How to record clean audio of your quad singing

I get asked a lot how we record the audio clips that end up in posts here. The honest answer is: not very fancy, but with a few choices that make the difference between "this sounds like a tin can" and "oh, that's clearly the Mario theme".

If you want to record your own builds for Instagram, YouTube shorts, or just to share with friends, here's the workflow.

Why phone mics fail

Phones have small mics tuned for voice. They roll off below 200 Hz and compress aggressively above about 75 dB SPL. Your quad's motor melody is the opposite of voice: lots of high-frequency square-wave content, peaking briefly during note attacks, very directional.

A phone next to the quad will:

• Clip on the loud note attacks
• Auto-gain the room reverb up between notes (making the recording sound noisier)
• Miss the bottom octave entirely

Result: a thin, washed-out version of what your ears actually heard.

The cheap fix

If you've got a phone and nothing else:

• Set the phone 1–2 metres away, not right next to the motor. The mic AGC stabilises at that distance.
• Aim the phone at the frame from the side, not from above. Most of the sound radiates sideways out of the arms.
• Record outdoors or in a big room. Echo-y small rooms blur the notes together.
• Disable any built-in noise reduction in the camera app if it lets you.

That's already 80% better than what most people post on Reddit.

The better fix

If you can borrow a portable recorder:

• Zoom H1n, Tascam DR-05, or similar handheld — any USB recorder with an XY stereo capsule works.
• Set input gain manually (not auto). Aim for peaks around -6 dBFS during the loudest part of the song. If you go higher you'll clip; lower and you'll need to boost in post.
• Record at 48 kHz, 24-bit. Don't compress to MP3 on the device — record WAV and convert later if you must.
• Distance 50 cm to 1 m, mic pointed at the frame from the side.

This setup is what most of our reference recordings use. Total cost if you don't own one: about €80 used.

Position matters a lot

Same quad, same song, different mic positions:

• Directly above (from the top plate down) — quietest, most reverberant. Avoid.
• From the side, level with the motors — loudest, most detailed. Best.
• From below (looking up at the frame) — surprisingly good, especially on stiff carbon frames.
• From the front, 2 m away — most natural, what a bystander hears.

For an instagram clip, do the side-on close mic. For "here's what it sounds like at a meetup", do the bystander shot.

Process the recording afterwards

In Audacity or your DAW:

• High-pass at 100 Hz. Cuts off the wind / building rumble that sneaks in.
• Normalize to -1 dBFS. Brings the level up to match other audio.
• Don't add reverb — the room already gave you reverb. More just makes it mushy.
• A little EQ boost around 2 kHz helps the melody pop on phone speakers.

That's it. No mastering chain, no compression, no fancy plugins.

Posting it

For Instagram / YouTube shorts:

• Vertical video, mic in clear sight or hidden under the table.
• Don't overlay loud background music. The whole point is the motor music.
• Caption it with the song name + your build details. People watching are mostly other pilots; they want to know what's flying.

If you record something good, send it to us via contact. We've started a small clip wall and might add your build to it.