Noise Reduction

[jp]

I record music on a digital 4 track and then record it with my sound card through the line in... its ok, but there is just a tiny amount of background static that totally degrades the overall quality of the track. Recently I was playing around with CoolEdit2000's noise reduction feature and figured out I could completely remove the background noise but at the same time I lose a lot of the actual sound in the song. Does anyone have any tips or links to tutorials on the best way to do this or any other software and/or suggestions on how I can solve this?

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

If your cool edit looks the same as mine (which I don't have in front of me...sorry) there are some options to check out in the noise reduction dialouge box.

First! There is a toggle switch or check box where you can chose to either listen to the cleaned up signal OR only the noise that it being removed. Try listening to only the sounds that are being removed. You'll probably hear the hiss with a faint sprinkling of your tune.

Second! There is a slider that lets you choose how much noise reduction is applied. Pull that fader down until you no longer hear that faint sprinkling of your tune.

Third! Click back over to the cleaned signal and see if it still sounds wierd.

If it still sounds wierd, make sure that you are getting your noise profile from a section of the track that is only noise. Any hint of sounds other than the noise you want to take out will cause problems.

Last! Be sure to click back over to listening to the cleaned up sound before clicking "OK" or you will end up with a track of pristine noise. Don't ask me how I know this...

I hope that helps.
Chris