Pop/Click Removal

[RickWaugh]

Has anyone fouind a decent noise reduction VST filter that will remove pops/clicks? I'm using Cubase LE to record acoustic guitar off an EMU 0404 USB device on an old laptop. Works great, except for a few small pops/clicks that show up. I have tried adjusting the various parameters within Cubase, to no avail, and am now wondering about removing them after the fact.

I'd love it even more if it was freeware or shareware - this is recording for me, for sharing with friends and family, and to learn from my own mistakes, so I'm not looking for studio quality. Something relatively simple to use would be nice, too.

[NL5]

Sounds like a buffer issue.

I'd solve the problem rather than try and bandaid it. You'll be much happier.

[RickWaugh]

As I said, I have tried just about everything in Cubase. I have set buffers as large as I can get them. It helped, but did not resolve the problem.

[NL5]

Originally Posted by RickWaugh

As I said, I have tried just about everything in Cubase. I have set buffers as large as I can get them. It helped, but did not resolve the problem.

You have something set wrong. You shouldn't get any pops or clicks. I would try giving as much info about your set-up as you can, someone here will be able to figure out what is wrong.

I have used the Sony click remover with decent results, but that is the only one I am familiar with. I still say you would be WAY ahead to figure out what is wrong instead though.

[Carter]

Originally Posted by RickWaugh

I'm using Cubase LE to record acoustic guitar off an EMU 0404 USB device on an old laptop.

USB that could be the problem also I would get some sort of a external hard drive, if your laptop is that old 9 times out of 10 it only has a 4200 RPM drive speed and that can really cause issues!

[RickWaugh]

Interesting thought. So, if I get an external drive, what should be installed there? Should I just be writing my files to it? Or do I need to install Cubase there, too?

[Carter]

Originally Posted by RickWaugh

Interesting thought. So, if I get an external drive, what should be installed there? Should I just be writing my files to it? Or do I need to install Cubase there, too?

All of your recording software should be on your system drive and the external will only be for audio files and projects from Cubase.

[Rockhouse]

I read in here that a possible problem might be caused if you have a wireless connection activated on your system. We deactivated on mine and it cleaned it up dramatically however not all

[xstatic]

In the meantime, for the clicks and pops that you already have, I would go into your editor and manually remove them. If they are caused by buffer and/or clocking issues (which by the way have you checked possible clocking problems? ) then the clicks are typically only a few samples long. If you zoom all the way in on one you should be able to find the extremely short but high amplitude spike. Either grab the sample handles and pull them back to 0, straight up delete them, mute them, or redraw them. This takes longer than a plug in, but gets the job done much better.

[Jamz0r]

Are these clicks a product of splitting the clips?

Many times, if you apply a split where the signal isn't at zero, a click sound will result. If this is the case, you may zoom in on the very end of the clip where the click lives, and apply a very short fade to remove it.

If the artifacts are due to settings, disregard my post.

[mikemorgan]

Originally Posted by RickWaugh

Has anyone fouind a decent noise reduction VST filter that will remove pops/clicks? I'm using Cubase LE to record acoustic guitar off an EMU 0404 USB device on an old laptop. Works great, except for a few small pops/clicks that show up. I have tried adjusting the various parameters within Cubase, to no avail, and am now wondering about removing them after the fact.

I'd love it even more if it was freeware or shareware - this is recording for me, for sharing with friends and family, and to learn from my own mistakes, so I'm not looking for studio quality. Something relatively simple to use would be nice, too.

WaveLab has a nice pops and clicks plugin which works VERY well. You can listen in real time and adjust the "threshold" however you like. It is destructive editing, so you'll want to make copies of the original. I used this quite a bit until I firgured out what was causing the problem in the first place.

[RickWaugh]

I have actually gone to Wavelab for recording for now, as I get no pops and clicks. Of course makes it a bit difficult to overdub, , but I'm usually doing all in one take. I'm then exporting from the PC to my desktop to master.

Seems to work....

[RickWaugh]

Originally Posted by xstatic

...If they are caused by buffer and/or clocking issues (which by the way have you checked possible clocking problems? ....

No, I have not. Not even sure how to do that. Any pointers would be much appreciated.

[xstatic]

You basically just need to check to make sure that you only have one master clock in your system and that everything else is slaved (only applies to devices working in the digital realm).

[RickWaugh]

I'm using an EMU-0404, and plugging my microphone into that, through I'm micing acoustic guitar. So I believe the clocking issue only applies to midi?

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Originally Posted by RickWaugh

I'm using an EMU-0404, and plugging my microphone into that, through I'm micing acoustic guitar. So I believe the clocking issue only applies to midi?

Not MIDI, a word clock synchronises digital audio devices so the bit rate is aligned and constant with all devices. If they're out of kilter you get data errors and glitches.

Seeing as you only have one digital device (your inteface) this isn't an issue for you.

[ecktronic]

I had similar problem and found out it was a faulty pre-amp.
I was using an Art pre-amp and after lots of testing singled out the pre-amp to be the problem.
Sent it to the dealer and he happily replaced it.

Sometimes tubes can come loose in pre-amps, so securing them can help.

Eck

[noisewreck]

Originally Posted by xstatic

In the meantime, for the clicks and pops that you already have, I would go into your editor and manually remove them.

I was going to suggested the same exact thing! Just zoom in on the area where there is a click to the point where you can see each "sample". A click is a sudden jump from one amplitude level to another. Just draw in with the pencil tool to smooth it out.

[ecktronic]

Originally Posted by noisewreck

I was going to suggested the same exact thing! Just zoom in on the area where there is a click to the point where you can see each "sample". A click is a sudden jump from one amplitude level to another. Just draw in with the pencil tool to smooth it out.

The best thing is to start at the source.
Get rid of the clicks at recording stage, not at mixing stage.

Eck