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unauthorizedrob
unauthorizedrob
Inspiring
December 4, 2020
Question

Is there a noise filter to remove static/hiss on top of dialogue

  • December 4, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 888 views

Hi friends

 

I am putting the finishing touches on a podcast -- we conducted the interview using Squadcast remote interview platform, which works well but is totally at the mercy of the remote subject's recording equipment and environment.  Our guest in this episode has a recurrent static/hiss that occurs on about 70% of her dialogue.  I have tried all the noise reduction tools I know, and cannot remove it without creating artifacts, so I am working through it with the paintbrush and heal tool in spectral mode, manually painting out the static.  This is working -- but seems like a very arduous and lengthy approach.  I am attaching a sample of the .wav file with the noise in -- can any of you suggest a process that will get rid of this noise?  And do you have any thoughts on what caused it?    We're thinking of sending a headphone/mic combination to guests ahead of time to avoid this, but for now, I have to deal with what I have.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

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2 replies

SteveG_AudioMasters_
Community Expert
SteveG_AudioMasters_Community Expert
Community Expert
December 5, 2020

Those sorts of noise are always quite difficult to shift, because the noise isn't exactly constant. Some people say to use adaptive NR but generally I find that to be pretty useless. What does get rid of a lot of it though is Audition's Dynamics Processor. If you open that and start with the compander preset, you can tweak the curve and levels to leave almost all of the speech, but expand the hissy bits downward to a level where they are far less audible. You still have to apply this with a little care, but it worked reasonably well on your sample.

    unauthorizedrob
    unauthorizedrobAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 7, 2020

    Thanks Steve!  I am in the Dynamics Processor now, trying to tweak that curve as you suggested to remove those high-frequency splats that keep popping up.  I'm worried that I am affecting the level too much and losing some of her clarity -- is there any chance you could send me a screenshot of the setting tyou used to clean up the sample?  

     

     

    Thanks so much.  Cheers from the California Lockdown.

     

    Rob

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    December 4, 2020

    If you've got a 'clean' section with the heal effect in the Waveform, you can then apply the fix to the entire track.

     

    Neil

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
      unauthorizedrob
      unauthorizedrobAuthor
      Inspiring
      December 7, 2020

      Thanks.  I tried that but the frequency does not seem consistent, so -- unlike an aggravating tone that keeps popping up that I WAS able to isolate and remove globally -- I can't do that with this.  It is a weird interference -- sometimes it's on top where I can just chop it off,  but sometimes down in the body of the voice.  I did go through and paint it out -- but there are bits left that I just can't visualize in the spectral mode, so still seeking help.  I am trying what Steve suggests below -- carefully.  I may just have to live with this.

       

      Thanks for your help.

       

      Rob

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