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dbror
dbror
Participating Frequently
June 15, 2018
Answered

Can Distorted Audio be Fixed by Lowering the db?

  • June 15, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 395 views

Hello,

I have recently been transferring a bunch of old Hi-8 cassettes to digital but the audio level recording is a mess so I always end up having a higher db than what I'm supposed to (I've learned that it has be between -12 and -15 db most of the time, more less).

If the audio was already distorted as a result of the db being too high, will lowering the db fix it? And even if the distortion is fixed, will it ever be the same quality as audio that wasn't distorted in the first place?

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer ryclark

No unfortunately if the audio has been distorted before it is digitised then you can't do anything to remove distortion which will have been 'burnt in' to the audio signal whilst in the analogue domain. Only if the level was really to high ie. above 0dBFS would it have been clipped in the digital domain. So lowering the level won't make any difference.

1 reply

ryclark
ryclarkCorrect answer
Participating Frequently
June 15, 2018

No unfortunately if the audio has been distorted before it is digitised then you can't do anything to remove distortion which will have been 'burnt in' to the audio signal whilst in the analogue domain. Only if the level was really to high ie. above 0dBFS would it have been clipped in the digital domain. So lowering the level won't make any difference.

SteveG_AudioMasters_
Community Expert
SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
Community Expert
June 15, 2018

Should add that distortion can never be repaired accurately, and never will be able to be - simply because you have no reference to what the undistorted signal looked like. And without that, you're stuffed...

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