Hello everyone,
I have an mp3 of a telephone interview that was recorded with a phone. The person asking the questions can be heard very loudly, but the person providing the answers is hardly audible (volume is too low). I have tried to amplify but background noise gets amplified too. Is it perhaps possible to do something or should I forget about it?! Many many thanks!! (I’m very new to Audacity so I probably have not tried the things you might think of as obvious!)
I have tried to amplify but background noise gets amplified too. Is it perhaps possible to do something or should I forget about it?
Yes, that’s what happens and you have to live with it.
Depending on what you’re doing, sometimes it’s best to type-up a transcript (if you can understand what’s being said). It’s often less-annoying to read-along with a transcript than to be blasted with noise.
FYI - There is a noise reduction effect, but noise reduction works best when you have a low-level, constant, background noise. It works best when you don’t really need it and it can sometimes turn a good recording into a great recording. If the noise is bad, The cure can be worse than the disease.
Unless it was an app specifically designed to record both sides of a phone call (illegal in some places) what you have is a clear cellphone recording for you and data echo cancellation trash for the guest.
I did it with a special microphone and a stand-alone sound recorder or computer.
The Olympus TP-7 and TP-8 (slightly different connections for recorder and computer).
It goes in the ear you’re using to hear the call. It records you through bone conduction and ear canal reverberation and the other side by recording the actual receive sound from the phone. It works on any phone from land-line on up. It works less well in conference or hands-free modes. You’re on your own with them.
