Audio is loud, quiet, distorted, or clipping

Troubleshooting for:

• Clipping
• Audio distortion
• A participant sounds too loud or quiet
• High-quality recording tracks with distortion and clipping (to investigate before recording again

Suggested Troubleshooting Steps: Clipping

NOTE: Clipping
Clipping generally cannot be fixed by editing. It occurs when the input gain or volume is set too high or there is a sudden increase in volume from the source.

Adjust audio sensitivity and mic gain

• Before you record, adjust the sensitivity of their microphone input on your computer or directly on your external microphone, if it has physical a knob or dial.

Mind your Ps and Ks: Use a Pop Filter or move the mic

Saying some words requires pushing air out of your mouth, especially those words with hard P, B, C, K, Sh, and Ch sounds. When speaking very close to a microphone, the forceful exhale of air can blow directly into the mic, causing clipping and distortion. This sounds similar to hearing wind on a phone call when someone is talking on the phone outside.

• If your audio is clipping when you say these 'plosive' sounds, move the mic further away from your mouth.
  • You can also try projecting your words next to the microphone, rather than directly into it.
• You can also attach a pop filter to the microphone that acts as a shield to block some of the direct flow of air.
  

  

Suggested Troubleshooting Steps: Loud, quiet, or distorted audio

• Adjust the microphone's input volume. Overly loud or quiet audio is often a symptom of incorrectly set gain. When you're recording, check the gain on Riverside to make sure the audio levels are in the yellow on the indicator (gif above).
• Check your enabled audio enhancement features in the studio and the editor. If you have too many audio-altering features enabled, they may interact in a way that distorts your final recording. These features include:
  • Echo cancellation (studio feature)
  • Noise reduction (studio feature)
  • Normalize audio levels in the editor (editor feature)
  • Remove background noise (editor feature)
  • Magic Audio (editor feature)
    • Tip: When studio features are enabled, they impact your final recording files, and distortion cannot be removed. When editor features are enabled, they do not impact your original recording files.