The built-in microphone of a smartphone is not always top quality. That’s quite a shame, because that’s exactly how you make sound recordings so easily. And you always have that phone with you everywhere, an audio recorder of course not. Thanks to the free Dolby On app, you can still increase the sound quality of your phone. This way you can make pleasantly intelligible recordings.
It is very handy that you can make sound recordings with your smartphone. There is usually already an app on the device with which you can do this right away. It is called, for example, Dictaphone or Sound Recorder. The sound quality of the microphone that is hidden somewhere behind a hole or grille is just not that high. In addition, the microphone picks up almost all ambient noises, so background noises are often disturbing. Dolby On solves these kinds of problems. You can download Dolby On from the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
nice sound
A somewhat lower sound quality is certainly not always a problem. For example, if you only use the phone to occasionally record a short voice note, or to remind yourself of a few errands to pick up after work. With most other audio recordings it is actually disturbing. Think of a conversation or an interview. Or a lecture or lecture that you want to listen to at your leisure at a later time and of which you may want to make an excerpt. It is nice if everything is clearly intelligible and the sound is pleasant to listen to.
Do you want to record a podcast or a vlog, do you like to sing or play an instrument? In that case, the sound quality is even extremely important. So it’s nice to know that you can record video with Dolby On, so you can record rehearsals and entire performances with ease. From yourself, your band or the choir. You can also provide live streams with the app. It’s not for nothing that the makers claim that you replace an entire recording studio with this. In any case, you no longer need an external microphone or a separate sound recorder.
No ambient noises
You may remember the name Dolby from the time we played music with cassette tapes. Cassette recorders have Dolby noise reduction to improve the sound quality, otherwise quite a lot of noise can be heard and that ruins the music experience. Noise reduction is therefore one of the things that Dolby On does for you. Only now it is mainly about suppressing disturbing ambient noises.
Think of a reverberating room, the sound of a fan or the air conditioning, but also traffic noise. This immediately makes the sound sound a bit better. In addition, the app optimizes the sound and makes it sound more spacious. As a result, voice as well as singing and music come to the fore more prominently, sound fuller and are more pleasant to listen to.
Once you launch the app, tap the large microphone icon to start the sound recording. Once you’re done, tap the stop button. During the recording, you will see a colorful animation that shows both the volume and the frequency distribution. Afterwards you will find the sound recording on the main screen of Dolby On and you can tap it to listen to the fragment.
Here on the main screen you will only see the most recent recording. Would you like to view and listen to previous sound recordings? Then tap the music note icon at the bottom of the screen. A list of recordings appears. Via the same icon you return to the main screen.
Manage Fragments
On both the main screen and the recording list, swipe left on a sound recording to see three icons. Tap the pin to give the track a clear name, so that you can see what you’re going to hear. Or use the trash can to delete the instance. Via the share icon you can save the recording locally on your phone or share it on Instagram, for example. Do you also want to save the colorful animation? Then choose Save video instead of Save audio.
Much the same can be done from the playback screen that appears when you select a specific recording by tapping it. Tap the track name if you want to change it, or use the option Rename via the menu icon (the three dots) at the bottom of the screen. In this menu you will also find an option to delete the current recording (delete). Or choose Add Visuals to set a different playback animation.
On the playback screen, you will find a share icon to save the recording locally, for example. Have you noticed that there is an asterisk next to every shot? Marks a sound recording as a favorite. In the list of recordings, you can then indicate via the filter options whether you want to see only your favorites, all recordings, only audio recordings or only video recordings.
Save locally
Recordings are stored online. That is probably also where they are meticulously analyzed to completely improve the sound quality. Want to use a recording for something? Then you save it locally, after which you can do whatever you want with it.
Keep in mind that you will still see the online version within the app. This means that you can safely make several variants of one and the same recording, and then save them on your phone. Handy, because you can turn the knobs yourself for the desired sound reproduction.
Optimize
Still on the playback screen is Tools an extremely important part. Here you will find a set of tools with which you can adjust the sound reproduction to your taste. Through style choose from a number of presets. You can compare this with the photo filters from an app like Instagram, but then for sound. Just tap on a few styles and see which one sounds best to you, as that varies by sound recording. Tap the style a second time to set the strength of the effect on a scale from subtle (gentle) to strong (strong). below tone you will find a simple equalizer that allows you to adjust the treble, mids and bass with sliders.
Bee noise you control the strength of the noise reduction and thus the degree of suppression of disturbing ambient noises, if you think this could be improved. boost you use it when the sound level of the recording is too low or too high and you can see it as a kind of amplifier. Finally you use trim to trim a sound recording, if the beginning or end isn’t worth saving.
Back on the playback screen, you will find a button under the Dolby logo with which you can switch all sound changes off and on again at once. Especially through headphones, you can really hear what Dolby On is capable of and therefore also whether it is an improvement or not.
Filming and streaming
You can also record videos with Dolby On and that can be done both portrait and landscape. Think of rehearsals, performances, lectures and presentations, if that is allowed of course. You can record by tapping the video camera icon near the audio recording icon.
By default, the camera on the screen side is used, which is of course ideal to see if everything is going as desired. If that is not the intention, then switch to the main camera on the back. This is especially useful if someone else is monitoring the recording for you. Movie recordings are in the same overview as audio recordings, so everything is neatly organized. In addition, you have the same editing options as with sound, including cropping.
Do you prefer a live broadcast of a performance or presentation? Then it is good to know that with Dolby On you can also stream directly to YouTube, Twitch and all kinds of other services. Then choose the figure on the main screen (with the two channel arcs above it), again near the icon with which you make an audio recording. Tap it again and when you see an explanation screen tap Let’s go. You immediately appear in the picture thanks to the selfie camera. Prepare yourself at your leisure and tap go live to actually start the session. You then get the choice to connect to Twitch or YouTube, or to another streaming service via an RTMP link and streaming key.
Previous recordings
Do you have media files on your phone that you would like to deal with with Dolby On? Which can! Go to the list of recordings (even if it is still empty) and tap the square with the curved arrow in it. Then you point to an audio or video file and you can get started with it. Ideally, you can also use a completely different app to make recordings, just like improving material that you receive from others.
Even better sound
Don’t forget to take a look through the settings via the gear icon on the main screen of the app. Scroll down a bit until you reach Audio options arrives. Put the option here countdown on, the app will listen for three seconds before the recording starts. This means that the ambient noise is better recognized and that improves the sound quality. It also means that nothing is recorded for the first three seconds, so there must be an opportunity for that.
The option lossless audio enable to save uncompressed audio. Instead of an MP3 file, you get a wav file with a higher sound quality. This is especially interesting if you are recording vocals or music and also if you want to edit the recording later with another audio program. On a iPhone put you through watermark the watermark in live streams.
