Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

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pdun459
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Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by pdun459 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:23 am

Lately I've started noticing when I run Noise Removal it seems to corrupt part of the track. The first picture shows the beginning of a track before Noise Removal, the second one shows it after. The third picture shows my NR settings. For the Noise Profile, I'm using one second of generated white noise at .001 amplitude.

I'm editing the Beatles' White Album and some of the quieter tracks have background hiss that I'm trying to remove. Almost every track on that album blends with the previous one without any silence. When I apply Noise Removal, it creates a click where the tracks switch. It switches seamlessly if I don't apply NR. So I'm left with a dilemma, leave the hiss or put up with a click between every track. I was hoping someone might know why NR is doing that so I can fix it, the third and best option. :)
Attachments
1.jpg
Before NR
1.jpg (34.75 KiB) Viewed 865 times
2.jpg
After NR
2.jpg (38.15 KiB) Viewed 865 times
3.jpg
Settings
3.jpg (74.79 KiB) Viewed 865 times

steve
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by steve » Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:32 am

Virtually all types of "filter" have some delay before they get going properly, and the Noise Removal effect is no different. As you can see in the second image, this produces a very brief "fade in" type effect during the first 1 ms or so of the selection. As long as the track starts at zero amplitude (which is often the case, then there would normally be no "click" caused by this. The problem that you are probably experiencing is that the track splits do not occur at places where the amplitude is zero, so when you process the tracks (individually), there is a resulting mismatch between the end of one track and the start of the next.

What you could perhaps do is to import all tracks from one side of the album and position them end-to-end on the same Audacity track (use the Time Shift tool). Then select the entire Audacity track and apply Noise Removal to that.
The track may be re-split into separate tracks by using "Export Multiple" as described here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/sp ... racks.html

Tip:
The quickest way to add a label to an audio clip (you will have separate audio clips in one audio track - one clip for each song), is to double click on the audio clip (selects the audio clip), then press Ctrl+B You can also add text to the label if you wish, which can then be used as the track names when you Export Multiple (Press "Enter" to close the label).
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waxcylinder
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by waxcylinder » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:08 am

steve wrote:What you could perhaps do is to import all tracks from one side of the album and position them end-to-end on the same Audacity track (use the Time Shift tool).
Rather than doing that you may want to uses a (free) tool like CDex to rip the CD - it has a setting whereby you can rip the whole CD as one track i.e. one .WAV file. Then just import that .WAV file into Audacity for editing.

As far as I know EAC (Exact Audio Copy - also free) can be set to do this too.

WC
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pdun459
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by pdun459 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:23 pm

Both excellent ideas. It works great when you join the tracks, remove the noise, then split them up again. One of those rippers also sounds like something I might give a try.

I'm really glad to get this issue resolved, thanks a million to you both. :)

pdun459
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by pdun459 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:57 pm

Okay, so I've aligned them into one track. Is there any automatic way to add labels at the black markers or does it have to be done manually? Thanks.
1.jpg
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steve
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by steve » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:04 pm

Double click on the track at about 1:30
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 3:30
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 5:00
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 8:00
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 10:00
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 12:00
Ctrl+B
Enter
Double click on the track at about 16:00
Ctrl+B
Enter
...

It should be quicker to do than for me to type ;)
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pdun459
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by pdun459 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:45 pm

I got it. I think I made every mistake possible but next time it'll be a lot easier. :D

The end result is really good so it was worth it. I've been wanting to learn how to do that for awhile now. Thanks again for the instructions.

steve
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by steve » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:35 pm

You're welcome.

I guess what you really need, to make the job really easy, are two feature:
1) Import clips end-to-end in the same track (a popular request in one form or another).
2) A command to "Label Clips".
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

pdun459
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by pdun459 » Fri Jun 27, 2014 1:45 am

Yeah that would make it a lot easier. Hopefully I won't have to do it on a whole album again. I got broken in on album that just happened to have 30 tracks. :D

steve
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Re: Need help with Noise Removal, it's corrupting the track

Post by steve » Fri Jun 27, 2014 10:00 am

We have a feature request on the wiki for:
Import Appended: (39 votes) Import multiple files end-to-end in a single track. Would allow re-assembly/re-processing of LP/tape recordings for which no Audacity project exists. Also allows to import multiple tracks for CD assembly

Possible Enhancements:
  • with labels containing their filenames
I've added your votes for these features, and added a comment:
If not labeled, it will be important for many use cases that the imported files remain as separate audio clips.
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

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