How To Record Audio Without Background Noise? 5 Best ways in 2022

Whether it is a dialog or vocals for a song, I will show you how to record audio without background noise. Recording audio in a noise-free environment is the most effective way to reduce background noise.

However, although the echo is an important factor, you have to consider the quality of the microphones and other equipment before recording. In the absence of these elements, you can end up spending thousands of dollars on equipment you don’t need to improve recording quality.

Recording audio without background noise is possible but requires the use of a proper microphone. It is critical to position your mic in the correct spot and to eliminate extraneous sounds, such as air conditioning units and air vents.

Before you start recording, you need to consider a few things: the room, the microphone, and noise sources. It’s best to record in a quiet, well-lit room, use a dynamic microphone with good isolation, place it away from noise sources, and reduce background noise as much as possible.

Why is audio noise harmful?

Audio noise is sound that’s not a part of the video. It can include fan noise, ambient noise, cars or trucks driving by, audio wires buzzing, and any other ambient noise that’s not part of the video content.

Poor-quality audio can distract your audience, but good-quality audio will make your video more enjoyable for viewers. According to our study, Video Viewer Habits, Trends, and Statistics,  good voiceovers get more engagement.

How To Record Audio Without Background Noise

1. Record in a properly acoustic room

If you want good audio quality, you need a room with good acoustics. When a concert hall spreads the sound evenly, it could have good acoustics.

The best acoustics to record with are rooms that have no echoes and are completely isolated from outside noises. These places, where you can record for hours, are great for recording dialog or vocals.

However, if you can record audio at a studio, it will be more convenient and easier to edit the sound later. You can be as much time as you want to record and you can also edit the recording and fix errors such as low audio quality.

Acoustic treatment

Soundproofing and sound-absorbing are two types of acoustic treatments. Soundproofing blocks the sound from entering the room by working with the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room.

Sound absorbing is used to reduce the echoes produced in the room and you can achieve it by placing foam panels on the walls.

Soundproofing

If you want to reduce noise, one thing that helps a lot is soundproofing. You can place more dense materials on the walls of your house or put another wall between you and the outside world with dense materials.

But if you don’t live near a busy street or a construction site, I wouldn’t consider soundproofing. It’s expensive, it requires work being made on the room, and it will make the room smaller.

Do you know how to reduce the level of noise from the outside? You get a large fan, place it in the doorway, and turn it on. The result will be a noisy room with zero noise.

Sound absorption

 It makes a big difference in the recordings if foam panels are placed in an empty room. Even if the room has furniture, you will still notice some differences in the recordings. Those recordings will be clearer and less washed out.

If you have a very small recording room, you can use acoustic panels to record vocals. It’s not very expensive, so you can get it on Amazon.

Outside recording

Record outside and don’t be too concerned with the sounds. If you have your microphone set up correctly it will pick up anything. The only acoustic treatment you should be concerned about is wearing ear protection.

When you’re recording audio outside, one of the most common sources of background noise is the wind. You can protect yourself from wind by recording near a building where you can move around depending on the direction of the wind.

Avoid recording near traffic and rush hours. Just by waking up early on a Sunday, you’ll find the center of the street is very quiet, and perfect to record dialog.

When recording outdoors, check the weather, even if it looks sunny. Rain is unpredictable, so it’s best to be prepared.

2. Choose the correct microphone

Choose the correct microphone depending if you are recording outdoors or indoors you will need a different type of microphone. The accessories for microphones will also vary, such as mounts, pop-filters, windscreens, stands, etc.

Mic self-noise and feedback is a quality that affects the quality of the recordings. The feedback is the screeching noise you hear if a mic is near speakers. It’s also called hiss and when you turn up the volume, it becomes a lot more noticeable.

You want to buy a good microphone without much feedback and as little noise as possible.

Microphones for indoors

For indoor recording, you can use dynamic or condenser microphones. Dynamic microphones will isolate more from background noise but generally will pick up less detail.

And condenser microphones have more detail in the sound but they’re also more sensitive. That means if you decide to use a condenser microphone make sure to use a room with less amount of outside noise or ideally a room with acoustic treatment.

Another good thing to look for in a microphone is that some of them have a USB connection while others use an XLR connection. You can use a USB microphone just once, but others use a USB or XLR connection and require a separate audio interface like the one shown here.

Microphones for recording dialog

Recording dialog in a professional quality studio requires a microphone that captures sound at extremely high fidelity. If you don’t need extreme accuracy, then you can’t do it without a very expensive and sophisticated mic.

It depends on what you want to do with the recording and how sensitive the microphone is. Most microphones are good at recording sounds when there is a lot of sound in front of them and are not very sensitive, which means they don’t pick up much else but the voice.

It depends on what you’re trying to achieve with your podcasting. 

Microphones for recording vocals

You will need a microphone that records with great detail all the frequency spectrum. And the best microphone for that job is a condenser microphone.

One thing that matters when selecting the right condenser microphone for your production is the pick-up pattern. It’s possible to buy condenser microphones with different polar patterns, but it depends on the type of pickup pattern they have.

You’ll need a good microphone, sound recording software, and a computer with a decent-sized hard drive. You may also need some acoustic treatment in the room, such as placing some acoustic foams on the walls.

But if you want to record your vocals in a studio without any noise, a better option than the vocal booth is the following.

Microphones for outdoors

There are two types of mics for recording outdoors. You can use directional and lavalier microphones for outdoor recordings. A lavalier microphone is attached to someone’s clothing and is the one used in TV shows to record the voice of presenters and guests.

Directional microphones are most commonly used in the film, where the actors are moving all the time. They’ll give you better results if you’re in the same room as the other actors, and if the background noise is low.

Lavalier microphones

Lavaliers are the best microphones for recording in small to medium rooms because they don’t pick up as much ambient noise as condenser mics.

Another disadvantage is that if the lavalier mic is moved, it will pick up the sound of the movement and noise. It’s also hard to get close enough to the person’s mouth for an accurate recording.

But the main advantage of these mics is that they’re completely isolated from outside noise. For interviews, shows, or commercials where the person is not moving much, use a Lavalier mic.

Shotgun microphones

Shotgun microphones are great for recording with great detail. You don’t need someone with an attached microphone or one that has to be on someone’s clothing. Instead of the person who is speaking having to have a mic on them, someone has to hold a piece of equipment where the microphone is located, or the mic can be used in place of a camera.

They’re ideal for recording audio at very long distances. When you’re shooting sporting events, a football match, or something similar, then a pair of these microphones is a great solution. They’re also a good choice if you have a DSLR and you need to record longer clips since they’re less expensive than lavaliers.

3. Place the microphone away from noise sources

Place the microphone away from noise sources once you have the microphone you should put it correctly so you don’t get unwanted noise from other sources. Some gadgets like arms to hold the mic are very useful for this.

If you’re trying to record high quality, clean audio track, you’ll want to move the mic as far away from other sounds as possible. You’ll probably want to mount the mic on something that won’t produce any noise.

With more than one microphone in the recording chain, we need to think about the best arrangement for getting the best result for each of the different mics used. The ideal microphone configuration will allow you to capture your music as clearly and effortlessly as possible.

Distance between you and the microphone

The proximity effect is a characteristic of some microphones. The proximity effect makes low frequencies more prominent when you are too close to the microphone. Some people like that bass boost, but it can also muddy the sound.

It’s not hard to remove plosives. You could just put yourself 6 inches from the microphone. That will also help to prevent plosives. Plosives are the sound of a “b” or a “p” pronounced very loudly. You can remove these with a pop-filter.

4. Reduce noise as much as possible

You can’t always prevent noise from entering your recording, but you can reduce it. The last thing you should do for a good recording is to remove noise sources.

You can’t remove the noise source instantly, but there are still some tips you can follow to be able to record without any noise.

Plan when to record

When is the best time to record? You should plan when to record based on activity levels. At certain times of the day, you will have fewer sounds and this means that it’s a good time to record. If you are recording indoors, though, you should consider noise levels at home.

A dishwasher, washer machine, or air conditioning unit can be quite noisy. You may have to plan the best times to record the lowest levels of noise, like a Sunday morning for example.

Record in a room with no windows

You don’t need to worry about privacy concerns when using a microphone. However, you’ll want to use it in a room that has no windows. But if you live in a quiet neighborhood you won’t have to worry about privacy concerns.

Recordings in urban areas are often crowded and noisy. You won’t have to worry about ambulance sirens, motorcycles, or people yelling, so it’s much easier for you to record when you want to.

Use a high-pass filter

You must use a high-pass filter. Sometimes microphones don’t remove low-end frequencies properly, and this results in muddy audio. You can buy a microphone with a high-pass filter already included.

You’ll find that this kind of filter is available in any digital audio workstation (DAW) and you don’t have to record outside of it to use it. Another option is to go into the DAW and use the equalizer. 

As far as free DAWs go, this is the best one. It has an equalizer built-in and is the best free DAW. 

5. Post-processing

When recording vocals or dialog, it’s important to take a good shot with no noise. If you are recording in a studio, you may have access to plugins that will clean up the audio tracks.

These noise-reduction plugins can only deal with one type of noise at a time. In other words, they can’t remove the constant noise, like wind or a dishwasher, but can deal with punctual noise like a dog barking.

A better approach is to use plugins with more advanced noise reduction algorithms like Izotope RX8. But, if you want to get serious about noise reduction, here are the tips on how to reduce background noise in your recording.

How to reduce background noise

The best way to reduce background noise is to load a recording where there is only the background noise you want to eliminate. Then acquire the noise profile for that track and set a threshold above which noise will be eliminated.

This is the last and best way to do the perfect voice-over! Don’t use too much reduction, otherwise, the quality will drop. 

Tips to Eliminate Background Noise

When you’ve tried to find a solution to eliminate background noise, it’s essential to follow some steps. 

When mounting the microphone on a stand, you want to make sure that it does not vibrate. If you place the microphone in your hand, it may pick up the movement of your fingers on it during the recording.

For your hands-free recording, a pop screen helps keep the air from blowing out of the pop shield. The pop shield also adds protection to the mic.

A pop shield can be used to eliminate them. This shield covers the microphone and eliminates the pop that sounds from people speaking.

Use proper recording levels and you’ll be able to hear more clearly than the other guys. A high level of input not only masks the noise but also gives a better signal-to-noise ratio.

However, very high levels will cause the signals to clip resulting in distortion. Turn the input volume down to around -6dB (this is usually done automatically) which avoids clipping.

Conclusion

If you are looking to record audio without any background noise, then you can set your mic to a fixed frequency range like 100Hz to 2kHz. In that way, it can pick up all the sound you want to capture while eliminating the sound of the environment around you.

 I hope that you will be able to find out the best possible tips to solve this problem. If you have any queries further, feel free to contact us in the comment section below.