KNOWING WHERE I'M AT

I planned to review my classmates' work using a speaker since through this, I can hear and understand the subtle details of their recordings. As I listened to 10 assignments, I observed that the class consists of different types of students.

First, there are students whose equipment and environment are highly conducive to producing high-quality audio recordings. They've already invested in microphones to help them provide the best possible quality of audio input, and headphones to be able to listen to any audio outputs with clarity, knowing that this course includes listening exercises. For instance, Angelica Henson's audio setup is exceptional. She has a high-quality dynamic microphone and studio headphones that are designed for podcast/professional recordings. She also uses a windowless room that effectively serves as a recording studio. Her setup inspires me, and perhaps the others, to acquire better equipment as well.

Secondly, I also noticed that most students possess microphones that provide satisfactory audio input, but they lack an environment that complements these recording devices. Many record in their rooms where background noises, such as an air conditioner or other types of ventilation, are audible. However, I believe their microphones have noise-cancellation features that can address this issue. These students are likely to meet the course requirements, and hopefully, provide excellent work, especially if they have prior audio experience and skills.

Lastly, I also found students who use smartphones as their recording devices. While some produce good-quality recordings, others are slightly affected by their surroundings. These students need to exert extra effort to meet the course requirements, including me since I only use my smartphone for my audio inputs.

Investing in high-quality equipment, or affordable products with good performance, will help students fulfill the needs of this course. However, I believe that the interdependence of recording devices and the recording environment is still the primary consideration for producing satisfactory outputs. Some students' work still needs improvement; they have to balance the said two elements to mitigate background noises and create high-quality recordings.

I'd say I belong to the third type of students who rely on smartphones as their recording devices. It's because I prefer to use it than my laptop's built-in microphone, which is far worse than what I am using. As I mentioned in Assignment 1a, the audio input captured by my laptop sounds robotic that's why I decided to use my phone. Luckily, my Realme 6 smartphone's built-in microphone was able to pick up my voice and the pen-tapping activity. I believe this is because smartphones are designed for clear voice capture since they're being used for calls, voice commands, and voice messages. In terms of the recording environment, I think I do have a conducive recording area. However, I can only achieve this if there's no ventilation turned on inside my room, and it's quite behave outside. I believe the ideal time for recording is at night/dawn.

With these conditions, I think there are still a lot of things I need to do for my improvement. The first thing is to invest in microphones. I'll try to look at my classmates' recording devices and see which of them is ideal to acquire. For the time being, I will utilize audio editing software to manipulate and refine my audio inputs and recordings. Next is to make sure that my recording environment will always be favorable, especially at the time of recording.  This will help me save time. For instance, I have to record minute-long audio and there's a noise that will be picked up when I'm about to finish it; it's very stressful and should be anticipated as early as I can. Lastly, aside from the two elements, which are the recording device and the recording equipment, I have to improve myself too since I'm the one that will record or create these sounds. I have to improve my memorization, pronunciation, and mainly my confidence.