Voice recorder with silence detection
Introduction.
In a voice recording tool, silence detection can be used for different
purposes. First of all, the program that recognizes silence can be set to stop
recording if nothing happens for a while. This allows to minimize the size of
output files and to use disk space more effectively. By skipping large amounts
of silence such a program also does another job: it automatically cuts out
useless parts, and the user doesn't need to check manually for recorded voice in
a sea of silence later.
Another feature that could be useful in such a program would be splitting
files. Some amount of silence may be used to separate different parts logically
(for example, in an audio book). If a program could record such parts into
separate files, that would help organizing the content later.
We will take a look at a sound and voice recorder that can do both of the
above things, MP3 Recorder Studio.
Step 1: Download and install the program.
Download MP3 Recorder Studio to a known location. Run setup and follow
on-screen instructions to install the program.
Step 2: Start the program. Set up voice recording.
Launch MP3 Recorder Studio. Depending on your system configuration, the
program may be ready to record immediately. However, we will check and adjust
different settings here.
First of all, decide what format you want to record to. MP3 Recorder Studio
can record sound into WAV and MP3. WAV PCM is uncompressed audio format, which
means that resulting files will be very large. If you want to record to WAV, you
need to make sure that you have enough space on the target device (at least
several gigabytes).
By default MP3 Recorder Studio, as the name suggests, records to MP3. If you
need to change this or to adjust quality, click "Change" (1).
As next, select a folder to save your recordings (2). You should have
necessary permissions on the folder.
Click the "Splitting and Recording Options" tab (3).
This will change the content of the lower part:
Here we can see a "Silence Options" area. It contains two values: Threshold
and Max silence allowed. The threshold value defines how much noise can be
counted as silence. There is always some background noise, even if sometimes we
can't hear it. If silence detection doesn't work properly on your system, try
adjusting this value.
Max silence allowed defines how much silence should be included into a
recording before some action is triggered (skip silence or split file). The
program can detect silence immediately, but if it cuts out all pauses from a
voice message, the message will become very hard to understand. Here you should
enter a value that suits your needs.
Furthermore, in the "Silence Options" area you can check the box to skip
silence.
In the "Splitting Options" area, it is possible to choose no splitting or
splitting by silence (the third option is to create a new file every given
time). If you don't want any splitting, everything will be recorded into a
single file. Silence will be skipped, if the "Skip silence" box is checked in
the "Silence Options" area.
On the screen shot above, the program tells us that our microphone is active.
If microphone is not active on your system, click "Set recording device".
This will invoke a usual recording devices mixer of your system. On Windows
XP and earlier systems, check microphone and close the window. On Windows Vista,
select microphone and click "Set Default":
Close the window by clicking "OK".
Step 3: Record your voice and skip silence.
Now everything's ready. You can return to the "Files" tab of the program to
get clear overview. Click "Record" on the toolbar to start recording.
If "Skip silence" box is checked on the "Splitting and Recording Options"
tab, the program will stop recording if silence is detected:
If you say something to your microphone once again, the program will start
recording immediately, without skipping a single sound.
The trial version of MP3 Recorder Studio can record only 60 seconds of a
file. If you are satisfied with the quality and features, you can register your
copy and remove all restrictions.
Product Page
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