Why won't Audacity work on my recording?

[Niku]

Well, I have dozens of different formats and sizes of this recording, corrected and uncorrected, in my computer. Here's one I just found that is 48.4 MB. I haven't used DropBox in years, but here's a clip--I hope--that is only a few dozen seconds long.https://www.dropbox.com/s/x0h2qq2o44c8w ... 1.wav?dl=0

[Gale Andrews]

I am not an audio engineer so someone else can help you if they want to. However you want the full gamut of removal - clicks, general steady noise and other disturbances and distortions.

Your sample does not contain "noise only" that you can use as a Noise Profile, so you can't do Noise Reduction with that sample.

You could buy the CD instead if you want an easier life.


Gale

[Niku]

Maybe I don't understand your last sentence, but it sounds like you're you're saying that the clip I sent was too short. That's ironic because I wanted to send a longer clip from the beginning but was finally forced to cut it down as I did. Now that I have finally grudgingly complied with your demands, you say that it's too short. Well, so be it, I guess I'm on my own from here on. It doesn't seem to be worthwhile to ask for help from Audacity judging from the "help" I've received so far.

[steve]

It doesn't seem to be worthwhile to ask for help from Audacity judging from the "help" I've received so far.

That does not encourage me to spend time trying. Nevertheless, I'll explain what one of the problems is with that recording. The sample rate is very low. http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Sample_Rates

It has a sample rate of 8 kHz (8000 Hz), which limits the frequency range to 4000 Hz, which is about the same as "telephone quality". Consequently the sound is muffled (no high frequencies). Because frequencies above 4000 Hz are missing (totally absent), any attempt (with any software) to make the recording sound clear and bright will fail. You can't improve sound that is not there.

Early on in this forum topic you began by said "I am using Audacity because the sound quality of my recording is not good, and I want to improve it", but unfortunately it seems that the problem lies with the very beginning of this story, with how you made that original recording. By default, Audacity records at 44.1 kHz, which is sufficient to capture the full audio range. The samples that you have posted have less than 1/4 of that audio data, which is too little to data be able to make any significant improvement.

Where we need to start is with how you made the initial recording. Was it made on your mobile phone?

[kozikowski]

It's not the clip is too short. The clip does not have a silent portion. Noise reduction needs a selection of pure noise to "sniff" so it knows what to remove.

Clip lengths must be restricted. There are thousands of posters and nobody is paying a dime for the service.

Anyone wanting to post a larger clip can do it on a file posting service such as DropBox.

Koz

[Niku]

My first problem is not with the low fidelity, it's the clicks, pops, scratches, and other noises. I was trying to see what Audacity and another company could do about them. So far I've learned that, apparently, Audacity can't even hear the clicks that, to me, are so bothersome. Well, I still haven't finished with the other company's program, but that's because there is still one patch that is unclear to me. It's much easier to use than Audacity, but nothing is perfect, least of all, my technical ability.

In addition to trying to remove the most irritating sounds with software, I am also going to try to improve the recording by rehabilitating the LP it came from. I'm not going to buy one of those expensive machines, but I have already received a new needle for my turntable, and the materials necessary for the thorough cleaning and rehabilitation of the disc are on the way. I had hoped that with a better record and needle Audacity could top things off to make a respectable recording. Now I see that I can't count on Audacity. Live and learn.

[Niku]

It's not the clip is too short. The clip does not have a silent portion. Noise reduction needs a selection of pure noise to "sniff" so it knows what to remove.

Clip lengths must be restricted. There are thousands of posters and nobody is paying a dime for the service.

Anyone wanting to post a larger clip can do it on a file posting service such as DropBox.

Koz

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So that's it. Well, I just tried to send you some 'silence," It was a tiny little clip, but it was 48.4 MB. It seems ridiculous to have to send it through DropBox, but I guess that's what I'll have to do. Well, all of this helps me in the long run, and learning how to use DropBox is just part of the picture. I've used it before, but I tend to forget the details after a year or so. less, actually, much less.

[Niku]

I couldn't send the "silence." DropBox keeps telling me that the E-mail address is wrong even though I sent something here a few days ago: "When sorrows come, they come not as single spies but in battalions."

[Niku]

I just sent the file from DropBox to myself as a test. I received it with no problems. Maybe I am using the wrong E-mail address for this site. Which address should I be using?

[Gale Andrews]

You still have not said why the files you send are only 8000 Hz. If you have a proper recording at 44100 Hz, send that.

You can fix the clicks to at least some extent (a plugin click remover might be better) and you can reduce the steady noise *if* your recording Includes the lead-in or band between tracks that is only the noise from the record. Otherwise you cannot.

You will not be able to completely remove the other noises without to some extent impairing the rest of the audio.

If the help you want is someone to clean the whole recording up for you for free, well I am not going to do that for you, nor I suspect anyone else. We are being as blunt with you as you are with us.

Cleaning the record and making another recording at 44100 Hz will help a great deal.


Gale