intermittent background noise

[kozikowski]

surname sounds Polish

I can trace both sides back to towns in Poland. It means "herder of goats." No crowns in my family tree.

Yes, this one is the most up to date.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 64&t=96103

There's a copy in the tutorials.

Koz

[Quantum]

thanks, that's helpful.
will go through it and learn some audio engineering

[kozikowski]

learn some audio engineering

There isn't a lot. I had to get techie when I listed the numbers you have to type into the blank boxes when you run the tools.

And given you record in a nice, quiet room, there are only three tools. Rumble filter, general volume and overload safety. I wrote a mostly English explanation of what they are.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 23#p297423

Further, the values stick, so you only have to type them once.

I'm not the only one. There was a poster recently using different spells, and they managed to pass submission after minor adjustments.

Koz

[Quantum]

thanks will check it out.

I'm not the only one. There was a poster recently using different spells, and they managed to pass submission after minor adjustments.

sorry you've lost me here. What spells? what are you referring to?

BTW it looks like this thread has been popular

[kozikowski]

Harry Potter reference.

I designed a suite of tools using three main "spells" or tools to get the work done. There is another suite that starts the dance with noise reduction and uses different tools as it goes. Your mileage may vary, etc.

The only restriction I know of is you must stick with one suite through a publication. ACX hates it when you change your sound chapter to chapter, even if all of them pass.

Koz

[Quantum]

Ok, there is more.
I mentiond earlier the "clicks" appearing pretty much in my every Audacity production.

There are small clicks - which sound like a click of the mouse (which is not clicking at that time), and then there are the big ones which sound like metronome.

I know you asked me to upload a sample file here for testing - but I'd like to ask first - what do you think those clicks are? they are definitely coming from Audacity. Whatis the possible cause? How can I avoid them?

I tried the Remove Click function in Audacity (which means that it is a KNOWN audio error) - could not remove them without severe audio damage. if they appear in between the words I can easily remove them. But they are mostly under the voice which takes a lot of my post-production time as I have to re-record those sections, and so it becomes really frustrating.

I have copied few examples of those big clicks in a file which I can upload here later on - but once again, in theory - how and why do those clicks appear?

thanks
Anna

[kozikowski]

The most normal cause of clicks is the needle hitting a cat hair on the record.

I don't know of a "standard" cause of clicks past that. It's not listed in the Manual of Standard Abhorrent Noises (ASAN).

What's the frequency of occurrence (that you can tell)? Can you tell there is one in the performance by listening during the recording?

I occasionally get a snap like shuffling across the rug on a cold night and touching the metal lamp. It's not bashful. I have no idea at all what causes it, but I suspect if I was recording something critical, I'd be doing it over.

You're stuck. Post your samples. They should be in WAV and not to exceed 20 seconds or the forum will bounce you. Actually, it's a bit longer than 20, but I don't remember what the actual number is. It's a file size number, 2MB.

This test needs to be in perfect quality WAV because we're going to analyze the shape of the sound and rip it apart with analysis tools. Different parts of the sound system can have different shapes. I suspect we can design a way for you to suppress them manually without affecting the voice quality. Getting rid of them forever could be very interesting...


If you gaze over the last pile of chapters and take careful notes, you'll see most if not all of these problems would vanish if you stopped using the computer to record.

Koz

[Quantum]

sample of clicks.wav

a one sec file with 3 audible clicks during silence

(248.11 KiB) Downloaded 21 times

The little tiny clicks that are sporadic and can't be attributed to anything I know are really annoying.

If the voice is over music - they are not audible. But when the voice is on its own - they can be heard.

I have attached a sample.

My question is - is this an issue with (1) Audacity or (2) Blue Yeti Pro mic.

I'm sorry but I don't share your view that audio recording to computer will ALWAYS cause issues. I don't believe that's true - it does depend on the quality of the recording program, the mic and of course the sound card in the computer.

I would appreciate if you could identify their source. Thanks.

[kozikowski]

OK, one and a half seconds is a little rough to deal with. In stereo you can post up to ten seconds. Some of those seconds should be your normal recording volume.

"Testing, One, Two Three." [ticks for seven seconds].

Koz

[kozikowski]

I'm sorry but I don't share your view that audio recording to computer will ALWAYS cause issues. I don't believe that's true - it does depend on the quality of the recording program, the mic and of course the sound card in the computer.

And the speed of the computer absolute and compared with the drive speed and its contents. Oh, and don't put your production drive In The Cloud or at the end of a network or USB cable.

Be sure to check that the computer isn't applying corrections, cancellations, effects or processes on either recording or playback to "help you." Doesn't have to be Windows. Even Macs can do this.

Are you using any other audio programs on your machine? Doesn't have to be much. Games will do it. You lose on Sports Call®. Audacity doesn't Play Well With Others.

How about Skype or other chat programs? Do you leave them running in the background? Don't.

I can do this for another page.


This is me setting up my stand-alone Zoom H4 recorder in my quiet bedroom. Press Record. Present. Press Stop.

Koz