CEP2 Noise Reduction help

[Dig]

I have a live recording that was done with just two mics facing the players recorded on a Fostex 160.

The sound is overall very good except there is hiss through out the recoding.

I have tried using both the Noise Reduction and Hiss reduction and although I can get alot of the hiss out I always end up with some goffy background sounds. Almost alien like sometimes.

All I want to do is just remove some of the hiss. I don't care if there is still some there but at least cut it down without dramatically affecting the sound.

I have tried a number of different settings
Here a few
In Hiss Removal In Noise Reduction
Noise floor 90 85 90
NFA 4 8 4 NRL 3
FFT 6K 12K 6912 FFT 6K
PF 12 5 5 RB 8
TW 7 7 1 PF 12
SDR 75 65 75 SA 1
RHB 20 24 20 TW 0
SDR 75

They all reduce the hiss but tend to affect the background sounds. The recording is of 2 acoustic guitars.

Is there anyone that can direct me to information that may be able to help me figure this out? Yea I am fairly new to this and this is the first real big project I am fiddleing with. It is actually for a cancer foundation and I am trying to help out. The concert was to raise money.

Thanks for your time.

[dobro]

The way to use noise reduction is to sample a portion of the track without any music playing - maybe the two second bit before the music starts, or maybe a quiet bit in the middle or at the end - you just want the noise on the track and nothing else. Sample that bit with Noise Reduction, save the sample, and then run it on the entire track.

I don't think there's any way that does it better.

[Dig]

"I don't think there's any way that does it better."

Thanks for the reply. I have tried that repeatedly but after I get what I think is a quiet setting and apply it to the rest of the sample I can hear how it affects the background sounds and it ain't pretty.

So I must assume that there really is no way to get a good clean noise reduction and must settle for what I have.

I still would like if someone could share with me a site with more specific information on noise reduction.

Thanks again

[dobro]

Well, my guess is that the reason you're getting crappy results is this: there's so much noise on the track that when Cool Edit removes it, it's taking out significant amounts of the sound of the instruments with it. Noise reduction works best on relatively quiet tracks.

[chrisharris]

The hiss reduction works most transparently, I think.

Anyway, the only setting I use is "Light Hiss reduction," and turn the noise floor slider to the left to somewhere between -6 and -8.

Of course, it totally depends on how much hiss you have. You're not gonna' get it silent, and it sounds like you know that already.

Anyway, I've jacked around with noise reduction and hiss reduction for a couple of years, and any setting more extreme than the one I just set out just makes it totally worthless to me. I'd rather have hiss on a track than have a hissless track that sounds like it was recorded underwater, lol.

Good Luck.

[Dig]

"I'd rather have hiss on a track than have a hissless track that sounds like it was recorded underwater, lol."

Yea that is kinda the sound the background takes.

I'll give it a try.
Thanks

[TexRoadkill]

That hiss removal stuff is usually more destructive than it's worth. Just keep experimenting with how much you are applying until you find the right balance of hiss removal without too many swimmies.

[djbleach]

i've been in this situation b4 many times.
Obviously, in the future u should always test ur inputs and adjust to get out pre hiss - but that's for next time....SO - what i've tried (since hiss is a high pitched noise) is go to the graphic equalizer and do a simple high cut, then mess around w/ it from there, take a lil high off, (which should cut the hiss a lot) and if the track sounds a lil too low(or not enough high), try putting a lil high back on. i don't know how well this will work for your track, but it's worth a shot. since removing the high in the beginning removed some hiss, the hiss is now gone, so putting high back on shouldn't bring any hiss back.
if this doens't work, there's always the undo button!

[ryanlikestorock]

I used CEP to take out a lot of hiss in a recording of a man's voice for a corporate video. There was a LOT of hiss, so I had to pull all the tricks. The idea of sampling a small segment of audio for the noise sample worked well. Also, I would just reduce the noise by a little bit, but repeat this multiple times. So, sample the noise, reduce by a little bit. Re-sample the new noise, reduce by a little bit, etc. Then, try to add some natural reverb to hide the little bit of "robot" sounds in the background if there are any.

I hope it works for ya.

[7evin]

When you have too much noise that CEP noise reduction cant take it out, you need to take a serious look at your hardware and cables. YOU CAN'T POLISH A TURD. I had to totally revamp my whole setup because of this same prob. Try all your cables first, make sure no audio cables are close to power cables and try to get high qual cables only. Thats what I did, and I have NO probs with noise now. :0

[guitar ed]

You could also try getting your hands on Waves X-Noise. Fantastic!!

Ed