Ambient noise removal

[John Rofrano]

You can try using an EQ to boost the dialog frequencies and cut frequencies outside the dialog range but chances are the ambient noise will be in that range as well. The best thing to do is to get the microphones closer to your subject. Anything you do in post will be suboptimal.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Kevin Mccarthy]

What is the ambient noise? If it is a constant noise such as an air conditioner I would suggest using a noise reduction filter. Most audo editing programs have some sort of NR available. Simply select a small portion of the noise that is out in the open, use it to sample the noise floor and then apply the NR to your audio track.

If you use the NR II suggest you try using a lower percentage of NR and doing it 2 or 3 times rather than tring to remove it all in one pass

If you choose to try the EQ John mentioned I would again use a selected portion of the noise and look at it in a spectrum analyzer to determine the frequency range that applies to it. Then lower that portion of the EQ settings. I have found that EQ adjustments work best if you try to remove offending frequencies rather than boost others. The human voice usually lies in the 250- 1k range and if you boost it too much it will first sound very nasal and then very tinny.

After you have your track the best you can then you can silghtly compress it, I suggest 2:1, to level it and then try normalizing to bring up the overall level. Don’t compress or normalize your audio untill you have it sounding the best you can because you will simply increase the noise along with the good dtuff if you do.

Good Luck

[John Rofrano]

Good point. It didn’t occur to me that the ambient noise could be a constant background noise like an air conditioner. In that case, BIAS Sound Soap, Sony Noise Reduction, or iZotope RX will all do the job quite nicely.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gilles Gagnon]

I second one of john’s options…

I’ve used Sound Soap with good results.
Gilles

[Justin Leyba]

I don’t get how to edit the EQ of my audio. ‘Cause there’s four circles right? How do I edit it? Help! 😀

[Justin Leyba]

Do you think that if i download Audacity I can clean my audio there? Like the noise reduction or something? Can that be an option?
Thanks!

[John Rofrano]

‘Cause there’s four circles right? How do I edit it?

Grab the circles and drag them. Up is boost and down is cut. Left and Right is the frequency.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

Can that be an option?

I don’t know because you didn’t answer the fundamental question that Kevin asked you and that is:

What is the ambient noise?

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Justin Leyba]

Sorry for late reply.

Ambient noise is other people talking, some random sounds that get pick up by the microphone etc.

[John Rofrano]

Ambient noise is other people talking, some random sounds that get pick up by the microphone etc.

Then my original answer still stands. The best thing to do is to get the microphones closer to your subject next time. Anything you do in post will be suboptimal because people talking is not a constant noise that you can take a sample of and remove. Also, booting any frequency with an EQ will be useless because everyone’s voice (the person you want and the people you don’t want) are using the same frequencies.

You could try and clean it up with iZotope RX Spectral Repair but it will be very difficult.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com