My computer fan makes a lot of noise which is very easily removed from a recording using Audacity. I would like to remove the noise live while I use my microphone to talk using other programs (e.g. Skype or an online game). Is that possible?
Someone said they achieved this using Adobe Audition and Virtual Audio Cable but the video describing the set up has been removed from YouTube (it was posted a long time ago).
Audacity is a post-production editor and does almost nothing in real time.
Koz
Many computers have real-time noise-suppression as soundcard “enhancement”.
For people recording music with Audacity we recommend such enhancements are turned off , but in your case if your sound-card has noise-reduction turn it on.
NB: the noise-suppression in the sound-card is compeletely seperate from noise-reduction in Audacity.
You don’t need Audacity to use it.
What about recording the sound, making it into the antithesis and then playing that constantly through the mic so it cancels the fan sound?
[My mic uses USB and doesn’t have the enhancements such as noise cancellation]
Unfortunately doing that would not cancel-out the sound.
Even if the unwanted noise was a constant tone of constant volume , (rather than unpredictable random noise) , the phase would have to match for destructive interference.
Red line is the result : it only goes flat , (i.e. silence) , when when red and green are anti-phase.
Turbulence in the moving air means the sound will always have a random quality and won’t cancel even if you do manage to get it close. Try it. Record some fan noise and open it below a voice recording you already made (again, Audacity doesn’t do anything live).
Select the whole track by clicking just above MUTE.
Effect > Invert.
Now use the volume slider on the left of the track and the Time Shift Tool (two sideways black arrows) to push the track around. See if you can get it to cancel.
Do Not move the microphone or anything in the room during this experiment. Any movement will affect the acoustic signature and kill the cancellation.
Koz
I know this super old thread but i have tested this theory quite extensively… Conclusion is multiple things ppl here have stated… Issue 1. Alot of setup needed with multiple mics and speakers to replay inverted sound, Issue 2. Latency of receiving audio in mic and then outputting inverted waveform via speakers . 3. noise is not the same in each point in 3d space, so your head needs to be same coordinate every time or else setup all needs re-configured… The time, work, money, and testing quickly runs into deminished returns with subpar results… basicly HELLA not worth it!! LOL!!
It would probably be worth using Skype or Zoom to record the performance for you and present you with the finished sound files later. I understand Zoom can supply you with individual sound files for each performer.
Zoom also has some pretty serious sound processing built-in. They have to be able to host a multi-party conference or meeting without the background noise of each person adding up.
Koz
Yea that is a good point, with many ppl the noise can quickly add up, Nvidia broadcast addon driver currently being out in beta does a good job suppressing noise with algorithms… the inverted waveform probably could be made a good argument for in a professional zoom scenario if it is polished enough…