Sound Design Stack Exchange
Sound Design Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
12
votes
2 answers

Field recording databases

Freesound.org seems to be the largest and most reliable source of unprocessed field recordings (with a good share of pitch-shifted monster sounds too). I struggle to find alternatives of comparable size and quality. What other databases exist? (I am…
yunque
  • 121
  • 6
12
votes
7 answers

full vehicle coverage

At some point you can have too much coverage of a vehicle, but it takes quite a lot to get there. The question is how much is enough without being too much? Lets assume that we want to put together a record list that includes complete coverage of 1…
Rene
  • 10,736
  • 1
  • 31
  • 58
12
votes
3 answers

What is the "level" of Frequency Modulation of many synthesizers?

I am currently working on FM synthesis and while I do understand the roles of carrier frequency, modulator frequency and modulator amplitude, I've been having problems with understanding how lots of software (I suppose also hardware) synthesizers…
Peter Goldsborough
  • 305
  • 2
  • 6
12
votes
4 answers

What hardware units should I have in my arsenal?

I'm an amateur audio engineer who most of the time needs to record choirs or musical theatre productions, but who occasionally does home studio recording of songs. I don't have a huge amount of money but I'd like to build a collection of 'essential'…
Mark Pim
12
votes
6 answers

Preventing tangled mic cables

It seems like no matter how carefully I wind up my mic cables, the next time I get them out I'm fighting tangles and knots. And untangling mic cables is not one of my favorite things to do in front of a client. How should I wind (or perhaps…
BenV
  • 3,695
  • 20
  • 31
12
votes
4 answers

What's the point of putting electronics inside a guitar instead of just outputting the raw pickup signal?

I'm new to electric guitars, but I understand that all the different models out there have various signal-modifying electronics shoved somewhere inside the body that modify the pickups' signal before getting to the output jack. Why would anyone want…
themirror
  • 953
  • 2
  • 11
  • 14
12
votes
3 answers

What does panning do in a stereo system

I use pan a lot, but would now like to understand what it does. My question is spurred on by being told in a mix (a rock band for example) everything needs to live in its own space. Well, surely it can't actually have it's own space since they're…
Dave
  • 444
  • 4
  • 11
12
votes
10 answers

Should I use 44.1KHz, 48KHz or 96KHZ sampling frequency for hobby projects?

I use a firewire audio interface with a decent microphone pre-amp and the ability to sample up to 96KHz in 24-bit. I get why I'd want to use 24-bit for the added dynamic range, especially when using a lot of DSP plugins. But I'm much less certain…
Kim Burgaard
12
votes
4 answers

Vuvuzela silencing techniques

Last year's soccer World Cup in South Africa brought about many vuvuzela silencing tools. What are the characteristics of vuvuzela noise that allow it to be silenced? What are some of the common techniques used for silencing vuvuzelas?
Jaime Soto
12
votes
11 answers

FireWire or USB

Which is better for audio recording? FireWire or USB audio interfaces? I've used USB quite a bit and struggled with a few latency issues (which have since been resolved) but the speeds of FireWire are interesting to me. I currently run a…
Donn Felker
12
votes
2 answers

What is impedance and why do I care when buying a microphone?

I've been researching some mics and aside from reviews I've been looking at the specs. I'm not sure I understand what impedance is and why I care about it when purchasing a mic.
Micah
12
votes
1 answer

Suggestions for micing violins

I have a session coming up where I will be recording a couple violins. I've done a few violin sessions in the past and never been happy with the violin sound I've ended up with - it's always been too thin and harsh. Any tips on mic placement to…
BenV
  • 3,695
  • 20
  • 31
12
votes
2 answers

XLR vs USB Microphone

I have a Fast Track Pro (which as an XLR pre-amp) mostly used for DJing tasks. Now, I am in the process of creating a small (really cheap) recording studio in my home. I was looking for cheap Mics, and I found a few like the Samson C01, for…
mfcabrera
12
votes
5 answers

How can I make a section in a song sound like it's coming from an AM radio?

I am working on a project in Logic Pro, and for part of my song, I want to make it sound like an AM radio is playing a segment from a talk show reporting on a sport event. What effects can I apply to achieve this?
Kevin
  • 423
  • 2
  • 6
  • 17
12
votes
6 answers

Monitoring multiple USB microphones

I am in the planning stages of producing a podcast consisting 2 or more people in the same room. I have a large diaphragm USB condenser mic, and another non-USB mic. At this point, I need to decide which direction to build out the configuration,…
Tom Miller
1 2 3
…
99 100