Helpful tips on how to get the best YouTube sound quality and a detailed guide on recording devices for top-notch YouTube videos.
It’s easy to lose viewers when they have to strain just to hear what you’re saying on a video. It’s just as simple to get views if you provide high-quality sound in your content. YouTube algorithms prioritize high-quality content, and sound is one of the main criteria.
To help you get the best audio quality, we’ve prepared tips that will be a game-changer for your YouTube channel.
5 Tips on How to Improve Sound on Your YouTube Videos
1. Before you start recording, remember that the closer your microphone is to the sound source, the better the quality of the recording.
2. Speak right into the microphone but don’t shout. Professional mics are highly sensitive, so you don’t need to strain your voice.
3. Choose the right sound-recording devices. The choice of microphones can be overwhelming but don’t worry, we will look at the most popular options and you can decide what kind of mic(s) you need for your channel goals.
There are two main characteristics you should pay attention to when choosing your mic: the type of power supply and the direction of the recorded sound.
Microphone Power Supply Types
There are two main microphone types according to the power supply: condenser and dynamic. Dynamic mics do not need additional electricity to work. But condenser mics need phantom power.
Condenser mics are highly sensitive to vibration and always come with a shock mount. A shock mount also called a ‘spider mount’ or ‘elastic suspension’, is a microphone holder that is suspended, like a spider hanging from a web. You have to be very careful not to touch a condenser mic, as it will hurt your ears. But the high sensitivity to vibration is what provides a truly beautiful sound that some people find relaxing and even stress-reducing.
The Direction of the Recorded Sound
There are unidirectional or simply directional, bidirectional, and omnidirectional microphones. The difference has to do with sensitivity to the direction of the sound.
Directional microphones are more sensitive to sound coming from one side and less sensitive to sound coming from other directions. There are also cardioid and supercardioid directional mics with only one difference. Supercardioid mics are less sensitive to sounds from other directions than cardioid ones. But at the same time, they capture sounds from behind the microphone. And cardioid mics do not.
Bidirectional mics have the same sensitivity to sounds from the front and back, but are less sensitive to sounds coming from the sides.
Omnidirectional mics have the same sensitivity to sounds all around.
An easier and cheaper option is to use a lavalier microphone. You can spend as little as $10 and still receive a better sound than with the built-in microphone in your camera. There are different ways you can use your lavalier mic:
- If you’re standing far from the camera, you can attach the lavalier mic to the phone and record on the dictaphone. This is a cheaper option.
- You can use a radio system and record through the transmitter directly into the camera. If you are standing close to the camera, you can attach the lavalier mic directly to the camera.
- If you want to record sounds around you like birds singing or ocean waves, use a recorder. Recorders usually record in stereo and capture audio by area as they have 2 condenser microphones that point out to the sides. There are expensive and cheaper options. You don’t necessarily need an expensive one, a cheaper recorder will still provide the sound quality of a professional microphone.
- There’s also a shotgun mic that records high-quality directional sound. This condenser microphone is mostly used in film production and requires phantom power.
4. The right recording device is important to make your videos appealing to an audience. But so is the sound editing. We recommend using a compressor to edit your recorded sound.
5. Trying to improve poor sound quality on already posted videos won’t do the trick. Of course, it happens that recorded sound doesn’t turn out well. The best option is to record the video all over again.
