8 Replies Latest reply: Jan 26, 2012 7:27 AM by SteveG(AudioMasters) RSS

    How to deal with such backround noise?

    Srivas 108 Community Member

      Hi.

       

      I have one audio clip, recorded in the airport, and there's a lot of backround noise there, microphone is too far from the speaker, so there's nothing really I can do about it to take it away (except hiss).

       

      But I've heard that something can be done using reverb. I tried different options and it seems promising, because my goal is to have the speaker's voice understandable, not high quality output. But I still didn't get what I wanted.

       

      How is this done? Or maybe there's some other option?

       

      Here's the sample. http://www.adrive.com/public/90859f4687438404025bdb9bde6470031e05dd71a3640a8a435048faef761 ed4.html

       

      Thanks for help!

        • 1. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
          SteveG(AudioMasters) Community Member

          Srivas 108 wrote:

           

          But I've heard that something can be done using reverb. I tried different options and it seems promising, because my goal is to have the speaker's voice understandable, not high quality output. But I still didn't get what I wanted.

           

          I don't know who told you that, but you either misunderstood, or they were lying through their teeth and winding you up. Adding any form of reverb at all to a signal like that only makes things worse - a lot worse!

           

          Fortunately for you, in the sample you provided there's quite a constant background sound, and if you select a bit of your file containing just this noise (ie, with no speaking), then you can use it as a sample for Noise Reduction. Forget about hiss reduction - that won't really help you much. Ideally you need a sample long enough to let you use the highest FFT number there is in NR - but even on your sample, I achieved a worthwhile degree of removal, so it's worth persevering with this, I think.

          • 2. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
            Bob Howes Community Member

            I just had a little play and "what Steve said".

             

            In addition, after a couple of passes of noise reduction, I added a bit of EQ--some very slight boost in the 1k to 2k range and a very slight cut outside that range.  Too much gets ugly but used subtley that seemed to aid intelligibility.

            • 3. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
              Srivas 108 Community Member

              Hi Steve and Bob!

               

              I came to realize that I really don't know how to play around with this NR effect settings except moving the noise reduction level here and there. Therefore haven't really used because getting too many artifacts.

               

              Ideally you need a sample long enough to let you use the highest FFT number there is in NR

               

              Ok, I found a place with enough noise and could capture a 24000 FFT point sample, using that gives a better result before it gets too hollow for sure, but at the same time I actually have no idea what is the best way to tweak other settings as precision factor, smoothing amount and etc. Also there's this snapshots in profile setting, is that useful to tweak also?

               

              I will upload a sample with only noise, maybe you could try again and let me know what settings did you use. http://www.filedropper.com/noisesample

               

              Is there some nice tutorials about in depth noise removal? I have been looking for them and haven't found much.

               

              Btw. Maybe you could recommend me a decent microphone and recorder for recording classes, discussions? I really need to get something high quality to avoid such problems in the future.

              • 4. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
                Bob Howes Community Member

                I don't know of any tutorials but the best advice I can give is to crank up the FFT size (as Steve suggests) and turn down the NR level slider so you don't get artefacts.  Then process the file, grab another noise sample and do it again.  Several light passes are better than trying to do it all at once.

                 

                I also don't know of any recording classes but the main thing in a situation like your sample is to get a directional mic as close as possible to the person speaking.  Distance (or, rather, the lack of distance) is your friend when you're recording in a noisy environment.

                • 5. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
                  SteveG(AudioMasters) Community Member

                  Generally the best way to learn about NR is to try it - and most importantly listen to the results. Yeah, we could do it all for you, but what would you learn then?

                   

                  And like Bob says, it's not the mic you've got that generally determines how good the results are, it's what you do with it that counts.

                   

                  But if you don't want to spend a fortune, and you want an all-in-one recording solution, then look at the Zoom recorders with mics on the top. You don't have to pay a fortune for them, and they make remarkably clean recordings. Even I've been surprised by how good the results from mine have been!

                  • 6. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
                    Srivas 108 Community Member

                    Ok, thank you very much! I'll try to do it as best as I can.

                    • 7. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
                      Srivas 108 Community Member

                      I tried to do as you said, used 3 pass noise reduction, every time reducing the slider by 10, starting from 40 (40, 30, 20), and also changed some settings I found from one Adobe TV advanced noise reduction tutorials. I cranked up smoothing factor to 999, precision factor to 15 and transition width to 18db. The results were beyond my expectations, I'm very satisfied. Now I added multiband compressing, Raise vocals, and that's it. Actually Bob's suggestion about EQ worked great also, but multiband compressor was enough.

                       

                      Thanks! I learned alot from this one, now I can really use noise reduction filter on another level!

                       

                      Regards,

                      Srivas

                      • 8. Re: How to deal with such backround noise?
                        SteveG(AudioMasters) Community Member

                        Well that's good. Now you've learned something!