microphone

Improve the Sound of Your Microphone by Adding a De-Esser in OBS

Jett5 Comments

When your voice gets recorded or broadcasted through a microphone, it oftentimes emphasizes the harsh tones that occur when you make certain sounds with your voice. In particular, sibilant consonants such as “s” and “z” are overemphasized through a microphone and create tones that are unpleasant to listen to. You don’t want to drive viewers away because it hurts their ears every time you say words like “snake”, “sand”, or “zebra”.

Thankfully, minimizing those unpleasant tones can be done through a de-esser. You can set one up in OBS within a matter of minutes with the help of this guide. Kudos to Atomic Overdrive for almost all of this information, as I followed their guide while trying to resolve my sibilance issues and am largely adapting their knowledge in this post. However, I will try to add any extra insight I have to make this a more complete guide for you, including where to put the de-esser in your processing chain.

Follow along and let’s make your voice even more pleasant to listen to by adding a de-esser in OBS!

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Stream to Twitch and YouTube Like a Pro With My Top 10 Tech Tips for OBS

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OBS is the go-to broadcasting software for streamers. It’s incredibly powerful and it’s free. If you don’t already have it, grab it here! Putting together your first stream isn’t that difficult, but you can really take your stream to the next level with a few tidbits of advice you may have missed along your journey.

Here are my top 10 tips for streaming like a pro in OBS!

Actually, there are 11 tips, but “top 10” works better for SEO purposes and #11 might be the most important tip of all. Let’s get to the tips!

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Using a Headset Mic vs. A Standalone Mic for Streaming

Jett3 Comments

When it comes to streaming equipment, I strongly vouch for starting with whatever you’ve got. If you’ve only got the mic built into your laptop, use that first. If you have a gaming headset, that works as well. Upgrades can wait until you spend some time streaming with your current gear and figuring out

But when you’re ready to upgrade, would it be better to get a standalone microphone? Or would a nicer gaming headset do the trick? Using my own gear, I put these options to the test!

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Create a Twitch or YouTube Stream Worth Watching By Offering Meaningful Value

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Why should anyone watch your stream?

I know I might come off as a jerk for asking, but it’s a serious question all streamers with ambitions of growing have to answer. Myself included. Streaming is a highly-crowded, hyper-competitive, and top-heavy space where zero viewers is the norm for most.

Furthermore, there are inherent challenges that come with consuming live streaming content versus anything else online. Asking someone to carve out hours of their day to go to your channel and engage with you through the chat is way harder to do than to watch a much shorter YouTube video or view a social media posts that get propagated in other people’s feeds. All of this makes live streaming as a medium one of the most difficult forms of online content to consume.

If you want potential viewers to make that effort, you have to provide them with value equal to or exceeding the effort they put into watching you. Let’s talk about our value as live streamers and what we can do to make our streams more valuable.

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The Next Round of Streaming PC Upgrades

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“But Jett, didn’t you literally just get a new PC and gaming chair?”

Yes. So far, I’m loving both! But there’s always work to be done. Here are a few more items on my list to pick up!

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How-To Listen to Your Console Game Audio and Streaming Alerts at the Same Time While Streaming on Twitch or YouTube

Jett5 Comments

Ever since I started streaming years ago, I’ve struggled with an inability to hear my console game sound and streaming alerts at the same time. This is a relatively easy task if  you have an audio mixer. Without one, it’s a bit more complicated.

I made the choice to only hear game sound, which means I’m oftentimes slow to respond when someone follows or subscribes. Some streamers will wear two sets of headphones to monitor both at the same time, but I didn’t want to deal with all of that extra headgear.

Recently, I found a way to split my monitor audio and output audio without a mixer. This solution may not work for everyone, as it does require specific hardware. However, if you do have something like this handy, this solution could dramatically improve your workflow!

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Some Factors to Consider When Shopping for a Streaming Microphone

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So you’re in the market for a streaming microphone.

With so many options available, it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed. Furthermore, microphones aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Even if you had the money to buy a top-of-the-line dynamic mic like the Shure SM7B, that one isn’t going to work for you if you don’t want a big microphone super close to your face and in view of your camera.

I’m not in a position to make specific microphone recommendations. However, I did want to provide you with some factors to consider before making a purchase.

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Production Values on Twitch Are Overrated*

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“What if viewers could blow up my stream?”

Yes, this is a question I have legitimately batted around for some time. In fact, I know exactly how I would do it.

Starting with a free green screen explosion from YouTube, I would chroma key out the green so that the explosion appeared as transparent. Once the smoke cleared, viewers would only see a black screen. Finally, the stream would shut itself off. All of this would be controlled by an expensive Channel Points redemption and automated through LioranBoard.

Blowing up the stream sounds cool and all. But exactly how does that effect actually improve my stream and help me achieve my goals on Twitch?

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Get the Best Possible Sound From Your Streaming Microphone in OBS and Streamlabs OBS With These Settings and Tips #BloggersWhoStream

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[This post is part of a blogging collaboration by Later Levels and Hundstrasse called #BloggersWhoStream. Make sure to give them both credit and follow the hashtag on Twitter for more posts from the community!]

Having a good mic won’t help your stream if it isn’t configured properly. Particularly if you have a condenser mic, which you probably do if you own a USB mic. Condenser mics – such as the Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti, or the Audio-Technica AT2020 among many others – work best in a controlled studio environment.

Unfortunately, most of us aren’t streaming in professional studios. Without any adjustments, your voice will probably distort when you get loud, be difficult to hear over your gameplay when you speak softly, and pick up weird ambient noises in-and-around your house.

It’s mission critical to address these issues, as your microphone is your primary method of communication and content creation on stream. You can address most of these issues in OBS, Streamlabs OBS, or whatever digital or analog mixer you may use. Follow along with this guide and it should get your microphone audio to a better place!

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Blue Yeti Nano Review

Jett

Does the old adage, “Good things come in small packages” hold true for the Blue Yeti Nano? This mini reboot of the wildly-popular original attempts to retain the overall sound quality of the original in a smaller package while removing a few features specifically designed for recording singing vocals or musical instruments. Blue’s hope is that the Nano will be your go-to mic for voice recording, podcasting, or streaming. Having bought one for myself, I put it through its paces.

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