Hello Everybody,
Can someone please guide me on how to record a 24 bit, 48kHZ WAV audio file using Mac Book Air? I have a very basic external mic (FIFINE USB mic). I don’t have any sophisticated software (I’m not a sound engineer) -
Is this even possible or do I need professional equipment/software?
Thanks in advance!
With a USB mic, I am unaware of the mic’s native bit depth and sampling rate. I am also completely unfamiliar with Mac’s as I have always used PC’s.
It doesn’t take sophisticated software to simply record, edit, and export audio at different sample rates and bit depths. Don’t Macs come with their own audio workstation? If not, something free and straightforward like Audacity serves fine for VO work and many voice actor’s use it before paying money for more complex, feature-rich DAW’s.
Hello,
You SHOULD use professional software, but if your mac is all you have then you can change your settings in Preferences > Advanced and change them to either 16 bit or 24 bit. I think the default setting is 16bit. Garage band DOES allow to you export in .wav format.
It’s not your microphone that handles the settings, that’s simply your input device.
You need to familiarize yourself with your laptop, the audio software, in this case Garageband and it’s settings.
You can check support.apple for help, but you’ll still need to find your way around.
Again, your editing software determines your settings, not your mic.
Good luck.
Thank you Enunciator. Macs have Garageband, which I haven’t used yet. I appreciate your help. I will take a look at Audacity!
Hi Markusvoice, thank you so much for explaining all of this! I will see how to change the settings (not sure where to find “advanced”) and to to learn how to use Garageband.
Use Garageband as that will do the job.
Honestly there is no such thing as professional or non-professional software in terms of recording quality as a sample is a sample is a sample. Garageband is just fine for voice recording so long as your USB Mic is reasonable. Even if it is less-than-perfect, Mic positioning and levels are probably more important than buying new gear.
You set the Recording quality like Bit Depth in GB’s Prefs. Honestly, if it is just a voice recording 16/44 is more than plenty. Set the Levels so they obey this and you are probably right.
Aim for clarity and hire in a Mix Engineer with experience in voice work if at all unsure as it is easy to over-process (butcher) a voice track.
Hi Benedictrm, I am so very grateful for your help! Thank you!! I will give it a try today. I hope I can meet the requirement of 24 bit, 48kHZ WAV. Thank you so much!!
