Audition Beginner here - how would you improve this Audio file?

[Oliver Schlesinger]

Dear Community,

i made my first steps in Audition and i am currently working on the wav. File which i have attached. The Interview was recorded with a Zoom H4n Recorder, which had to be placed relatively far away (about 1 metre) from the person. It was recorded in a lecture hall ... so there is quite a lot of noise going on in the background. My interview partner had a bassy voice too.

It is really tricky for me to remove the noise and keep the voice of the interviewed person as natural as possible.

Therefore i may ask you to lend me your ear and your experience on that audio file! What would be the best way to edit that file in your opinion?

Thank you very much in advance!

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Believe it or not, this is one of the better samples we've had! First, add 6dB of gain to your rather small signal so that it's easier to hear (although this is not obligatory at this point, as the final level can be sorted later). Fortunately, most of the background noise is constant, so if you pick a bit of silence (like the bit in the middle of your sample) you can use this as a noise print. You need to do this twice, and don't take off too much each time. The first time set the FFT to the highest value, take the noise sample and reduce the noise by about 6dB. Then reset the NR FFT to its default 4096 setting, take a new noise print and reduce the noise by about the same amount. This should work fine without introducing significant artifacts.

Next use the Parametric EQ. Set it like this:

Finally, normalize the file to -3dB, and then it will sound a lot clearer.

[Oliver Schlesinger]

Dear Steve,

thank you very much for your quick and useful response! I am not satisfied with my result so far but i am getting there, thanks to your advice! 😉 Still having this "metallic" sound, but just ocassionally on some harsh pronunciations, not on the whole clip. Nevertheless i am very happy with the result, of the the "soft" noice reduction within two steps!

Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend!

Oliver