Cable noise

[Kathy Smith]

Is there anything anything at all I can do to remove cable noise? Any software capable of doing that?

[Richard Crowley]

The term "cable noise" does not describe any specific sound. If you could refer us to a sample clip we could hear, a proper response would be possible.

However, don't get your hopes up. There aren't many kinds of noise that can be fully removed after the fact.

[Kathy Smith]

OK, I will post something soon

[Kathy Smith]

Originally Posted by Richard Crowley

The term "cable noise" does not describe any specific sound. If you could refer us to a sample clip we could hear, a proper response would be possible.

However, don't get your hopes up. There aren't many kinds of noise that can be fully removed after the fact.

The file I am trying to upload is big. I need to find a way to attach it.

[Kathy Smith]

OK, here is the https://www.dropbox.com/s/y7ls2jvm46...PeterAudio.wav
At about 1:08:25:13 you can hear the noise.
Is there anything I can do with this audio in terms of cable noise and overall improvement?

[Richard Crowley]

1) OH MY GOSH! Please don't post the WHOLE THING! Just clip out and share the short examples (a few seconds) of what you want us to hear!!
2) I did NOT hear "cable" or any other kind of "noise" at 1:08:25.

I DID hear:
Very variable pickup. Sometimes people sounded like they were swallowing the mic, and sometimes, it sounded like they were across the room. And levels were all over the map as one might expect from that apparent issue. There was background noise, as well. I heard "rattly" sounds like a cheap microphone freaking out at high levels, I heard clipping on loud speech.
I heard at various OTHER places (but NOT at 1:08:25) what sounded like clothing rustling noises. Like a lav clipped onto clothing in such a way to allow rubbing to be picked up as the subject moves. But compared to (and taken along with) the other problems the few brief rustling sounds did not seem "out of place" or even the "worst" of all the issues. It is puzzling that you picked out that particular issue from all the others.

Where this "clothing rustling"(?) noise happens BETWEEN words, the audio can be "ducked" to mostly eliminate the noise. But where it occurs UNDER the dialog, there is no easy, effective way to remove it. There is new software becoming available that can work near-miracles, perhaps even mostly remove this noise, but it will take expensive software and a skilled operator to apply it effectively. It would have been infinitely easier to simply avoid it in the first place.

As a "transcription" or "audio note" recording this isn't bad. It would allow someone to transcribe or translate what was being said. It wouldn't be what I would consider "broadcast quality" dialog. Of course, since we know nothing about what this is supposed to be, it is hard to evaluate to any particular "grade". I would aim for higher quality than that even if I were only doing a legal deposition.

This is exactly what I was talking about from your other thread about "mastering". This recording doesn't need "mastering" as much as it does proper recording in the first place, and then ordinary "mixing".

We may be able to offer more specific comments with more information. Such as: what was the purpose of this recording? What were the parameters? (Location, access, preparation, personnel, equipment, technique, etc.) What microphone(s) were used? How were the microphone(s) deployed? What equipment was used for recording, etc.

[Kathy Smith]

Originally Posted by Richard Crowley

1) OH MY GOSH! Please don't post the WHOLE THING! Just clip out and share the short examples (a few seconds) of what you want us to hear!!
2) I did NOT hear "cable" or any other kind of "noise" at 1:08:25.

I DID hear:
Very variable pickup. Sometimes people sounded like they were swallowing the mic, and sometimes, it sounded like they were across the room. And levels were all over the map as one might expect from that apparent issue. There was background noise, as well. I heard "rattly" sounds like a cheap microphone freaking out at high levels, I heard clipping on loud speech.
I heard at various OTHER places (but NOT at 1:08:25) what sounded like clothing rustling noises. Like a lav clipped onto clothing in such a way to allow rubbing to be picked up as the subject moves. But compared to (and taken along with) the other problems the few brief rustling sounds did not seem "out of place" or even the "worst" of all the issues. It is puzzling that you picked out that particular issue from all the others.

Where this "clothing rustling"(?) noise happens BETWEEN words, the audio can be "ducked" to mostly eliminate the noise. But where it occurs UNDER the dialog, there is no easy, effective way to remove it. There is new software becoming available that can work near-miracles, perhaps even mostly remove this noise, but it will take expensive software and a skilled operator to apply it effectively. It would have been infinitely easier to simply avoid it in the first place.

As a "transcription" or "audio note" recording this isn't bad. It would allow someone to transcribe or translate what was being said. It wouldn't be what I would consider "broadcast quality" dialog. Of course, since we know nothing about what this is supposed to be, it is hard to evaluate to any particular "grade". I would aim for higher quality than that even if I were only doing a legal deposition.

This is exactly what I was talking about from your other thread about "mastering". This recording doesn't need "mastering" as much as it does proper recording in the first place, and then ordinary "mixing".

We may be able to offer more specific comments with more information. Such as: what was the purpose of this recording? What were the parameters? (Location, access, preparation, personnel, equipment, technique, etc.) What microphone(s) were used? How were the microphone(s) deployed? What equipment was used for recording, etc.

Richard,
Sorry for posting the entire thing. Last time I posted a fragment someone wanted the whole thing.
Anyway, this recording is not what I would want to master. This was not recorded properly and I just want to salvage it, not master it.
The point of the recording was to record one person, not multiple people. They other people that you heard across the room were not even miked because they won't be used. The mic on the main person was hidden under then clothing using a vampire clip. He was moving a lot and every time he moved there was cable noise. It was not clothing noise as there was no way for the mic to touch the clothing in the vampire clip. The mic was Sanken COS-11D recoded directly to Canon C100.

[Richard Crowley]

Originally Posted by Kathy Smith

The mic on the main person was hidden under then clothing using a vampire clip. He was moving a lot and every time he moved there was cable noise. It was not clothing noise as there was no way for the mic to touch the clothing in the vampire clip.

I guess we have different definitions of "cable noise" and "clothing noise". In any case, we solved a very similar problem recently by using gaffer's tape to secure more of the cable to the inside of the clothing to completely isolate the cable/clothing noise from the microphone head. The vampire clip serves to secure the mic head in the desired position, but it does NOTHING to prevent noise that is PHYSICALLY conducted by the cable (whatever you choose to call it).

Unless you have a big budget and lots of time, I would not consider the possibility of trying to remove that noise to be feasible.