Steve, what does this waveform anomaly tell you?

[MikeHarrison]

Due to some "Unexpected error" that kept ocurring, my inital attempt at posting was trashed.

I received an audio file from someone, and this kind of anomaly appears several times throughout. It produces a pop when played, so I'm wondering if it is the result of a bad edit. But is there anything else that could cause this?

 

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Oh yes - very poorly judged edit! Fails on two counts; firstly there is the obvious jump, which is going to ask the D-A converter to travel instantaneously from one value to another, rather than at the rate of change it was previously progressing at. Secondly, if you look at the slope of the waveform it is joining to, it's travelling at a different rate (the slope is different). So it's going to click initially because of the attempt at a quantum leap, and secondly because it attempts to join two signals of different frequencies.

You can achieve all of this in Audition, of course. Just go to Edit>Preferences>Data and either take the checks out of the 'Smooth...' boxes or reduce both settings to zero. Then right-click on the timeline, select Snapping and take the check out of 'Snap to Zero Crossing'. Audition will then proceed to make a terrible mess of your editing. Remember to reset it all afterwards!

[MikeHarrison]

Thanks, Steve. Could this be caused by anything else? The file was from a voice-over colleague, and I want to help her correct whatever she might be doing wrong, depending on what software she's using.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

No it wouldn't be caused by anything else - there's nothing in the physical world that can make a waveform jump like that; it's purely artificial. What she needs to do about it rather depends upon the software she's using, but my second paragraph should give you a clue as to what to look for. Of course, if you can persuade her to use Audition, it becomes a lot simpler... 😉