Free audio software to edit out hiss?

[Lisa Bennett]

Does anyone know of a good free software program to edit audio? I have a problem mic and if I don't locate another one by Friday then I'll have to use the one I have and edit out the hiss somehow with a filter. any ideas what to do?

The wireless mic is giving me some hiss. I tested my handheld with the same settings in camera (GY-HD100U) that I used for the wireless and it was much better but the client wants a lav mic.

so what to do next...

Thanks
Lisa

[Andy Pronobis]

Audacity is free, and quite good at what it does. Check it out, see if it fits your bill.

--Andy P

[Bill Mecca]

+1 for Audacity, it has a noise reduction filter included, just copy a small piece of just the hiss, then apply that as the filter, and you can adjust how much noise reduction it gives you, which you can balance with the sound quality.

[Rob Taylor]

I agree Audacity is very good at removing hiss. I have used it several times and have always been pleased with the results.

Best part, it's free.

Rob

[Cole McDonald]

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[Ty Ford]

Hello Lisa,

While you have your answers, the other questions are where does the hiss come from and can you fix it at the source?

Hiss can be just a poorly engineered system or a simple lack of understanding of gain stages where one stage is turned up too loud and the next stage not so much.

Each circuit has it's own best position of gain. You might try to play with that a bit to see if you can improve the situation.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Jon Fairhurst]

Goldwave (GoldWave - Audio Editing, Recording, Conversion, Restoration, & Analysis Software) is shareware with a liberal demo policy. Its noise reduction is quite good.

Unfortunately, filtering out hiss will leave your audio sounding dull. As Ty wrote, getting rid of the problem at the source is by far the best solution. Noise reduction is best for removing narrowband hums. Wideband noise like hiss is tough to remove well.

[Lisa Bennett]

Hi,

Thanks for all of the feedback.

I have a feeling that the problem is the mic. It's not a very expensive one. I have a shoot Friday..before I can get another mic. I'm having to use a mic that has a lapel mic but the receiver is not camera mounted. I have a phono style plug from line out of the receiver into an xlr adapter and xlr cable into camera with input switch on "mic". The receiver dials are only one for squelch and one for volume. Volume on receiver is only about 1/4 up...have camera set to manual and adjusting the volume levels on camera. reference level set at -12db. I wondered if the xlr adapter could be causing the hiss? don't know..only adapter I have at the moment for xlr.

I took a clip and used a plugin called new blue to remove hiss and it sounded good. I took another clip and tested it again on a different day and I heard a little bit of noise that sounded like an echo/tunnel sound. It was ever so slightly but I could hear it. So I decided to see what other program I could use to test the clip in and see if it can be fixed. I'll try Audacity with a clip and see if I get that tunnel effect sound or not. The hiss is not too bad but enough that I can hear it through the headphones. I don;t hear it as bad when I listen to it through the computer without headphones.

if you have some audio info to share, I'm happy to listen.

Thank you
Lisa

[Don Bloom]

I have used NewBlue, Audicity, GoldWave Magix, Sound Forge and Virtious and they are all good at what they do but the trick is to take little bites at the noise. Don't try to reduce it with one pass. It's too easy to go a bit too far and get the tunnel or underwater sound you described on the voice. Take a small bite, set it as a preset or write it down, listen to the audio, take another small bite, etc. That way you can go back a step if need be and take an even smaller bite on the next one. It can be a bit tedious but too big a bite and you can choke. Metaphorically speaking of course.
Tys advice of course is the best but you gotta work with what ya got.

Don

[Lisa Bennett]

I'm pretty sure its a bad/cheap mic and looking for a better one.

I tried audacity but it loaded a file partially and then sat for a while and then it closed. I deleted it and going to reload it again and test. Checking into the other programs, also.

I don;t have the audio up far on the receiver. wondering if testing it with it turned up further and audio backed down on the camera....we'll see after testing. the squelch dial, not sure it is really doing anything. haven;t seen any difference.

Thank you
Lisa

[Lisa Bennett]

Well I'm still have trouble with Audacity. It keep closing when I tried to open a file. I delted it, reloaded it, rebooted and still doing it. I can load some of the files but it doesn't play it normally. It gives me audio with lots of popping etc. Some files won;t open at all and the program closes. Not sure what I'm doing wrong...it's pretty basic oh...well I try it again. anyone else ever have this problem? Hope it's not computer.

best,
Lisa

[Richard Alvarez]

Audacity runs smooth on my computer, handy for noise removal. You might have a bad download.

Maybe try a download from different site?

[Ty Ford]

Lisa Bennett;954197]Hi,
The receiver dials are only one for squelch and one for volume. Volume on receiver is only about 1/4 up...have camera set to manual and adjusting the volume levels on camera. reference level set at -12db. I wondered if the xlr adapter could be causing the hiss? don't know..only adapter I have at the moment for xlr.

Hello again Lisa,

Sounds like you have the receiver turned too far down and the camera too far up. That can generate hiss. As I suggested before, try playing with the gain structure. Turn down the camera input and turn the receiver output up - maybe as far as 3/4.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Lisa Bennett]

After 2 trys I'm going to look tonight for another site to download it from. Which version of Audacity are you using?

I'll try turning down camera and up receiver and do another test.

Thanks again. Everyone's help is so appreciated.

Best,
Lisa

[Bill Mecca]

Lisa,

get the stable version,1.2.6 not the beta, directly from Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

are you on a mac or pc. I have heard newer mac OS have had some issues with audacity.