Clicking Noise

[kmarler]

Hi ya'll,

I keep getting a click noise in my audio. I've attached a clip.

You can hear it in the 'p' of the very first word I say, "competitive". You can also hear it at the end of the word, "everyone" 2 seconds in and when I say the word, "real" at 6 seconds ... hopefully you can hear it.

Any tips on how to get rid of it ?

It's strange because at first I thought it was a mouth click as those are so common while speaking, but I'm starting to think it's a different issue b/c I can't hear it while I'm recording and I'm getting better at being very aware of that sort of thing and it pops up in unexpected places where my mouth wouldn't really be prone to clicking (ie - the 'p' in competitive).

I've watched some Youtube vids about using the filter curve to lower the frequency levels at 5Khz and above but it doesn't seem to work.

I'm doing the whole 'shaka shake' away from the mic, and I've got the low rolloff filter curve, RMS Normalization, limiter and noise gate on.

Thoughts ?

Thanks folks,
Kyle

[steve]

You've go a bit of "clipping" in that recording. Some part of the audio equipment prior to Audacity is slightly overloading. You need to reduce the signal level going into whatever part of your set-up is clipping.


It "may" be possible to fix this bit with the Clip Fix effect (https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/clip_fix.html) but the best solution is to turn down the level in the appropriate place to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place (prevention is better than cure).

Unfortunately I can't suggest where the "appropriate place" to turn down the level is, because I've no idea what your setup is.

[kmarler]

Thanks Steve.

I'm still fairly new to audio engineering stuff so forgive my ignorance with my follow up thoughts ...

Your suggestion that the audio is clipping doesn't make sense to me because when I look at the wave form in Audacity it isn't peaking above the 0.0db mark (see screenshot).

Since it's not going above the 0.0db mark in Audacity but there is still a 'clipping' type of sound is that why you're suggesting it must be clipping somewhere before Audacity in the chain ?

I guess I didn't realize you could clip if it was showing below 0.0 db in Audacity if I'm understanding you correctly.

I suppose my fear is that if I lower the gain on my pre-amp so it doesn't clip it will make my recording even quieter so when I go to normalize it it will also increase background hiss and noise.

Thanks again !

[steve]

is that why you're suggesting it must be clipping somewhere before Audacity in the chain ?

Yes, it seems to be clipping before it gets to Audacity.
Notice the flat top to the waveform in the highlighted section:

First Track000.png (11.25 KiB) Viewed 75 times

If you tell us about your equipment setup, we may be able to offer some advice. Include make / model numbers as appropriate.

[kmarler]

Notice the flat top to the waveform in the highlighted section:

First Track000.png (11.25 KiB) Viewed 71 times

The section you highlighted with the flat top isn't where I'm hearing the click noise. It's the section at the end of that phrase.

I've included a screenshot and highlighted where I hear the click noise.

Screen Shot 2020-06-02 at 4.29.14 PM.png (13.22 KiB) Viewed 71 times

The click is in a part of the recording that's actually much quieter than the peak db of that phrase which makes me confused at how it could be clipping.

If you tell us about your equipment setup, we may be able to offer some advice. Include make / model numbers as appropriate.

I'm using a Boss VE-8 Pre-Amp and an AKG C214 Condenser Mic.

[billw58]

The click is in a part of the recording that's actually much quieter than the peak db of that phrase which makes me confused at how it could be clipping.

Wow, if you hadn't pointed that out I never would have heard it. I've listened to that bit between 8.6 - 8.8 seconds and if I turn it up I can hear something. I think it's you. A "glottal stop" or something.

-- Bill

[kmarler]

Wow, if you hadn't pointed that out I never would have heard it. I've listened to that bit between 8.6 - 8.8 seconds and if I turn it up I can hear something. I think it's you. A "glottal stop" or something.

-- Bill

That's actually reassuring Bill ! Lol ! Sometimes I do wonder if maybe I'm just listening to myself too much and hearing things a client wouldn't be bothered by. There's actually several of those types of clicks in that one little recording. Were you not able to really hear any of them ?

[billw58]

Were you not able to really hear any of them ?

Nope.
-- Bill