General Music Chat

Hi I am so upset about this. Long story short, I bought an asus laptop a year ago and only first tried the webcam to record my guitar playing about 3 months ago. First the webcam didn't even shoe any video, just a blur. So because it was still under warranty, I got the webcam replaced. Then I discovered that the audio was sh*t, with a constant background interference noise occurring even with the newly replaced webcam. Then I took it back and after numerous visits to try and rectify the problem including yet another webcam replacement and also webcam cable replacement, I convinced them to give me a refund because they could not fix the issue. I then bought a brand new MSI laptop that cost over $2000 (it is an MSI G63 8RD). It is still only 6 days old. I have box and receipt. To my horror I tried recording some acoustic guitar for the first time tonight and it sounds horrible. Check out this link: https://vimeo.com/288036384
I have the webcam covered with tape for privacy but that is irrelevant as it is just the audio issue I am trying to show. I was sure the audio was going to be ok as I actually tried the laptop webcam in store, but that was just using my speaking voice. Hear how it fades out almost straight away, really abysmal harmonics. Do I have a case to get a refund? Is there some setting I am getting wrong? I have tried all volume settings for microphone and microphone boost to no avail and also different sample rates and bit depths in advanced settings. It does not make sense as everything else I try, from my ipad air 1st generation, to my old samsung galaxy smartphone to my 6 year old asus - all of them produce a decent recording of acoustic guitar that lets the sound ring out. This is a nightmare can anyone provide me with some advice? All I want to do some amateur recording simply using a webcam and then put it on vimeo, bandmix and maybe facebook, without using any accessories such as an external microphone. The microphone in my MSI is controlled by Realtek audio. This whole episode is a nightmare.

No, you don't have a 'case'. You can't record good audio with the little 1/4" flat microphone built into the plastic case of a laptop. In fact even using an external mic plugged into the mic jack (if the laptop even has one) won't sound good because you are using the internal soundcard of the laptop, which is really only made for making the 'beeps and boops' and you'll notice the sound is pretty crappy when listening to music on youtube or elsewhere, even if you plug in some headphones.
For decent audio recording, you need a decent mic with an audio interface that acts as the mic preamp (and providing 48v phantom power if you use a condensor mic) and an A-D converter, converting analog to digital and sending it via USB into the computer.
You can get away with a USB mic, but it will limit you in the long run as to monitoring capabilities and future expansion.

it can be done. I made this track with a laptop mic (on accident instead of all my real mics, mixer, interface). listen to that hi quality audio!

https://soundcloud.com/meezerpocalypse/fuzzy

TS, You are simply trying to use a saw when you need a hammer instead. Onboard windows based laptop mics are universally terrible. Record with your phone, buy a Zoom H1 or USB mic for music, or get a proper audio interface and mic so you can consistently make quality recordings. It is not the stores fault that you bought the wrong tool for the job at hand. Do your homework next time.

For high quality recordings that you can easily transfer to any laptop, get one of these for $100:
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Zoom/H1-Ha ... ctads-adid^172488555108-device^c-plaid^140858863461-sku^1434378855113@ADL4GC-adType^PLA

Why you need one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmT00jOD-pw

...For high quality recordings that you can easily transfer to any laptop, get one of these for $100:
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Zoom/H1-Ha ... ctads-adid^172488555108-device^c-plaid^140858863461-sku^1434378855113@ADL4GC-adType^PLA...

Someone left one of those Zoom recorders in my studio and I've been trying to get him to come pick it up. Maybe I should dig up an sd card and try it out.

You don't need a super-duper amount of processing power to record considering most interfaces work fine over USB2. You just need quality components to do the audio conversion. Grab an audio interface like the Presonus AudioBox and a decent mic. You can get started with the free version of Studio One.

I think the zoom recorders are great. we recorded several sessions of myself and my drummer with a similar TASCAM unit and now that i'm finally editing them, i'm impressed by how clean the recordings are. lots of head room.