Noise Removal

[guitarist1993]

I'm trying to remove background/ excess noise from a track. I went to "effects" and hit "noise removal". I'm somewhat lost now. Any advice or tips you guys can give would be great. Thanks in advance.

[kozikowski]

Yes. Stop using Audacity 1.2. The noise removal tools in Audacity 1.3 will wipe the floor with 1.2.

The tools work in two steps. Noise Profile where you pick a portion of the show with noise only. No performance at all. [OK].

Then launch the tool again and select a portion of the actual performance and apply the tool. Smoothing produces gargling too low and noise tails when too high. Amount Of Reduction produces nothing if too low and mechanical robot voice if too high. Juggle.

I've never used the delay setting. Smoothing 100, reduction 10dB and work up until you get a pleasing result. You will go back and forth multiple times, so do it first on a sample rather than an hour long show (unless you want your retirement party to be at your house).

You can have Audacity 1.2 and 1.3 on your machine as long as you use only one at a time. Audacity 1.3 Projects will not open up in 1.2


Now that I got your hopes up, what kind of noise are you trying to remove? Specifically.

Koz

[guitarist1993]

Feedback, static, and excess distortion. I'm recording a direct emulation from a guitar amp, and all the recordings I do are WAY too fizzly. Even with the gain on the amp at 0.

[kozikowski]

Maybe Not. Noise Removal is for constant background noises that continue without change over the course of the show. Air Conditioner rumble. Fan noise. Bad microphone hum or buzz.

For you we need to fix a bad capture.

How are you connected? You're playing an instrument into an amplifier and you have that amp jacked into your PC, right?

Describe the PC and tell us exactly the connection between that and the amplifier. Deskside? Laptop? Windows XP? You can't tell us too much. Read the labels on the connections you're using.

Koz

[guitarist1993]

Maybe Not. Noise Removal is for constant background noises that continue without change over the course of the show. Air Conditioner rumble. Fan noise. Bad microphone hum or buzz.

For you we need to fix a bad capture.

How are you connected? You're playing an instrument into an amplifier and you have that amp jacked into your PC, right?

Describe the PC and tell us exactly the connection between that and the amplifier. Deskside? Laptop? Windows XP? You can't tell us too much. Read the labels on the connections you're using.

Koz

The amp is across the room from the laptop. It's a Dell Inspiron E1505. I'm using an Alesis USB-to-1/4 inch cable. Running Windows XP.

[kozikowski]

Getting there.

http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Connect ... LINK.xhtml

That was designed to go directly into your guitar. Does that work? Turn the amp off and plug this thing directly into the guitar.

Go into Audacity Preferences and make sure the sound settings match the GuitarLink. 44100, 16-bit.

Edit > Preferences > Quality

It doesn't say Stereo, but you should start there.

Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O > Stereo (2). Restart Audacity if you change one of these settings. Audacity comes from the factory in 32-bit, not 16.

Further, try a different USB connection on the PC. Restart everything if you need to do that.

Koz

[guitarist1993]

Getting there.

http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Connect ... LINK.xhtml

That was designed to go directly into your guitar. Does that work? Turn the amp off and plug this thing directly into the guitar.

Go into Audacity Preferences and make sure the sound settings match the GuitarLink. 44100, 16-bit.

Edit > Preferences > Quality

It doesn't say Stereo, but you should start there.

Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O > Stereo (2). Restart Audacity if you change one of these settings. Audacity comes from the factory in 32-bit, not 16.

Further, try a different USB connection on the PC. Restart everything if you need to do that.

Koz

That's what I'm using. I just bypassed the amp, and that was where the noise was coming from. It sounds great now.