How to Improve the Sound Quality in Windows Sound Recorder

1. Check your built-in microphone. The most common reason for poor sound quality in Windows Sound Recorder is the internal microphone. Your desktop or laptop's built-in mic picks up ambient room noise, and the result is a recording that sounds like you're in a tunnel. It also produces a very faint recording level.
2. Buy an external microphone if you don't already have one. You don't have to spend a lot of money; nearly any inexpensive microphone or headset-microphone combo will do just fine.
3. Plug the external mic into the microphone jack on your computer. You may need a mini-plug adapter if your microphone cord is too large for the input slot. These adapters can be found at any electronics store.
4. Open Windows Sound Recorder. You can find it under 'Program Files/Accessories,' or 'Entertainment,' depending on which version of Windows you have.
5. Go to the File menu and click 'Properties,' select 'Recording Formats' in the pull-down menu, then 'Convert Now.'
6. Choose the sound quality preset from the available three options: Telephone Quality (lowest quality mono) will sound like a cell-phone call, but the file size is 92% smaller. Radio Quality (medium quality mono) is acceptable for most speech recording, and the file size is 75% smaller. For optimal sound, choose CD Quality, which is 44kHz, 16 bit stereo, but with a huge WAV file size.
7. Click the 'Save As' button to save these settings for future recordings. When prompted to 'save this format as,' give the setting a name such as 'My Voice,' then click 'OK.'
8. Go to the Edit menu and click 'Audio Properties.' In the Sound Recording dialog box, make sure your computer's sound card is the default device.
9. Set your microphone recording level by clicking on 'Volume' under the 'Default Device' box. This will open a Recording Control window. Speak normally into the mic and adjust the volume slider until you get as strong a signal as possible without distortion.
10. Close the Recording Control window and return to the Audio Properties dialog box, then click 'OK' to save your settings.