Topic: Can my recording be fixed?? (using adobe audition)

[Liquid Drum]

I recorded Deep Purple the other night and it came out pretty good (using Church Cards > battbox > hi-md).

Now, the problem is that during the first 5-10 mins I had trouble clipping my mics (a total nightmare, lol) and I have ended up with a lot of crackles in the music. The rest of the show is just too good to go to waste.

Is there a way to 'hide' this a little?? I know it cannot be removed completely, but I'd prefer it to not ruin the song like it currently is doing.

I've attached a sample if anybody wants to play around with it (I'm using Adobe Audition btw). Its low-quality mp3, if you would like a flac file, please let me know.


Thanks for your time and help,
Simon.

[BayTaynt3d]

Not much you can do really. There are some repair plugins, but they can't fix full blown clipping really -- just a little here or there.

[guysonic]

Suggest opening the file, or the clipped portion as 32bit depth file (see settings 'open as' check box)

Process the clipped portion with NOISE REDUCTION section 'Clip Restoration' feature. 

This will 'try to' bring clipped portions back to looking like they should. 

Then you usually have to REDUCE the audio level as restored peaks go way above "0 dB" so bring these back to < 0dB (amplify by - dB or use NORMALIZE function to restored section) before converting file back to 16/24bit original bit depth.

[Liquid Drum]

Thanks for the reply. I tried it, but it didn't do anything - unless im doing it wrong?

It just sounded the same.

[guysonic]

Thanks for the reply. I tried it, but it didn't do anything - unless im doing it wrong?

It just sounded the same.

I have CEP 2.1 version that's 'almost' identical to Adobe's Audition version so maybe settings are a little different.  There should be some options with settings like 'regular clipped' and 'heavy clipped' as shown below.  Use the help menue with 'clip restoration' window open for detail on what the settings do.  I usually use larger FFT size for getting better low frequency effect.



With the settings shown,  Clip Restore program looks for two or more samples at the 'same' level to determine if there's a clip and works to restore that section.  I have found the program sometimes does not work on large sections or the complete waveform file very well.  So sometimes it helps to highlight a very small section of clipped waveforms and work each small section restoring each section one at a time.  Try this tact and see if you get better results.

[Liquid Drum]

Strange, its not doing anything at all... 

The WAVEform doesn't even move and the clipped parts stay the same.


?

[Brian Skalinder]

Strange, its not doing anything at all... 

The WAVEform doesn't even move and the clipped parts stay the same.

You may not see the change in the waveform if you're zoomed out.  And different episodes of clipping may require different configurations.  To see what's happening as a reference, try:

• Zooming in on a single clipped peak
• Greater input attenuation (-6 dB, -12, -18 etc., you'll see how they impact the waveform to different degrees)
• Tweaking Overhead and Min Run Size;  I forget what they do, I usually use extreme settings to start to get a feel for how they impact the operation, then change to the most conservative setting I like that achieves my goal

IME, if it's heavily clipped, the Clip Restoration simply won't work.  I have had some success in those cases with compression/limiting and re-drawing the waveform manually.

[Liquid Drum]

Thanks for the info. Would you say judging by the sample thats its 'clipping bad'??

Cheers,
Simon.

[guysonic]

Thanks for the info. Would you say judging by the sample thats its 'clipping bad'??

Cheers,
Simon.

OK, finally gave your sample a look and listen.  Your samples are NOT clipped! 

The sound interruptions are being caused by dirty or bad analog mic input connections being moved a little, so no wonder 'clip restore' does not work. 

Clean and secure all your mic input connections as described on my tips page at http://www.sonicstudios.com/tips.htm#maintain

[Liquid Drum]

I thought it was due to me moving my mics (which I did do) but it came out far worse than I expected.

So you're saying the noises actually came from a bad mic connection?? wow, never had that before. I haven't any of that stuff on your page, but if I clean the jack with soft cloth and remove fingerprints, it'll be back to normal??


Just so you know, the whole recording isn't like this. I taped 1h 30 and it came out clear apart from 3-4 mintutes where this noise happened.

Cheers,
Simon.

[guysonic]

Since it sounds like your mic connection is also feeding mic power, it doesn't take much dirt/grease/corrosion on the connection with a little movement to make a lot of noise like you recorded. 

Use pure isopropyl +91% alcohol and small dental 'plack brush' for cleaning inside the jack as suggested in the maintenance instructions.

Sit down before/after cleaning with whole system in record (standby) mode and monitor with phones to see what kind of plug movement makes noise.  Then affirm that cleaning as suggested makes good enough difference. 

Securing your connections from movement even if very clean is wise.  Tips for doing this are on the referenced page.

[Liquid Drum]

Thanks for the help, very appreciated. +t