Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

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exit2studios
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Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by exit2studios » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:18 pm

Is there any way to kill the buzz and humm from some tracks (mixing a record that was recorded at the guys home) without taking the high end and life out of it?

What techniques do you guys use?

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by kayagum » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:39 pm

I've mentioned using Adobe Audition on other threads- it's a lifesaver for audio restoration. Multiple tools for noise reduction and notch/eq filters (like 60Hz hum).

You can get a trial version of Audition for 30 days on http://adobe.com

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Zeppelin4Life » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:00 pm

Its all compromise. there is no way to remove only noise..but you can get it pretty nicely. usually a hardware or software (plugin) noise-reducer works by setting it to capture the noise, then playing the noise reduction over the normal mix, it can seek out the noise and remove it. most can adjust how intense they are. There is usually some high end that goes out with it, yes. The other kindof noise reduction is the kind that compresses the noise, and input signal with it and then expands the signal again. this is a sure way to kill high end (as well as dynamic range by about 1/2!). Im pretty sure the Dolby DBX cassette noise reduction uses this. dont use it! With all that said the best sounding noise reducer ive heard is Waves X-Noise. Part of the Waves Restoration bundle has X-Noise, X-Hum, X-Crackle, etc. they all work great..quite CPU heavy though. good for mastering
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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Mr. Dipity » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:04 pm

Zeppelin4Life wrote:Its all compromise. there is no way to remove only noise..but you can get it pretty nicely. usually a hardware or software (plugin) noise-reducer works by setting it to capture the noise, then playing the noise reduction over the normal mix, it can seek out the noise and remove it. most can adjust how intense they are.
What boxes do this in hardware?

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by exit2studios » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:06 pm

I actually tried out the Waves X remover thing (don't own it) and it seemed to suck all the room out of the guitar recording. I was hoping for some tricks beyond that cuz I have the SF Noise Reduction which works well for some things, but in this case a lot of life seems be in that noise. Maybe I'll just live with it and go for the low fi sound.

Does Audition offer more restoration than the Waves Restoration pack?

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Mr. Dipity » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:09 pm

exit2studios wrote: What techniques do you guys use?
Harmonic notch filter for 50/60hz hum

Sonic Foundry/Wave Noise Reduction for the rest, in combination with some pre/de-emphasis of the high end. The eq's in the noise reduction plugins suck compared to dedicated eqs.

Keep in mind, however, that turd polishing will only get you so far. Removing line noise with a harmonic notch is do-able, but I would be hesitant to attempt genuine noise reduction on musical content. I use it daily on spoken stuff, but no-one cares about fidelity.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Zeppelin4Life » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:10 pm

Mr. Dipity wrote:
Zeppelin4Life wrote:Its all compromise. there is no way to remove only noise..but you can get it pretty nicely. usually a hardware or software (plugin) noise-reducer works by setting it to capture the noise, then playing the noise reduction over the normal mix, it can seek out the noise and remove it. most can adjust how intense they are.
What boxes do this in hardware?
A few companies sell noise gates, which work by gating the bad noise. I think API makes one. there are also companders out there that basically do the same thing the DBX does. and of course there are guitar pedals and that kindof stuff. Software is definetly much more vesitile when it comes to this stuff though.

About the other post on waves X-noise. try to set the resolution to 'high' and dont do so much reduction. a little goes a long way.
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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Mr. Dipity » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:17 pm

Zeppelin4Life wrote:
A few companies sell noise gates, which work by gating the bad noise. I think API makes one. there are also companders out there that basically do the same thing the DBX does. and of course there are guitar pedals and that kindof stuff. Software is definetly much more vesitile when it comes to this stuff though.
I'm looking for signature based noise reduction, in hardware form. Dynamic gating/expansion is just that - gating.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by snatchman » Mon Feb 07, 2005 4:56 pm

Hey (here we go)! Uhummm. Behringer.. :twisted: ..makes a noise reduction unit called the SNR 2000 that's single-ended and does a pretty decent job. I've used it with good results. :ar15: .. okay, okay ! I'm off and running now! But seriously it's ok (IHMO)
Last edited by snatchman on Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Zeppelin4Life » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:01 pm

snatchman wrote:Hey (here we go)! Uhummm. Behringer.. :twisted: ..makes a noise reduction unit called the SNR 2000 that's single-ended and does a pretty decent job. I've used it with good results. :ar15: .. okay, I'm off and running now! But seriously it's ok (IHMO)
yeah this is actually one..check it out...even thought its behringer
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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by andyg666 » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:04 pm

cool edit pro (audition) is better than the waves stuff in my experience. though x-noise is the best part of the waves NR bundle. it's all in how you set it up and use it. make sure to find a good sample of your noise (just noise, no ANYTHING else) and make sure the FFT size is 8192. get a sample of the noise and move the noise reduction level slider to somewhere in between 30 and 50 percent until you notice the noise coming out, but things don't start to sound weird. you can click the "keep only noise" button to make sure you're not killing anything you want to keep... run multiple passes and try to shave maybe like 3dB of noise off at a time. be subtle. you'll get better results. noise reduction is never going to get out ALL the noise--it should just make something sound better than it did before...

wanna have some fun? make a square wave and use that as your noise profile and then run it over a track with some drastic settings... fun...

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Mark Alan Miller » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:10 pm

Mr. Dipity wrote: What boxes do this in hardware?
http://www.cedar-audio.com/ Not exactly budget stuff...
he took a duck in the face at two and hundred fifty knots.

http://www.radio-valkyrie.com/ao/aoindex.htm - download the new record (free is an option!) or get it on CD.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by Mr. Dipity » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:13 pm

snatchman wrote:Hey (here we go)! Uhummm. Behringer.. :twisted: ..makes a noise reduction unit called the SNR 2000 that's single-ended and does a pretty decent job. I've used it with good results. :ar15: .. okay, okay ! I'm off and running now! But seriously it's ok (IHMO)
But it's not signature based - it's a gate keyed filter.

And it's discontinued.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by andyg666 » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:16 pm

we use the cedar system at the studio i work at. in my opinion, for the money (low 5 figures i think) , it's not worth it unless you're doing reel-to-reel or vinyl transfers. the click removal is awesome, the decrackler is OK, the hiss reduction is pretty decent--but nothing beats noise-print NR in my book.

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Re: Noise Reduction that doesn't kill the high end

Post by bigtoe » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:04 am

i remember no-noise...sonic solutions...

*strokes grey beard*

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