use of mics for Voice Annotation

adamwinter — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:33:13 +0000

I have a MacBook Pro, and I’m trying to record lectures using the voice annotation feature. It seems that the mic works find picking up voices in front of it, but not well at all getting voices behind it, like say, the teacher. Anyone else having this issue, if so what do you reccomend? I’m thinking of getting an external mic. Any good ones for this?

Jordan commented

Jordan — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:51:42 +0000

I wonder if a bluetooth mic might work?

Kuriodistik commented

Kuriodistik — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:50:14 +0000

Did somebody fix this issue? I'll have the same problem..

drobertson5004 commented

drobertson5004 — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:16:01 +0000

I have the same problem. Haven't found a mic that works but I have some Bose headphhones that make it sound clear as day.

Jonathan commented

Jonathan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:37:07 +0000

This problem is one reason why I don’t want to buy NB just yet. The feature is just too important for me not to have it work :(

Jayson commented

Jayson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:53:14 +0000

Hello,

This is not a NoteBook problem – NoteBook is recording everything the mic is picking up. The issue is the mic of an open laptop faces the user, which is perfect for something like iChat but not if you want to record sound hitting the other side of the laptop lid. For a lecture setting you may need a microphone that you can point at the speaker.

Best,

__jayson

Jonathan commented

Jonathan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:01:49 +0000

Hi Jayson,

I must respectfully disagree with you.

I have tried (the same room and the same macbook) recording with Omnioutliner Pro, and have had much more success with the sound. I don’t see any other reason for the problem other than Notebook.

EDIT:

I just did a side by side comparison with the two programs. I recorded simultaneously, and there is a significant difference between the sound quality.

Jayson commented

Jayson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:36:43 +0000

Hello,

What I said is still correct (with the laptop lid open the mic faces the user, and so is not set up to pick up sound on the other side of the laptop lid). There is a problem, however, with the recording levels on certain hardware, typically Macbooks. I’ve theorized that these laptops use a different kind of mic hardware than others. On my Macbook Pro, for example, voice recording is very clear. This is an issue we’re still working on tracking down, but I would agree that fixing this problem should also improve recording of ambient sound.

Best,

__jayson

Lara commented

Lara — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 06:15:18 +0000

I have to agree with Johnathon. I have the same problem and have raised the same point. It does not make sense to answer that it is an issue with the hardware and not with NoteBook when, using the exact same hardware, at the exact same time under the same conditions, you get poor sound quality results with NoteBook but reasonable quality with Omnioutliner Pro. You have to look at what is the same and what is different and in this case the only difference is the software used, not the hardware.

Jayson commented

Jayson — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:02:46 +0000

As I said, NoteBook voice annotation works fine on some computers (my Macbook Pro, for example). It seems to not work well on Macbooks, which suggests a difference in the Macbook hardware. This is not to say that the issue cannot be addressed in software, but it does seem to be an issue specifically with the Macbook’s hardware.

__jayson

Nawaz commented

Nawaz — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:11:04 +0000

Hi Jayson,

This is the first time I’ve commented on the forum. I’ve had an excellent experience with Notebook for the past two semesters taking notes at Law School and as an organizer. Thanks for such an excellent product!

The voice annotation feature has been a great, with one exception – the playback quality. I have a Macbook pro, and I have tried a few different external USB mics in addition to the built in mic. When I’ve used these mics with other programs (for example the Notebook Layout in Word 2008) the sound has been significantly better. I think this is because these programs have the option to change the quality of the recording (sample size, rate etc).

I have looked for such an option on Notebook, but I haven’t found one. Am I missing something?

I believe that Circus Ponies’ Notebook is significantly better than the Notebook Layout view in Word 2008 in many ways, but adding the ability to increase the sound quality for voice annotation would be a HUGE help for people like me, and yet another reason to continue going strong with Notebook. Please let me know if anything to this end is available or in the works for Notebook.

Thanks,
Nawaz

Nawaz commented

Nawaz — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:37:12 +0000

I just downloaded the most recent update of Notebook and noticed the ‘Good’, ‘Better’ and ‘Best’ options for recording quality. When did this feature pop in?! Regardless, this is exactly what I was thinking of, and my recordings are sounding great now when I increase the quality!

Thanks a lot!
Nawaz

Jayson commented

Jayson — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:32:11 +0000

We added the quality option in the 3.0 v343 update. Glad to hear it’s making a difference!

__jayson

A_T_O_M commented

A_T_O_M — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:03:57 +0000

For recording in class I sit in the front row. I hook up my iMic usb device. I plug in my mic (curiously, I dug up a small headset and cut off the headphone line, so it’s just a teeny mic that sits right in front of my computer during recordings). These recordings come over great with my setup.

Kevnm67 commented

Kevnm67 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:25:19 +0000

Hey guys,

While the program does have something to do with the quality of the recording, the most important component is the microphone. Microphones have different patterns in which they pick up sound as well as different sensitivities. For example, a shotgun microphone needs to be pointed directly at the persons mouth in order to pick up sound and if it’s not, you aren’t likely to pick up any audio (or very quiet unusable audio). On the back end the program is processing the audio and depending on it as well as your settings, will effect the end result. Levels need to be set correctly but if the program is set on “auto” levels, it will use its descretion on how to handle the information received. Compressing the crap out of it because of hot (meaning extremely high audio level input) will result in a recording that sounds like a wave. Specifically, if you watch the input level start reaching the red, the program will have a sensitivity threshold of which it will engage to lower the input volume when reached. Additionally, having input levels that are too high will result in a terrible recording, compression doesnt fix this.

All that to say, find a decent external microphone if you are concerned with the audio quality. No stock microphone will produce anything you’ll be happy with. Google omni directional microphones or cardioid microphones and choose something that fits your budget. Just a suggestion and something I plan on doing myself as I used the built in Mac pro mic with various programs all of which produced crappy results. I will promise you this will make a HUGE difference but keep in mind the program is not built for audio recording. If you want superior audio recordings, buy pro tools, a portable recording rig, or GarageBand would also suffice.

Edit:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GoMic/
This looks promising

Rene van der Velde commented

Rene van der Velde — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 10:17:20 +0000

Is there a way in which we could add or change the program/internal microphone with these three enhancements:

- Automatic gain control (in which the program shifts audio recording level according to the level of audio input received)

- Auto on/off recording based on whether audio is received or not (as soon as there is silence there is no need to record silence, thus making the size of the recording portion less. There is no sense in recording silence, and it would be nice if the program would be able to detect periods of silence while recording

- Start loop recording/prebuffering
My sony PCM recorder (piece of semi-prof recording) has a function where I can press the RECORD button and the recording will start x seconds AGO !
In order to do so, the recorder constantly LOOPS (while being on standby mode). As soon as I discover that there someone says something that is interesting (and that I should record), i can press the record button and the recording will start from that point in includes the prebuffer (which can be up to 15 seconds).
I use this option a lot when recording press conferences etc. As soon as i discover that what is being said makes sense and should HAVE BEEN recorded, i press record, and the recorder will still have everything recorded as if I pressed the record button from the start of that sentence in stead of being ‘too late’.
This is an extremely nice function which serves as a life-saving tool!

Can these items be added/changed to improve the program?

Regards,

René

Eric commented

Eric — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:37:56 +0000

Hello Rene,

Thanks for your feedback. Please send that to technical support here and that way we’ll be sure to consider it.