SoundForge 6.0's noise reduction software

[Hardbopjazz]

Has anyone ever used this software? Does it really remove unwanted noise, such as hissing sounds or popping from old LP's?

[Claude]

I have some experience with high quality noise removal software.

For vinyl popping noise it is very good, but for constant groove noise and tape hiss removal the usage is very limited, as far as music recordings are concerned. Removing hiss effectively changes the music too much, treble sounds unnatural.

I usually remove loud pops manually, be cutting it out of the soundwave (zooming in the relevant proportion) and keep the rest of the noise, in order to preserve the quality of the sound.

Edited August 4, 2004 by Claude

[Dan Gould]

I'm with Claude; it can take a while, but you'd be surprised how large a chunk of sound can come out of a wav file without noticing it. Clean clicks might be .002 seconds, and that you'll never notice. But a good old pop can be pretty big, and I've deleted (or muted) pops around .03 seconds and never noticed it afterwards.

Its almost as if your ears fill in the missing sound.

The only drawback of course is the time involved, if there are a ridiculous amount of clicks, you'll get fed up pretty easily. But if its only a few per track or side, its very much worth it to do it manually.

[couw]

I only do filtering of surface noise when it's really bad. Analysing a silent portion and making a filter based on that, only filtering out about 25% though, as it indeed does affect the sound of the instruments as well. Taking out only a little tends to sharpen the picture a bit, take out too much and it's compression land. It all depends on the recording and the noise in the end. You will never make a noisy LP sound stellar.

Pops and clicks I remove by using a very conservative filter first that only gets rid of the tiny little clicks. The bigger ones I take out by hand. This can take ages.

[Shawn]

I've been using Soundforge for years and in my opinion, it's one of the best audio products on the market. But. I agree with the others that I don't recommend using automated noise reduction...because of all the information that gets removed along with the noise.

Doing it manually is the best method for pops and scratches. Soundforge recently increased their zoom ratio so it's now even a more precise operation when "drawing out" sounds. That is the method I use instead of muting, use the pencil tool to "re-draw" the scratch to approximate the original wave form. It's not an exact science, but with a little practice it returns results that are even more invisible than muting the sound.

For some music, running noise reduction might not be as noticeable...but with the ambience of jazz it's a killer. (just listen to any reissues that use CEDAR).

[Shawn]

The bigger ones I take out by hand. This can take ages.

Ain't THAT the truth!!!! I spent about 4 months cleaning up a mono pressing of Duke Pearson's Wahoo....but it was worth the effort in the long run. No more damaged tape noise in Joe Henderson's Amanda solo! Yeah!

[couw]

The bigger ones I take out by hand. This can take ages.

Ain't THAT the truth!!!! I spent about 4 months cleaning up a mono pressing of Duke Pearson's Wahoo....but it was worth the effort in the long run. No more damaged tape noise in Joe Henderson's Amanda solo! Yeah!

ah mono! mono is good for making stereo recordings and hoping the noise is only on one channel so you can copy the other channel over that. Takes more than just ages of course. It verges on eternity...

[Dan Gould]

Doing it manually is the best method for pops and scratches. Soundforge recently increased their zoom ratio so it's now even a more precise operation when "drawing out" sounds. That is the method I use instead of muting, use the pencil tool to "re-draw" the scratch to approximate the original wave form. It's not an exact science, but with a little practice it returns results that are even more invisible than muting the sound.

Is this really worth it for a pop that lasts a thousandth of a second?

[Shawn]

Is this really worth it for a pop that lasts a thousandth of a second?

Well...it is to me. But then again, I'm a little "off" as they say.

[wolff]

I spent about 4 months cleaning up a mono pressing of Duke Pearson's Wahoo....but it was worth the effort in the long run.  No more damaged tape noise in Joe Henderson's Amanda solo!  Yeah!

Is your copy an original? Are you sure the flaw came from damaged tape? I've heard occasional bad distortion/break-up caused by poor mastering on originals. AFAIK that LP was mastered from the stereo tapes(no mono tape was made). I'd love to hear a burn of your noise reduced copy. PM me if it's a possibility. Thanks

[Shawn]

All of the CD versions of Wahoo that I've heard (US & TOCJ) have tape deliniation noise during Joe Henderson's solo on Amanda. The LP was mastered prior to the tape being damaged so it's not on there.