. I set that up as a suggestion by my community. Havent officially included it yet because i have yet to get it configured correctly
@@TheFranswahStudio I must admit I'm struggling to get reafir (in Equalizer APO) to recognise the Mic via Voicemeeter for some reason - trying to troubleshoot the issue.
@@TheFranswahStudio Have looked for an alternative to EQAPO (and Cantibile) and found Kushview's Element VST Host (kushview.net/element/). Working with it right now and it works wonderfully (and correctly with reafir too). Check it out - and note that it's now Open Source too.
This video was such a lifesaver! I have been trying to figure out how to record audio without fan noise and how to make my microphone sound louder. Thank you so much!!
I don't comment on many videos, but I have spent multiple hours looking for real ways to make my microphone sound better and have a live noise gate. I just gotta say thanks for having a no bs video that actual makes my mic sound good and helps keeps from picking up crazy amounts of background noise. Most other videos either did not work for me or ended up making me sound worse.
Thank you for this! I use to use voicemeeter banana for about 2 years and wanted to use a noise gate but recently it has been causing issues with discord and crashing for me. This Equalizer APO is a life saver!
Thank you for these tips! I ran into two issues: 1. Using APO, VU-meter of vst-plugins doens't show anything. Have you had this issue? Makes using compressors a bit difficult. 2. How do you monitor your mic audio while adjusting settings?
Since nobody answers you till today I try to. 1. no I had no issues 2. Thru Discord,Audacity, or directly thru the Software.If i remember corecctly you can do that. Hope ist helps and sorry for my Bad englisch
Do any sort of headset mic. I have a Razer Nari Ultimate headset but you can do whatever because I'm guessing it will probably be much closer to my mic than a snowball.
Just bought a 60$ mic and EQ APO... Now I sound like a radio-moderator, or really crisp and nice Ad-Voice ... Even way better than what you have on this video. Tonor TC 40 ... really good value for that price.
Thank you Pewdewpie for this wonderful tutorial. I spent 7 hours straight tinkering my APO because I am a woman the settings are significantly different from yours but I got to it. I used the FIFINE usb mic.
I personally own a Rode NT-1 and a Scarlett Solo, I would agree that I shouldn't have bought it when I did about a year ago, if I had known about equalizer apo I would have just bought an at2020 and save a minimum of $200. So if anyone is just starting out, get something like Franswah (Blue snowball) and upgrade when or if it ever becomes necessary. One of the most popular people on this platform (Daily Dose of Internet) uses a snowball. Its not the tools, but how you apply them.
It appears the new variant of the CoolerMaster 725 headset, the MH650 is recognized during configuration but does not have the corresponding txt file. Even replacing the text within the file (as they are virtually the same headphones) still results in the "No device matched" errors and configuration essentially stops in its tracks. I think I might be better served with your more elegant solution using a slightly more upscale standalone mic. I've heard what the MH650 can do through Voicemeeter but from what I understand it takes some doing. I will consult your other equally thorough videos for insights there. Here's hoping. Much respect for the very thorough breakdown you've got here. I was hoping to get some richness to the headset's sound while waiting for a standalone mic upgrade. I'm not currently streaming but wanted some decent sound for game comms and network cals. I'll continue to monkey around with the hardware and VM Potato combination for the time being. I've spent far too long for it to -almost- work. Cheers, and Thanks again.
Hi, thanks. Do you have a recommendation for an equalizer/presets on a Mac pls? I have a Snowball & installed the LogiTech Sherpa app, I see it's enabled but there is just a volume meter, no other settings or presets at all. Thanks for any tips :)
The presets were pretty good!! But the only problem I'm facing is my playback device is also getting caught up in the eq/compressor, any clue or work around this?
I followed the instructions but don’t get how to download the vsts? I have them in the folder but when I move them to the APO config folder they aren’t .txt files so won’t work? Can someone help please thank you! 🙏🏽
This is awesome, hopefully i can figure this out better then Voicemeeter Banana. I'm one of them fellas that went out and bought all the audio shit you dont need. No regrets but just stupid expensive. Now it's just trying to get it to sound like it should. Im using the Shure SM7B. Do you have any recommendation? In terms of a pre set.
Question, why use a downward expander at all? I found it just caused my mic to cut in and out more, and that calibrating the noise gate was a better experience. Can you explain why you use the downward expander instead of just the noise gate? I love your compression combination too by the way, gives a fantastic consistency.
4:00 that error is because APO defaults to your default *output* device, which you only have APO set to your *input* device. thats why you get the error
What mic's would you like a preset for? Keep in mind I am not a Sound Engineer I just like to share what I know.. I easily could have over-compressed my microphone :) Also, sorry for the artifacting.. the refir plugin i setup before recording was causing some ringing noise i wasnt aware of. and wasnt able to re-record.
I want to thank you for the great help you gave me, but I need another help: for some reason the equalizer is no longer working with my microphone, probably because of windows 10 I'm not sure (I updated it a few days ago), is there any way to do it work again? it´s the only thing diferent i make in the system before equalizer stops working.
Whats the point of using Banana Voicemeter if you are using Equalizer APO? Do you need them both? Or just one? Im just interested in recording mic to audacity.
I totally get where you're coming from with not shelling out money for a new mic but I really can't wait until you do a video with how to use the new Elgato Wave with Voicemeeter. From my understanding (watching HH's review on it), in order to get elgato's new Link software to work properly with OBS it has to be routed through something like Voicemeeter. Considering the mic both sounds really good, is relatively cheap, and comes with pretty robust software version of a GoXLR, I think it's very quickly going to become *the* beginners streaming mic. For my money you're the best Voicemeeter guy on youtube right now and it's be cool if you had a video showing how to set up this new mic with Voicemeeter.
almost definitely if your microphone is a cheap one. cheap mics will often sound shit and whoever will be on the receiving end will hear that shit, and they may even struggle to understand you if your mic is REALLY bad. Making your voice as clear as possible is always good if you're intending to communicate, or record audio, which other people will hear. But it's worth noting that a lot of the filters dude shows in the video are not really 'necessary' to make your microphone sound "clear", half of the filters are simply making sure that the audio levels are consistent, and that there will be no noise or sudden spikes of loudness which may hurt the ears of anyone on the receiving end. This guy's previous version of this video was much less detailed but just as effective. It's up to you how considerate you want to be for other people (if you have a bad mic), but you should at least toy with these filters in case you don't want any background audio to be picked up - sometimes people configure their microphones simply for privacy.
if you think all these things are confusing, try to download obs denoiser as vst and just add it to your mic config and it will remove almost all noise/unwanted sound.
yeah but ideally you want to learn to do this shit regardless. I think it's easy to wrap your head around this if you just mess around with all the settings and then test them in Audacity. Though even then, you only need to be concerned with the ones the dude in the video is talking about, but that's at MOST. The previous version of this guy's video is much more simplistic and only uses around 5 filters if you exclude preamplification. Also great results after messing around with these 5 filters alone a little.
@TheFranswah Studio, and anyone. Question: Does both EqualizerAPO and VST Plugins will work on the microphone Yeti X and compatible on Windows 10? Thank you
🙋♂i missed all that. what was the first step i was suppose to do.. lol.. dear LORD ALL MIGHTY.. that was A LOT of info to take in.. (im hearing the old dial up sound and smelling smoke) i understood it for the most part, but dang. im not looking forward to goin down this settings rabbit hole.. but gotta learn and gotta be done... but thanks for the vid, it cleared up A LOT in my head about the different details on the filters and how to set them.
Also with the 9th plugin meant to decrease background noise for me it made it so my mic didn't work. I'm not sure if this happens with others but that was a problem for me. I had to turn it off to get my mic to work for my computer applications. Can you possibly come out with something explaining this or maybe a fix because it would be awesome if you could make a plugin that decreased background noise.
Thanks for the video! Everything is working fine but there is one problem that was really unexpected. For some reason my microphone doesn't work in Discord with Equalizer APO. It works everywhere else but Discord. Couldn't find anything about this problem so I thought maybe you can help me with that.
Hey, when i tried to change microphone settings, for example preamplification (works fine when changing settings on headphones), i get "error while writing configuration file: Access is denied. Coudnt fine anything about it on google, can you help with that?
You may need to go into the device properties and enable audio enhancements.. you can find this by right-clicking the source from the sound control panel
is there way to use this seperately for speaker and microphone? i want to use eq for both speaker and mic but any setting applies to both. for example adding echo to mic also applies to the speaker.
what are your thoughts on AI filtering like RTX Voice? Good to use in conjunction with a noise gate, or good enough for a noobie to not even have to bother with a noise gate?
would these presets for for a rode nt usb mic?....thanks...I' have used your setups in the past and work great..I messed around or adjuest some...also how do you set this into obs or do you just do vst plug...thanks..
@@TheFranswahStudio also...doe the Equalizer APO work hand in hand with obs....or do you still need to add the filters and stuff that are in obs.....and if so why not just use VST inside OBS...thanks..
Why can't You post the DL link to the config files in the description? Why gate it behind Discord? Which, btw. I can't get into because it says the invitation is invalid.
1, discord is a free way to get the file that is a link to the file not a gate so idk the issue.. not sure why its a complaint. 2. The link has been updated.. there was an issue w the link, got updated, new issue, had to update again. Sorry.
Is there an easy way that I can test out my settings while configuring? I can't hear any differences on instant playbacks except when I put it into OBS, and I don't want to have to record and play a video every minute
I'm a little confused, what's the point of having Voicemeeter if we're using Equalizer and Reaper for all mic-related stuff? No disrespect to these great tutorials, just want to know exactly what each thing I download is doing for me.
Voicemeeter is a virtual mixer.. more for separating audio sources than it is for adjusting audio. Equalizer APO is an Audio Processing Object meant for audio signal enhancement
Hey, Thanks for the Vid. Im using RTX Voice with a AT2020 which works perfectly to cut off unwanted background noise.. what plugins should i remove/change if im using RTX Voice?
Hey bro, really nice vid it helped me a lot. But I noticed that the changes has been applied in each app (Discord/Obs/zoom) but not in geforce experience (app to rec my clips) Any ideas?
![[2020] Pro Mic Setup for Twitch Streaming using Equalizer APO !!!!](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
