07-14-2024 03:59 AM - edited 07-14-2024 04:45 AM
I have just purchased the Carnyx Mic and overall think it's pretty good. However, when trying to cancel out noise using the 'Noise Gate' function in the Armoury Crate software - there is a problem!
What happens is that it's a balance between finding the right 'Recording Level' (or Gain) in Settings tab, and balancing that with the correct 'Noise Gate' (or Noise Cancellation) level in the Microphone tab.
For example, my Recording Level is set to 80, and my Noise Gate set to 38. If I increase the Noise Gate to 39, then what happens is that when I speak into the mic it will noticeably noise cancel the background sounds - but will also noise cancel my voice so it sounds muffled, but as I start speaking the mic pickup will kick in (noise gate decreases) and my voice can clearly be heard (along with the background noise). So the pickup level goes up and down noticeably whenever I speak (which is annoying). It doesn't 'smoothly' cancel background noise whilst clearly picking up my voice, it jerks up and down cutting in and out of Noise cancellation.
As stated, there's a level where this just happens to kick in - in my case it's if the recording level is moved to 81 (if Noise Gate is 38), OR if Noise Gate is moved to 39 (if recording level is 80). So I have to make do with RL 80 and NG 38, just before the point where the jerky noise cancellation starts, ie. I can still hear background noise (if using the Armoury Crate software).
I use OBS and have seen the residual background hum level in the recording meter. What I have had to do is use NVidia Broadcast, set the noise cancellation in that and then when I check the residual mic noise pickup in OBS there is nothing on the recording meter, so that appears to work. I'm unsure if the Armoury Crate settings for the mic would still be active whilst I've set the PC to use NVidia Broadcast as the default mic input in PC settings and in OBS settings? - I doubt it as far as noise cacellation goes, but other functions such as mute (physically or in the Armoury Crate) still works for example.
So what I'm saying is, that it's a shame that the Armoury Crate doesn't noise cancel effectively. Maybe this exact issue can be fixed in a forthcoming firmware & corresponding software update?