Smule sounds really flat on a brand new ipad.

[[Member ac3…]]

I have been using smule for a couple years now, but always within android environment, i like to use an at2035 mic with an irig pre for smule, sometimes i just use a headset and called it a day.

Well i stopped using smule for over 1 year, and i bought a new ipad in january, and oh my god i couldnt believe how good it sounded while singing, the features of rewind were awsome, except, the post processing is absolute garbage, the best i can explain is, no matter what filter i use, how much gain i put, smule in ipad sounds absolutly crisp while i am singing and listening to myself, as soon as i finish recording, and get the preview, it sounds muffled, sounds flat, like smule grabbed all my highs and lows, removed them all and flattened the full song, initially i thought it was an issue with my singing, or my setup it really is not, i tried apple earbuds, same issue, i tried artic pro headset same issue, but then i tried ipad recording app without smule, and it sounds absolutly great on ipad all 3 options sound great on ipad, you go on smule and bang, a muffled soup of singing, it doesnt sound "bad" it just sounds absolutly flat is there any way around this, or has anyone had this issue?

[[Member open…]]

Not sure what is going on. But I can say that there shouldn’t be any difference between the monitoring while singing and the playback on the review screen. 

Do you have an example song with that problem?

[[Member ac3…]]

Sure thing,

So this, is how my at2035 is sounding on a new model ipad from january : https://www.smule.com/recording/yakuza-ryu-ga-gotoku-baka-mitai-short-ver/2598572585_4236021929/ensembles

And this is the same mic using a crappy android emulator trough blue stacks using same microphone :

https://www.smule.com/recording/yakuza-ryu-ga-gotoku-baka-mitai-short-ver/2034743655_4241879557/ensembles

Like i said, it doesnt sound bad, it just sounds really flat to what it truly should sound, its like ipad "smooths" the rough edges of my voice without me wishing it

[[Member open…]]

Are both recordings using the iRig Pre as well?

[[Member ac3…]]

No, in the pc i am using an interface audient4, but i have tried the irig pre on my android phone wich is a xiaomi poco x3 pro, it also works better quality wise than the ipad, but its not truly usable because for some reason my phone really doesnt like external mics, i have to bring the amp up to max because without it, even using normal headphones the phone just makes the sound really low, great quality, but really low, but if i ramp up the gain to max, i get a bit of distortion so my phone isnt usable at all.

 

Funny enough though, the differences are visible in the final lines, in both phone, emulator and ipad, in phone and emulator if i sing high or low, the curves move accordingly to how high or low i sang, in ipad though the curve stays always more lore less at same levels lowering and going a little bit up but there is no constant changes like in android when i change my voice level, even if crank up the gain it does the same, the volume does get higher, but the clarity in my voice is still removed and smoothed.

 

In this song it doesnt sound to terrible, but its specially songs i have to change between highs and lows this is really noticable, you can see that the app automaticly equalizes my voice and removes the details ( good and bad) no matter how high or low i sing ( also when i am singing in ipad, i never ever go above the yellow and even at the end the curvature is very mild no where close to edges like it does in android.

This song is a good example : https://www.smule.com/recording/beauty-and-the-beast-gaston/2598572585_4240386125/ensembles

Start from the middle where i do gaston bart, and it shows how flat the whole thing sounds on ipad.

What really really is anoying, is that, when i am singing with preview on, the clarity is amazing, and it sounds great, as soon as i finish it and go to preview, all clarity small details are gone, all my fails are hidden , but so is any sharp detail on my voice, sounds like i am singing trough a very low quality mic, this happens with pre rig and at 2035, with ipad own earbuds, and with artic pro headset ( all of them sound great when singing, all of them lose quality when i save and go to preview ) 

 

[[Member ac3…]]

Also for clarity comparison, this one is done in android in comparison to that one https://www.smule.com/recording/robin-williams-prince-ali-aladdin/2034743655_4241897331/ensembles

I believe this as to do with compression when saving but while it does reduce also a bit in android, in ipad is like day and night, i dont want to sound amazing, i just want to hear detail and not sound like theres a sock on my microphone, emulators are far from ideal, they have delay that i need to constantly adjust, i need to sing by ear and not how its presented due to the delay its a horrible experience overall for me, ipad is just so much better and straightforward, but like i said, sounds like i am singing with a sock put in the microphone.

Edited December 21, 2021 by ac3
Spelling correction

[[Member cl00…]]

On 12/21/2021 at 4:37 AM, ac3 said:

...but then i tried ipad recording app without smule, and it sounds absolutly great on ipad all 3 options sound great on ipad, you go on smule and bang, a muffled soup of singing, it doesnt sound "bad" it just sounds absolutly flat is there any way around this, or has anyone had this issue?

There used to be sliders for reverb amount and character and I liked to adjust it to suit me.  Now they changed it to different audio profiles.  I was recording with this one person, and my voice sounded really flat and lifeless.  I took a look at my mike interface settings, and they looked okay.  Then I tried a different audio profile and it was completely different. 

When that happens, I'd try a different audio profile and see if that helps.

[[Member open…]]

2 minutes ago, cl00bie said:

There used to be sliders for reverb amount and character and I liked to adjust it to suit me. 

They are still there. There is a tiny pencil icon you need to click. 

[[Member ac3…]]

I am now trying another route honestly, i ordered an ipad camera acessory, with a powered usb 3.0 HUB, to allow me to use my own interface instead of Irig pre , so i will try to record via the lighting port instead of the 3.5mm jack, i am also waiting for a shure sm58 mic in the case my voice just not playing nice with AT2035, when i get time to try it i will update on my status,

You mentioned the filters, i tried all of them, including manually taking off full reverb off with the tiny pencil icon that opentype mentions, I also found out that by using garageband you can actually change how your mic sounds in smule but my results with that were very very mixed.

[[Member cl00…]]

35 minutes ago, opentype said:

They are still there. There is a tiny pencil icon you need to click. 

You're the best!  I'll look for it tonight.