Thanks @Trebor
I have done two runs, one with the spectral multi edit tool and one with the hum remover. It seems to me that the hum remover eliminates more of the spectrum than the (judiciously applied) spectral multi edit tool.
Multi edit tool (full 21 minutes):
Hum remover: (first eight minutes):
Listening to the two samples, the spectral edited one sounds fuller to me. It is true however that the hum remover leaves more of the the music intact when the volume is higher. Now if the filter bandwidth of the Hum Remover were adjustable, we might have the ideal tool. The Hum Remover is so easy to use that one could simply try different bandwidths to achieve the optimum degree of hum removal that just does away with the intrusive noise without damaging the music unnecessarily. Not all hums are created equal.
I have been doing quite a bit of tinkering with hum remover and spectral multi edit tool yesterday on these two recordings:
Dorati / Minneapolis, Stravinsky, Sacre du Printemps (bad 60Hz Hum, astonishing for a Mercury Living Presence recording)
Michael Studer, Gaspard de la Nuit (on Legacy Box) (Claves used a vinyl rip for the Legacy Box. The rip has a bad 50Hz hum)
My conclusions (and wishlist for Hum Remover) are as follows:
- The width of the hum bands is not the same for each recording. It would be good to make the width of the filter adjustable
- The center frequency of the fundamental (50Hz or 60Hz) is not always exactly at the round number. The hum on the Dorati is centered around almost 61Hz. I would be good to have a tool to exactly determine the center frequency and adjust the filter accordingly
- In both cases I noticed subharmonics at 12.5 / 25 and 15/30Hz. The lowest does not need to be filtered, but it would be nice to be able to eliminate the 25 or 30Hz
Big thanks to @steve for the wonderful Hum Remover!