Noise Reduction

Restore, Repair, and Renew your Audio Recordings

What's New in Version 2.0?

• Expanded! Broadband noise filter options - Silence background noise using improved techniques which preserve your sound with fewer artifacts
• Enhanced! Pop, click, and crackle removal - Restore sonic purity to your vinyl and 78 RPM recordings
• Added! Clipped peak restoration - Rescue problem tracks in your project

Why you need Noise Reduction 2.0

The new Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction 2.0 DirectX Audio Plug-In actually contains four discrete, essential plug-ins: Noise Reduction, Click and Crackle Removal, Vinyl Restoration, and new for version 2.0, Clipped Peak Restoration.

The new Clipped Peak Restoration plug-in recovers the lost signal due to clipping and reduces the harsh distortion that results. This plug-in rounds the tops of clipped peaks and applies peak limiting to the area immediately surrounding the audio clip, allowing you to salvage that once-in-a-lifetime recording.

The Noise Reduction plug-in is designed to analyze and remove background noise such as tape hiss, electrical hum, and machinery rumble. Unlike a normal filter, Noise Reduction 2.0 can do so without removing part of the source material. New for 2.0: Three new advanced Noise Reduction algorithms help you greatly minimize the unnatural artifacts that can occur from heavy denoising. The resulting audio is cleaner and sounds more natural, without sounding processed or electronic. This allows you to remove more noise in many more circumstances.

The Click and Crackle Removal plug-in detects clicks and pops often found in older recordings or as the result of bad splice editing and automatically replaces them to minimize their audibility. New for 2.0: A completely redesigned process offers enhanced isolation and removal of crackle noise, those clicks and pops that occur in rapid succession. It performs as good or better than hardware systems costing thousands of dollars.

The Vinyl Restoration plug-in is designed to remove both the pops and clicks generated by dirt and scratches in the surface of a record and the broadband surface noise from the old recording in a single operation.

Applications

Each discrete Noise Reduction 2.0 plug-in offers default presets for applying noise reduction for general conditions while providing full control over filter parameters for optimized performance in your own individual applications. These parameter settings can then be saved as custom presets and applied again when needed.

General guidelines for applying the individual Noise Reduction 2.0 plug-ins are as follows:

Noise Reduction (Broadband)

• Capture a Noise Print by sampling a small interval of silence in source material.
• Select the appropriate preset or create your own based on individual applications. Experiment with 4 Reduction Type operation modes.
• Model the noise spectrum by adjusting FFT Window Size and Overlap to optimize precision. Manually adjust Noise Envelope points if desired.
• Optimize the noise reduction algorithm by adjusting Noise Bias and Reduce Noise By controls. Set Attack/Release Speed controls to suit transient conditions.
• Compensate for high frequencies lost in the noise filter by adjusting High-Shelf Gain and Frequency controls to brighten the sound.
• Observe your results with the real-time Preview option. Interactively tune parameters to optimize results, and review residual output to verify material removed.

Click and Crackle Removal

• Select the appropriate preset, or create your own based on individual applications.
• Adjust Click Shape, Click Size, and Sensitivity controls. Experiment with your own filter parameter adjustments.
• Select Noise Level to establish noise threshold.
• Select Remove Low Frequency Rumble option and automatically remove inaudible frequencies caused by warped records.
• Vinyl Restoration
• Select the General Restoration preset, or create your own based on individual applications.
• Experiment with this plug-in's simplified parameter controls — adjust Reduce Noise By, Noise Floor, and Affect Frequencies Above controls to optimize surface noise removal, adjust Attack/Release Speed controls to minimize processing artifacts, and adjust Click Removal Amount to optimize click and pop removal.

Clipped Peak Restoration

• Select the appropriate preset, or create your own based on individual applications.
• Select Enable Post-limiter to set the attenuation level automatically, or adjust the Attenuation control manually to set headroom for reconstructed peaks.
• Select Cross Fade Edges to restore peaks in selected regions seamlessly.