Sonar 8.5 Producer: Best Screenreader Accessible Plugin For Noise Elimination

[Annabelle]

One of these days, I'm planning to go and make field recordings of some of the equipment at the Connections Museum in Seattle, and since one of the administrators there tells me the museum is a noisy place with air conditioners and telephone equipment running, and even traffic outside, I wonder, what would be the best screenreader accessible plugin for cleaning up the noise post production, and just hearing the phone tones I record.

[John Vere]

Not the answer you are looking for but a possible solution. 
If you have the ability to use a directional dynamic  mike like a SM 57 you might be able to  eliminate the noise at the source. 

It depends on what you will record with. It’s one of the reasons I chose the Tascam DR 40 handheld recorder. It not only has the condenser mikes built in but it also has XLR jacks so I can do direct from the mixer or add 2 more mikes. 
There-are also some very directional mikes used by video people for when they do location interviews. 

[azslow3]

iZotope products are almost accessible, including RX package which includes de-noise.
I don't know if Waves Clarity is somehow accessible since I don't have it yet.

When there are non-continuous extra sounds, separating voices from the rest can be the way to do. For example with demucs. Recently several other algorithms and programs appear, which can produce even better results. 

But as already suggested, it is better avoid the noise during recording.

Also as I have already suggested before, about anything related to accessibility in music software and hardware better ask in RWP mailing list. You will get answers from experienced in that area people.

 

[Annabelle]

7 hours ago, JohnnyV said:

Not the answer you are looking for but a possible solution. 
If you have the ability to use a directional dynamic  mike like a SM 57 you might be able to  eliminate the noise at the source. 

It depends on what you will record with. It’s one of the reasons I chose the Tascam DR 40 handheld recorder. It not only has the condenser mikes built in but it also has XLR jacks so I can do direct from the mixer or add 2 more mikes. 
There-are also some very directional mikes used by video people for when they do location interviews. 

I'll be recording with an Olympus LS100 Digital Recorder, with two AKG414 condenser microphones plugged into the XLR's, in Cardioid mode close to the phones. I wonder if that will work for recording these.

[John Vere]

I’m not familiar with those mikes so not sure how good they would be at rejecting background sounds. But generally dynamic mikes like the SM series are used in live performance just for that one reason alone. 
I guess you could test them by turning on some noise in another room and see how much is picked up when say recording a guitar or something in your studio

Edited August 14, 2023 by JohnnyV

[Max Arwood]

I don’t know which 414 you have, but I have the AKG C414 XLII. It has 9 switchable patterns. Choose a pattern like cardioid. It will have some back rejection. If you are recording people talking the sure SM7b would be better. Either way, you could do some great cleanup with waves VX Clarity. It is super easy to use and will do an excellent job for you.
Izotope  RX is another choice. It works differently. It needs to sample the noise, then it can remove those sounds. If you sampled ac noise and the phone rang,you would need to then sample the phone ring. It does have an auto/generic setting, but waves will work better with speech than RX in auto mode. Since VX Clarity is semi AI based it would remove the phone,  ac and background crowd noises in one pass. It “listens” as it works. You don’t even need the high end version. The $29 version works just fine. 

[Annabelle]

4 hours ago, Max Arwood said:

I don’t know which 414 you have, but I have the AKG C414 XLII. It has 9 switchable patterns. Choose a pattern like cardioid. It will have some back rejection. If you are recording people talking the sure SM7b would be better. Either way, you could do some great cleanup with waves VX Clarity. It is super easy to use and will do an excellent job for you.
Izotope  RX is another choice. It works differently. It needs to sample the noise, then it can remove those sounds. If you sampled ac noise and the phone rang,you would need to then sample the phone ring. It does have an auto/generic setting, but waves will work better with speech than RX in auto mode. Since VX Clarity is semi AI based it would remove the phone,  ac and background crowd noises in one pass. It “listens” as it works. You don’t even need the high end version. The $29 version works just fine. 

Mine are the AKG C414B stereo pair.

[Larioso]

Multiband compressors are pretty good tool to get rid of ambient noises in post.

- Waves C6 or something

 

Also cancelling out some noise can be done with a tool like Waves S1 and panning a stereo signal and multiband EQ like H-EQ or similar.

- sometimes multiple de-essers is good help too

[Starship Krupa]

No idea about its accessibility, but Cockos' ReaFIR is free and works very well. It's one of the ones that samples the background noise and then cancels it.

It has a very simple UI, so maybe good for a screen reader.

[Annabelle]

5 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

No idea about its accessibility, but Cockos' ReaFIR is free and works very well. It's one of the ones that samples the background noise and then cancels it.

It has a very simple UI, so maybe good for a screen reader.

I think the only downside with that one is that I've had to build the noise profile every time, and then when I try it, I get that all-too-common "underwater" effect!

[Max Arwood]

“I get that all-too-common "underwater" effect”

Do multiple passes with 2-3 db reduction each pass. This will lower the under water sound some. It makes for clearer tracks

[Starship Krupa]

18 hours ago, Annabelle said:

I think the only downside with that one is that I've had to build the noise profile every time, and then when I try it, I get that all-too-common "underwater" effect!

It's a compromise, of course. With all of them, and I have RX 10, ERA, and MSpectralDynamics, I always have to fiddle with the balance between how much reduction I get vs. gurgle.

Plain old gating and/or editing is something I often forget about when doing restoration work. The film and TV industry used to rely on that before we had all this computing power at our fingertips. But if the program material is loud enough, it can mask the underlying noise pretty well. Of course, my attention is drawn to the fancier solutions (smile).

It sounds like an interesting project. I'm curious about what you're planning to do with the sounds you record.

[Annabelle]

7 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

It's a compromise, of course. With all of them, and I have RX 10, ERA, and MSpectralDynamics, I always have to fiddle with the balance between how much reduction I get vs. gurgle.

Plain old gating and/or editing is something I often forget about when doing restoration work. The film and TV industry used to rely on that before we had all this computing power at our fingertips. But if the program material is loud enough, it can mask the underlying noise pretty well. Of course, my attention is drawn to the fancier solutions (smile).

It sounds like an interesting project. I'm curious about what you're planning to do with the sounds you record.

I plan to make mockups of phone calls, using Audioease Speakerphone within Sonar, and these tones will be included as part of soundscapes I create with Atmosphere Deluxe.