Possible to get rid of "crackling" sound?

[WebMaximus]

Hey guys!

Will start by saying I haven't used Audacity that much and I'm far from an audio expert so please forgive me for any stupid questions or comments on my part.

Today I recorded a sound clip when flying a quadcopter using my Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone and an app called Smart Voice but listening to the clip afterwards there are some "crackling" noise heard every now and then and I'm not sure if it's caused by the wind, some other interference, a bad app or simply because the internal microphone in the smartphone isn't that great for these types or outside audio recordings.

Have been thinking about getting an external high quality microphone and found a brand called Edutige but not sure if they have a microphone that would work with my Sony Xperia Z2. I also found a microphone made by Sony called STM10 which would obviously work with my smartphone but I'm not sure if the quality is equally good as the Edutige products. Would very much appreciate any input on this!

However for now I thought I maybe could use Audacity to remove at least some of this crackling sound but I'm not sure what function would be able to help me with this or if it's even possible?

Attached is a short sample where you'll be able to hear what I'm talking about.

I'm using the zipped version of Audacity 2.0.5 on Win 7 x64 Ultimate.

Many thanks in advance!

[Trebor]

... thought I maybe could use Audacity to remove at least some of this crackling sound but I'm not sure what function would be able to help me with this or if it's even possible?

It's possible to reduce the bursts of loud crackles so they are the same amplitude as the rest of the audio ...

sample before-after Steve's pop-mute plugin.gif (17.19 KiB) Viewed 8813 times

sample before-after Steve's pop-mute plugin.mp3

(462.04 KiB) Downloaded 493 times

You need to install a plugin into Audacity called called Pop-Mute and use the settings shown below, ( after applying the "No-Infrasound" equalization).

the GUI of Steve's Pop_Mute plugin.gif (11.29 KiB) Viewed 8813 times

[WebMaximus]

Thanks for the help!

I tried following your guide but I don't have the 'No-Infrasound' curve when I use the Equalization option and when I click the link I end up looking at a screenshot showing the curve. Can I download this curve somewhere or am I supposed to recreate the curve myself by looking at the screenshot?

[Trebor]

I tried following your guide but I don't have the 'No-Infrasound' curve when I use the Equalization option and when I click the link I end up looking at a screenshot showing the curve. Can I download this curve somewhere or am I supposed to recreate the curve myself by looking at the screenshot?

The "No-Infrasound" equalization can be imported into Audacity's equalizer,
see the ".xml" attachment on this post ... http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 80#p234980

However as the "curve" only has 2 points you may be quicker just drawing it yourself in the equalizer.

That equalization removes all the frequencies below about 30Hz , these are inaudible but should be removed before using effects with amplitude-threshold settings , like Pop-Mute, Compressors, Limiters etc for them to operate consistently throughout the track.

[WebMaximus]

Thanks again and sorry for all my questions but now I got as far as to the setting window for Pop Mute and it doesn't look the same as in the screenshot above so I'm not sure how I should set the sliders to get the best result?

This is what the Pop Mute settings window looks like in my case

Audacity Pop Mute.JPG (26.54 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

[steve]

Thanks again and sorry for all my questions but now I got as far as to the setting window for Pop Mute and it doesn't look the same as in the screenshot above so I'm not sure how I should set the sliders to get the best result?

Trebor is using an older version of PopMute.
I'd recommend reading the help screen (select "View Help: Yes" then click "OK").

[WebMaximus]

Thanks, I tried this now but unfortunately my audio clip simply was too bad to correct in a good way and I've now found the culprit was the recording app I used. I've now changed to another recording app and I have no pops what so ever.

Thanks anyway for all your help!