Being the best damn DJs we can be.

There are very few audio files that go through the micspam conversion process and have 'perfect' sound quality afterwards. Even fewer will maintain this quality when played over the microphone channel, as it is pre-programed in a way that suits the broadcasting of voices (but little else). With most micspam audio, it becomes necessary to fiddle with it after conversion so that it can be broadcast in the best quality possible.

If your audio is not naturally quiet or 'soft', the following things are likely to happen when it's played in-game:

- Excessively loud bass beats, drowning out other instruments/vocals.
- Speaker crackling at very loud points/short bass thumps.
- Artificial white noise, drowning out any other sound completely.

(NOTE: Micspam will always sound slightly better at your end than it does for other players on the server. If you can, have a friend or two stay with you on an empty server and give feedback on the audio's quality)

GoldWave is the (free) program of choice when it comes to fixing these problems. It'll nag you to register and claim that your functions are limited, but you'll find that it serves its purpose without these limits impeding you.

1. - Grab the download from our group page.

2. - Install and open GoldWave. Close the Help window and use File > Open to locate your converted audio.

3. - You'll be shown a wave-graph of the file. If the green lines look to be extending beyond the top and bottom edges of the window, then you know for sure that you'll need to reduce the audio's volume. If your speakers were taking punishment on the bass beats, then you know to reduce that too. Try to single out what must be changed so that you don't sacrifice too much of the quality.

4. - Navigate through Effect > Filter > Equalizer from the window menus. You'll see frequency sliders, a straightforward decibel (loudness) scaler, and a 'Presets' drop-down menu. The latter two are what we'll be using.

5. - If your audio seems to be extending only a little beyond the visible vertical boundry, use the decibel slider (the multicoloured bar), or the number box to its right, to reduce the audio's overall volume by 5 decibels. Click 'Apply' and assess the change in the graph. If much of the audio disappears beyond the boundry, or the previous modification didn't bring the entire wave into view, reduce it all to -10dB of its original loudness. Repeat as necessary until the entire wwave is within view.

6. - To reduce bass volume, you need only to pick 'Reduce Bass' from the Presets drop-down menu. Since bass properties vary between audio files, you'll need to test the updated file in-game (after saving) to ensure thatthe bass is no longer excessinve and more-or-less equalised with the rest of the audio. Most files only need one bass reduiction, though two or three for exceptionally bass-heavy files are not unheard of.

GoldWave is most definitely a viable program to use for converting your audio files in the first place. You will have to refer to the 'Converting Audio' announcement for information on that, as I have not yet attempted the same steps within GoldWave and thus cannot give a decicated guide for it.

Nevertheless, if the audio plays in decent quality after your tweaking, then you no longer need to alter it! Play to your heart's content (as well as that of your audience), but be sure to convert more than just a few audio files; variety is always a boon.

Currently in planning: A .zip collection of all my micspam audio to date. This will not be posted until I am certain it has all been optimized.