Set up required for crisp & clear sound recording on Smule

[[Member Ansh…]]

I am not bad at singing but I need advice on hardware set up . While searching for it on internet I came across that lot of people use iphone with apple earphone and so I too bought one recently (iphone 12 with apple earphone). I have found recording of other people on the platform very sharp, crisp with clarity and well echoed. But recorded sound of my performance is definitely not crisp and is too husky with more bass & without clarity) despite whatever settings I opt for reverb & room size. 

I sing connecting the earphone directly with my phone through lightening connector. I do admit that I am a novice and certainly missing on something. It would be helpful if somebody could advise me the exact set up required for crisp & clear recording.  

Edited June 10, 2022 by Anshuman

[[Member open…]]

How do you position the microphone? That will have a big impact. Other than that, there aren’t any settings for headphones directly plugged in. So I don’t think the people whose sound you like do anything special when they use Apple EarBuds. 

[[Member Ansh…]]

Thanks for your response. I use mic on the apple earbuds just as the other performers seem to do and I keep the mic positioned sideways to my mouth about 2.5 to 3 inches away while singing. I feel that my recorded sound should have more treble for clarity. However the quality is not upto the mark and seems to me like a straight wire having burs around(sigh). I would request you to please listen to the first recording on my channel  Er_av_musical and which has been joined(tried) with somebody whose voice I do appreciate for clarity(of course she is one of the best on the smule platform) and help me with your assessment as to what do you think of my voice recording, when you do compare both the voices. though the song is in Hindi(Indian language) however since this is regarding sound quality, which I suppose would not pose any problem.

I shall be really be thankful to you for your response.

[[Member open…]]

I don’t hear anything problematic. 

I understand your concern of course. It would be nice to have an EQ in Smule to control the microphone sound. 

[[Member Ansh…]]

I mean to say did you find comparative recording of the lady I joined more clear than mine?. And it happens every time whenever I join with other singers(including male singer) as well. Even when track is bad, they sound good while my recording deteriorates as per the track.

In case you found the comparative difference in sound quality in my recording, could you let me know if the quality of sound recorded by the lady in the song could be the resultant of set up I follow (i.e., with just phone & earbuds) or I need to explore further with the settings on smule. I have come to know about amplifiers(irig pro, etc.). Let me know if the clarity of recording I am referring to could improve with more gain.

Thanks again for your reply.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Anshuman

[[Member musi…]]

Hi, I listened to your recording. The quality seems very clear to me. Please note I am not a trained singer and don't understand the terms treble, bass etc. 

The only suggestion I have is try increasing the reverb just a bit to see if that makes a difference. I felt maybe that was a bit low. When I was new to Smule, someone suggested Super Studio setting with 50:50. I have tried to go low on reverb for some songs, but felt something was missing and have stuck to 50:50 ever since and I have been pretty happy with that. (BTW, I haven't figured how to change the reverb setting after the new update few months ago)

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by music8

[[Member Ansh…]]

Thanks a lot. I would definitely try out a couple of things as per your suggestion. Hope that works well for me.

 

[[Member sdr…]]

22 hours ago, Anshuman said:

I would request you to please listen to the first recording on my channel  Er_av_musical

Seems perfect. Only that you have to match your vocals with that of person you are singing with. In the first song your voice is a bit too strong. 30% is the reverb value I use. 

[[Member Ansh…]]

15 hours ago, sdr said:

Seems perfect. Only that you have to match your vocals with that of person you are singing with. In the first song your voice is a bit too strong. 30% is the reverb value I use. 

Many thanks for your observation. Reverb can be controlled but still It just feels to me as if I miss on crisp sound in my recorded voice and sound emanates a bit thicker( I suppose that is what you felt as strong in my voice) as if emanating from some cheap speaker prevents the clarity of vocals. Reducing the reverb results in lack of adequate echo and increase leads to haziness. I kept the reverb/room size as 28/40 in this song after trying many combinations.

Well I just gave the song a try to see how the sound turns out and compares with the co-signer instead of focus on singing.

I wish I could use set up used by my co-signers to see what is wrong with my choice 😀

I have the same concern with the following song wherein I used my iPhone directly connected with Sony mdr ex155ap earphone and sung through its mic (may I request you to listen)

https://www.smule.com/c/2598866363_4094196539
 

Pl. compare and try to feel the comparative difference in sound recording of the co-signer. I feel mine is thicker with minor distortions, compared to smooth & crisp sound on the other side. This leads to mismatch and uniformity of overall recording of song.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Anshuman