Why do my vocal recordings sound thin and muffled?

Question

Hi there i'm a newbie in recording so i have a beginners question:

I recently bought an Audio Interface (the M-Audio FastTrack Pro) and recorded some stuff, which was really fun, and seems to have gone well. But when I tried to record voice, I didn't get the sound I wanted to. I have to say that my microphone is not the best one, and I am not expecting the greatest results, but no matter what I tried, it was always a bit muffled, "small" and not clear enough. It was like you could hear that it was sung through a microphone and not just the voice (Ok thats a bad explanation, but that was the first thing I thought when listening to the recording)

So my question is, how can I improve my vocal recordings? Should I buy a better mic (it's a bit obvious that i should, but I don't really have the money)?

Answer 1

There are other factors other than the mic itself.

This 2001 article, and another from 2004, both from S-o-S, give some of the reasons (and solutions) for muffled, boxy recordings ... though their solutions are often reliant on further processing, e.g. compression, EQ, reverb.

Hopefully they'll provide useful background.

Answer 2

The only thing I would add to what's here is triple check your manual and make sure your settings are all correct. Also, check your bit rate/sample rate settings. Good luck!