Topic: Clicking/popping in a recording

[jbell]

I recorded a show on the 4th and it sounds better than expected, but it contains clicking/popping noise through out the recording.  What would cause this to happen?  Is it because I didn't format the card?  Will Audacity click removal work for taking out the unwanted sound?  I haven't done any editing I have just listen to the raw file.  I used a Sony PCM D50 for recording.  Thanks for any help in advance

[adrianf74]

I recorded a show on the 4th and it sounds better than expected, but it contains clicking/popping noise through out the recording.  What would cause this to happen?  Is it because I didn't format the card?  Will Audacity click removal work for taking out the unwanted sound?  I haven't done any editing I have just listen to the raw file.  I used a Sony PCM D50 for recording.  Thanks for any help in advance

Possibly a bad card with slow write speeds?  That would be my first guess.    Not sure about Audacity but you could try removing the clicks on a couple of sections and see how it fairs.

[NOLAfishwater]

are you running digital in with a spdif cable? if so, I had a problem with the cable being bad and it making pops the whole recording.

have you changed your soundcard recently?  I had a problem where the card wasn't allocating enough ram and it was creating pops/clicks

[jbell]

I was running analog from a SD MP2 into a sony D50.  This is only the second time I used the pre and recorder and the first time I had no issues.  I did change the caps on my mics, but wouldn't think that would cause the clicking.  The card is a sony that came with the recorder and worked great the first time I used it.  I guess I will need to do some home testing to see if I can reproduce the issue.  I am taping Thursday and don't want to screw up the recording.  Thanks for the help

are you running digital in with a spdif cable? if so, I had a problem with the cable being bad and it making pops the whole recording.

have you changed your soundcard recently?  I had a problem where the card wasn't allocating enough ram and it was creating pops/clicks

[NOLAfishwater]

I was running analog from a SD MP2 into a sony D50.  This is only the second time I used the pre and recorder and the first time I had no issues.  I did change the caps on my mics, but wouldn't think that would cause the clicking.  The card is a sony that came with the recorder and worked great the first time I used it.  I guess I will need to do some home testing to see if I can reproduce the issue.  I am taping Thursday and don't want to screw up the recording.  Thanks for the help

are you running digital in with a spdif cable? if so, I had a problem with the cable being bad and it making pops the whole recording.

have you changed your soundcard recently?  I had a problem where the card wasn't allocating enough ram and it was creating pops/clicks

It could also be the signal being too hot from the preamp. Maybe it is not showing clipping but when the signal is sent to the recorder it causes it to brickwall. It that is the case, you will clearly see the wav. is plateau'd in your editing program.

[Gordon]

good to meet you the other day!  just saw this post after I PMed you asking how the set came out.  I've had great luck with wavelab's click remover in the past.  really depends how bad the file is though.

[jbell]

Thanks Gordon!  It contains around 20 click give or take a few.  I use audacity and haven't tried its click remover.  I will give that a go today and see what happens.  If that isn't successful and you are willing, maybe you could run the show through click remover on wavlab.  Thanks man

good to meet you the other day!  just saw this post after I PMed you asking how the set came out.  I've had great luck with wavelab's click remover in the past.  really depends how bad the file is though.

[WiFiJeff]

Another possibility: bad battery.

I use iZotope to fix this kind of mud, it works amazingly well once you get the hang of it.

Jeff

[stevetoney]

If the recording was outside and it was very humid that day, it probably wasn't your recorder at all, but electrical surges on the inside of your mics.  When I owned them, it happened on my LD mics quite a bit.  Had to use click/noise remover to get them out, or if that didn't work I'd copy the right channel over to the left (or vice versa) for the nanosecond of the pop to overwrite the pop with a clean sound.

The mic diaphragm has an electric charge and high humidity allows the electrical charge to arc and cause the popping/clicking...basically the same as shocking yourself from walking on the carpet.  This is discussed in more detail and more technical terms in the mic forum.

[Gordon]

did you change caps while the the mics were on?  I've only done that once (by mistake) and had issue with the recording.  with clicks and pops my first thought is a bad cable in the chain somewhere.

as for the card.  did you do a format in the recorder before the show?  I would always format in the recorder vs the computer or just deleting the old files.

if you want to sendspace a small bit of the file I'll try it in wavelab.

gordonlw @ gmail

[ashevillain]

I recorded a show on the 4th and it sounds better than expected, but it contains clicking/popping noise through out the recording.  What would cause this to happen?  Is it because I didn't format the card?  Will Audacity click removal work for taking out the unwanted sound?  I haven't done any editing I have just listen to the raw file.  I used a Sony PCM D50 for recording.  Thanks for any help in advance

off topic...just curious what show you recorded?

[Gordon]

brushfire at the city county plaza (he did I didn't)

[ashevillain]

brushfire at the city county plaza (he did I didn't)

That was gonna be my guess. I walked down there and saw the SBD waaaaay off to the right and decided against it. The best sounding spot seems like it would be right behind the fountain...unfortunately it was drenched and I wasn't about to set up there either.

Question: did they have the fountain still running even during the show?

Sorry for the thread hijack John!

[Gordon]

he was set up dead center behind the fountain behind the little wall.

[jbell]

The sound of the set came out WAY better than I expected other than the clicks, which I haven't had happen before.  I am going to do alittle home testing tonight to see if I can reproduce what happened.  I changed the caps before heading to the show.  I didn't reformat the card (I'm hoping that is the problem) before taping.  I am taping Dehlia low tomorrow so I want to try to figure it out this evening.  At worst I can run my UA-5> H120 tomorrow. 

brushfire at the city county plaza (he did I didn't)

That was gonna be my guess. I walked down there and saw the SBD waaaaay off to the right and decided against it. The best sounding spot seems like it would be right behind the fountain...unfortunately it was drenched and I wasn't about to set up there either.

Question: did they have the fountain still running even during the show?

Sorry for the thread hijack John!