Scratchy sounds

Help for Audacity on Windows.
Forum rules
ImageThis forum is for Audacity on Windows.
Please state which version of Windows you are using,
and the exact three-section version number of Audacity from "Help menu > About Audacity".


Audacity 1.2.x and 1.3.x are obsolete and no longer supported. If you still have those versions, please upgrade at https://www.audacityteam.org/download/.
The old forums for those versions are now closed, but you can still read the archives of the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums.
cyrano
Posts: 2629
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:54 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Scratchy sounds

Post by cyrano » Tue May 17, 2016 11:13 pm

Odd.

I've listened to your sample. It sounds a bit thin, no bass, but I can't hear any scratching.

A longshot: could there be too much high content in this recording for your cochlear implant's DSP?

Trebor
Posts: 9954
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:22 pm
Operating System: Windows 8 or 8.1

Re: Scratchy sounds

Post by Trebor » Wed May 18, 2016 5:06 am

Jack101 wrote:When I record jazz from the radio I get a scratchy sound which is like one of 2 stereo channels but much lower volume and definitely "scratchy".
Jack101 wrote:I have selectrd a section which I think contains the scratchy sounds, altho' i'n not entirely sure I have followed all the instructions correctly.
Attachments jrr1.wav (218.44 KiB)
I can't hear any defects on that file either, (although "jrr1" is a mono track , you said the problem was on stereo).
If the scratchy sounds you hear don't reoccur in exactly the same place in the music, then I think the problem is the computer, (randomly glitching), rather than your built-in hardware.
You could try playing the audio-files on another device , rather than the computer, that would help determine if the scratchy problem is specific to the computer.

themickster
Posts: 308
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:50 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Scratchy sounds

Post by themickster » Wed May 18, 2016 7:07 pm

The sample sounds good to me. The trumpets stand out strongly, so I reckon they overload your implant. Recording from the radio brings out the frequencies that happen to match the implant's most sensitive ones. Am I right in guessing that it's tuned to pick up speech better than anything else? Our consonants give out higher freqs than vowels.

I'd try changing the tone settings until the distorted freqs are cleaned up. Another fix could be using a speaker simulator, preferably an Impulse Response loader. Distorted guitar sounds scratchy when recorded without going through a speaker. Simulators cut the scratchiness out.

Post Reply