reducing "hiss" from samples?

  • Thread starter Thread starter trigoblin
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trigoblin

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I use Soundforge 7 for editing WAV samples. I don't know how to reduce background hissing from samples I didn't personally record. Is the hissing typically a certain frequency that I drop the levels down on. Is there some way to work with a noise gate (or other tool) to reduce the background hiss yet maintain the original vocals/sounds? Playing around with it has not yeilded any good results for me yet. All help would be appreciated!
 
Yep


You need a noise reduction sweet of some sort for best performance.

Waves has audio restoration tools.

The best come from algorithmix and cedar but they are big bucks.

You might be able to find a free plug that will do the job you are looking to accomplish.
 
LIke Pingu Said, get a noise reduction program.

you can try out the algorithmix noise free gratis for 2 weeks.
 
I handle hiss by dropping down the frequencies
where the hiss is with EQ. I have found hiss
in fairly narrow bands around 7900Hz, 8200Hz,
and 8400Hz.
 
thanks all.....

I'll take a look at playing with the EQ like Brackish said and i'll also check out some noise reduction programs.
 
The best solutions are FFT based, and work by analyzing a second or so of just the noise. Once the noise footprint is analyzed, these programs can do an amazing job of recognizing what is noise and what isn't in the program material.
 
First, try to investigate the source of the hiss. Try to minimize it as much as you can.
Even if there is hiss in the signal, experiment with some of the noise reduction plug-ins and see which one works best for you.
 
trigoblin said:
I'll take a look at playing with the EQ like Brackish said and i'll also check out some noise reduction programs.
Click to expand...

I've tried doing it both ways and found that noise
reduction programs can easily give unnatural
artifacts whereas as EQ does not.
 
Brackish said:
I've tried doing it both ways and found that noise
reduction programs can easily give unnatural
artifacts whereas as EQ does not.
Click to expand...
The key to that is to use gentle to mild settings and do several passes of NR rather than trying to get rid of all noise all at once.

The way I look at it, why get rid of the hiss to begin with? It's part of the sample and gives it that atmosphere. Plus once you get other things going it's not gonna matter much anyway. A bit of dirt is good for training your immune system ;)
 
also use a gate so that when there's nothing but hiss (no program material) the gate is closed, it won't stick out as much

also try cutting some of the high-frequ's where you're finding hiss. a good way to find out where the hiss is coming from is to use a multi compressor and solo'ing one band, moving the band about until you find where most of the hiss is, then use notch EQ to cut it out of the sample.
 
i'll definately work with all your suggestions

I appreciate all the feedback on this matter. When recording, I have been able to keep a lot of the hiss out by playing with a gate, but with sample that I didn't record myself, sometimes there is not alot I've been able to mess with.
I'm by no means an "audio quality" purist...i love the old crackles and hiss from may sampled records, tapes, etc. It's just on some tracks there are times when i really want the sounds to blen into one another and not stand out so-much with background noize. anyway, thanks again all for helping me out with this.
 
Brackish said:
I've tried doing it both ways and found that noise
reduction programs can easily give unnatural
artifacts whereas as EQ does not.
Click to expand...


The good ones dont. the ones you see on download.com probably do.
Being a classical recording engineer/musician I am constantly searching for ways to remove hiss. (analog hiss and crackle dont mix too well with string quartets)
the Algorithmix/Cedar tools are top notch. no artifacts, nothing unnatural.

Teddy
 
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