Audacity Forum

Hi,
Up 'til now I've been using a Threshold of 100 and a Max Spike of 40 and it's removed the vast majourity, most times all, picks. On this vinyl however there are many, many, small picks and it doesn't seem to do much to them. I've tried several Threshold/MaxSpike combos, but no joy. Is there some other way I can do this, without spending the rest of my life on this cut?
Thanks,
John

Thanks Steve,
Don't think I want to 'pay' for a program though.
... john

You might install Audacity 1.3.x. You can have both on your machine at the same time and many of the tools in 1.3.x were changed and upgraded. Don't run both versions at the same time.

Also, if you're transferring vinyl, there's a lot to be said for soap and water to help quiet down a noisy record. Final rinse in distilled water and dry with a soft, clean cotton cloth.

Koz

Emphasis on rinsing with distilled water - tap water is bad for both record and stylus.

O.K. I'll soap her up and try it again. The majour clicks are probably due to the trench like lines, that I had to fill with a backhoe . They are probably removed by Audacity. Maybe a bath will get rid of some of the smaller clicks.
One other question -
I usually apply only 2 or 3 effects:
- noise removal
- click removal
- bass boost (sometimes)
Should these be done in any particular order?
......john

shinnen wrote:Should these (effects) be done in any particular order?

In most cases you will find there is not much difference, although with some effects there is a correct order.
If you wist to do any noise removal, do so before using any kind of compression effect.
Do noise and click removal before using reverb or any other delay effect.
Use bass boost before using normalise.

You can probably work out the logic of these three examples - compression may alter the loudness of the background noise, making noise removal less effective - Reverb and delay effects will "multiply" clicks, making them harder to remove - If you try boosting frequencies on a signal that has been normalised to 0 dB, you will probably get distortion.

BTW, noise reduction in 1.2.6 is quite different from noise reduction in 1.3.4. In most cases I find the 1.2.6 version more effective in reducing noise, but the 1.3.4 version causes smaller losses to the music signal , so it's worth trying both.

Thanks Steve,
By the by. I can't open projects saved in 1.26 in 1.33, and vice-versa. Can this be overcome?
........ john

john

projects created in 1.2.x should be openable in 1.3.x (audacity will warn you, but normally the project will open ok).

BUT once a project has been opened or created in 1.3.x it can NEVER be re-opened in 1.2.x

I.e. the programmers have carefully given you forwards compatibility, but not backwards compatibility - probably down to changes in data structures.

WC

Thanks WC,
That's probably what I noticed, that 1.26's would not open 1.33's. (I may have assumed that the reverse was true.) Thanks for the confirmation.
By the way. I found that using "Amplify" with a negative setting will remove stubborn clicks, and it can be used over and over on the same click. The only down side I've noticed is a barely audible dead spot.
Still looking for a 'good' free click remover, for vinyls.
....... john