Audio Peaking at DVinfo.net

Luke Oliver · July 21st, 2009, 02:04 AM

I recorded a choir at a wedding and on a few notes the audio peaks and clips ( kinda beeps).
Is there anyway to reduce the notes that peak too much??

any suggestions would be helpful and its so so annoying

many thanks

luke

Battle Vaughan · July 21st, 2009, 02:21 PM

Clipped audio can't be completely fixed, but there are audio restoration programs with "de-clipper" plugins that can help some. They tend to be pricey: iZotope RX - Complete Audio Restoration: Declipping, Declicker, Hum Removal, Denoiser, Spectral Repair, Restore, Remaster, Download . There is such a filter in Sony Soundforge 9 if you have access to it. There is no simple solution, because 0 dBfs is the brick-wall limit for digital audio ... exceed that and you run out of digits, as it were. So that data is gone. The filters attempt to interpret where the tops of the waveforms would be and re-draw them to eliminate the worst of the distorted noise; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't..../ Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

James Workman · July 21st, 2009, 02:36 PM

Adobe PremierePro (and Soundbooth, if you have access to it...) both feature built-in audio compressors and limiters with presets or manual control. I'm sure lots of other programs feature this also. What are you editing with?

Battle Vaughan · July 21st, 2009, 03:55 PM

Compression and limiting are fine if you have an undamaged waveform you want to alter. A clipped waveform is damaged in that the data that would form the top part of the waveform is gone and what you have is digital noise.... that uncomfortable razzz sound where there should be music. No amount of level control will bring back what's missing....the de-clippers, as I mentioned, try to "mend" the waveform back to something resembling a sine wave instead of a rectangle.../bvaughan

Luke Oliver · July 22nd, 2009, 01:37 AM

I'm using FCP studio 2, I've had a look at some of the filters but have nop idea what some do. Thanks anyway for your feedback guys. Great stuff. Ill have to monitor my audio a bit better next time

July 21st, 2009, 02:04 AM	#1
Luke Oliver Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Guernsey , Channel Islands Posts: 242	Audio Peaking I recorded a choir at a wedding and on a few notes the audio peaks and clips ( kinda beeps). Is there anyway to reduce the notes that peak too much?? any suggestions would be helpful and its so so annoying many thanks luke

July 21st, 2009, 02:36 PM	#3
James Workman Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 43	Limit and/or Compress Adobe PremierePro (and Soundbooth, if you have access to it...) both feature built-in audio compressors and limiters with presets or manual control. I'm sure lots of other programs feature this also. What are you editing with?

July 22nd, 2009, 01:37 AM	#5
Luke Oliver Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Guernsey , Channel Islands Posts: 242	re I'm using FCP studio 2, I've had a look at some of the filters but have nop idea what some do. Thanks anyway for your feedback guys. Great stuff. Ill have to monitor my audio a bit better next time

July 21st, 2009, 02:21 PM	#2
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	Clipped audio can't be completely fixed, but there are audio restoration programs with "de-clipper" plugins that can help some. They tend to be pricey: iZotope RX - Complete Audio Restoration: Declipping, Declicker, Hum Removal, Denoiser, Spectral Repair, Restore, Remaster, Download . There is such a filter in Sony Soundforge 9 if you have access to it. There is no simple solution, because 0 dBfs is the brick-wall limit for digital audio ... exceed that and you run out of digits, as it were. So that data is gone. The filters attempt to interpret where the tops of the waveforms would be and re-draw them to eliminate the worst of the distorted noise; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't..../ Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

July 21st, 2009, 03:55 PM	#4
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	Compression and limiting are fine if you have an undamaged waveform you want to alter. A clipped waveform is damaged in that the data that would form the top part of the waveform is gone and what you have is digital noise.... that uncomfortable razzz sound where there should be music. No amount of level control will bring back what's missing....the de-clippers, as I mentioned, try to "mend" the waveform back to something resembling a sine wave instead of a rectangle.../bvaughan