Clicks and Pops in Digital Audio tracks

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the5web

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Is there 3rd party software available that will remove clicks and pops from digital audio tracks. I record using cakewalk 7.0 on a pentium III 400mgz w/ 64m of ram and 10 gig hd. For the most part I have had great success. There are just a few tracks I want to clean up without stepping on the sound to much. Anything? Thanks
 
Were these clicks and pops present on the source material?
On my own recordings, I haven't had too much success simply dropping the volume on a click or a pop unless the total drop was less than 2dB, no matter how closely I zoomed in on the click. Louder clicks end up quieter, but still there. More reduction results in a reverse pop of a quieter passage surrounded by louder material.

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 09-29-1999).]
 
and what sound card are you using ? the good or bad kind ?

[This message has been edited by Eddie N (edited 09-29-1999).]
 
Yes I tried the same thing you tried drstawl with the same outcome. I'm not real impressed with the sound card I have. The Sound Blaster Live w/ digital (spdif)I/O. It is a cheap mans digital card. Overall I have to say, though, that my recordings have been pretty clean except for a few.
 
I have switched from the a Gina/Layla sytem to the MOTU 2408. I NEVER got pops until I switched. I believe it has alot to do with the difference in the digital clocks between devices. I am still working on getting those bugs out of my system.
 
Fishmed: Do you mean that .wav files produced with the Gina/Layla are now filled with clicks and pops when played back through the MOTU 2408? Or is it that new files produced with the MOTU 2408 contain these noises?
 
My previous files from the Gina/Layla are fine. The problem I get is from the SPIF two channel I/O on the MOTU 2408. I know that I have to change the clock control, but on the former setup, it was all automatic and I never had any clicks or pops (unless I flat out clip the signal.) I am sure that the MOTU is a good unit; I am just on the learning curve still.
 
Fishmed, to quote an old Dirty Harry movie...I gots to know...why did you give up on Gina/Layla?
 
I never had any real problems with the Layla/Gina setup. But I switched for two main reasons. The first was that I liked how the MOTU 2408 & 1224 had LED displays for the signals. With the L/G, I had to check the levels through the software that came with them. Doing that when I was recording two or three tracks at a time was not that bad, but when I moved in to doing a full drum set it became a big pain to watch those levels and operate Cakewalk at the same time. I have not bought the MOTU 1224 yet. The second reason is that I can now upgrade my MOTU system without having to added more PCI cards to my computer. You can have three MOTU units on one card, and the 2408 supports 24 channels on its own.
 
Gee, I wish I had all that fancy stuff... I would start with the source of the click.
1) Was it created by whatever source you were recording? If so, I would try to remedy the situation externally.
2) Did you get a clean recorded track that eventually developed a/some click(s) seemingly from nowhere? Here's some tips for preventing this when mixing wav files together.
a) When you first record your wav file, run it through an offset filter to create a common 0 voltage line (repeat for all wav files to be used). Some programs actually shift this line during standard processing procedures (eq-ing, filtering, pitch shifting, etc.) so it may be necessary to do an offset after every alteration. Failure to maintain this universal integrity will eventually result in clicks that are almost impossible to isolate or remove, especially in a heavilly mixed track. This problem is less prevelant in higher end software that automatically does this for you.
b) A variation of this problem results from mixing in a wav file that doesn't start and end at a volume level of 0. Whether I'm working with a sound that I created or got off the net, I always Fade In (from 0) the first miniscule portion of the beginning and Fade Out (to 0) the last few milleseconds(?) of my wav file before mixing it with another.

These techniques require a fair amount of repetition (time!) but they are a must.I do most of my processing with a cheasy little program called Goldwave but I get really good results. I usually have no problem isolating (zooming in on) and re-writing to zero any clicks as long as I catch them before they get mixed in deep. There is a trick to that also...

Hope this helps somebody.
 
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