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Tinny, harsh audio from Sennheiser lav- FCP Audio Filter Fix?
Hi,
Editing a project with voice over recorded in small non-professional room using a Sennheiser lapel mic (don’t know the model- was not there!) Voice quality is tinny and harsh. I played around with AUFilter and the FCP 3 Band EQ but can’t make any significant improvements. Any advice on how to improve the warmth and reduce harshness in FCP would be appreciated. No budget to re-record or use better audio software (i know FCP audio capabilities are lacking)
you can hear a 30 sec 6MB AIFF here:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/667847863/237f3120d2d67bbda86e70f127d91e95Thanks.
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3 Replies
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This track is not “tinny,” it is distorted and overdriven.
Unfortunately there is really no “filter” to effectively cure this after the fact. -
You have the right approach, but as you mention, the tools are limited.
Try adding a parameter equalizer with a frequency centered on 150 Hz. Add a boost of 10 and a Q setting of 6. Q affects the range of frequencies around the center freq that are boosted or cut. A lower number means more freqs are affected and a higher number means less.
Add a second parametric equalizer to the clip with a center freq of 4000, a Q of 3 and boost it by 3.
These are starting points. Try varying the settings to get the sound closer to what you want. There is some distortion in the higher frequencies so you don’t want to boost that too much.
As with video, the quality of your monitor affects your results, so use the best audio monitoring setup you can.
John
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As indicated below, the audio is distorted and that can’t be fitered out. You may be able to isolate the distortion and minimize it with a more sophisticated EQ. I would suggest bringing the clip into Soundtrack, and using the 10 band or 31 band EQ. Soundtrack will loop the clip, which might allow you to isolate the distortion.
That distortion is in the mid to high frequency range. So as it’s looping, just select a slider and drag it down to the lowest setting. If you notice a dramatic decrease in the distortion, you’ve found your frequency. Then “soften” the transition in and out of that frequency by adjusting the sliders on either side of the “target” frequency.
I’ll warn you that this may not work at all. But it’s worth a shot.
Good luck.
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