cgWerks said: Very true, and I've heard it done really poorly on some podcasts. But, do find this to be the case with AI?
I haven't heard the AI podcast so I don't know. I was just responding to mobius' comment about being bothered by the silent bits.
cgWerks said: (I haven't, but I only listen with ear-buds or in the car.... which is probably the case for the vast majority. I only mention that as some audio issues are only obvious listening on some studio monitors or high-end headphones, etc.)
I tend to be pretty pragmatic in my approach to audio production, so I don't devote a lot of emotional energy to things that most listeners won't notice or that are only audible with high-end transducers. I still work to please the top one percent of listeners, but I balance that against what will sound best for the majority of ears and playback systems. Noise reduction is one of those things that, if not done carefully, may be clearly audible to everyone.
A couple examples:
Linus reciting the biblical nativity story on stage in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Aggressive noise reduction (actually slow attack gating) cuts in between lines in a really obvious way. Audio experts notice that the reverb tails are truncated. Others may not be able to identify exactly what's wrong, but will still think "That doesn't sound right." If they'd left it alone, no one would notice the noise.
Another example is old movies on broadcast TV. The automatic gain control in the broadcast chain pumps up the quiet parts and turns down the loud parts. That means when no one is talking, the background noise is turned up to the point where it becomes really obvious, then suddenly drops out as soon as someone speaks. That's the opposite of the noise reduction affect, but it illustrates the same point: Obvious fluctuations in background noise level are distracting, whereas a steady hiss isn't as noticeable. There's background noise in real life too, so our brains are used to tuning it out.
Noise reduction can be really useful, especially the Izotope product Victor is using, as long as the user doesn't get carried away. Often leaving some noise will sound better, or at least more natural, than a noise-free product.
lorin schultz said: Noise reduction can be really useful, especially the Izotope product Victor is using, as long as the user doesn't get carried away. Often leaving some noise will sound better, or at least more natural, than a noise-free product.
Yea, my plan right now is to just record the best source I'm capable of, and then run it though Auphonic. I've been really impressed with it, even with default settings. And, it's free for a certain amount of content each month. The developers of it are total audio nerds... I've heard a few couple-hour long interviews with them on some audio-tech podcasts, and the conversation quickly went way over my head.
Comments
I tend to be pretty pragmatic in my approach to audio production, so I don't devote a lot of emotional energy to things that most listeners won't notice or that are only audible with high-end transducers. I still work to please the top one percent of listeners, but I balance that against what will sound best for the majority of ears and playback systems. Noise reduction is one of those things that, if not done carefully, may be clearly audible to everyone.
A couple examples:
Linus reciting the biblical nativity story on stage in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Aggressive noise reduction (actually slow attack gating) cuts in between lines in a really obvious way. Audio experts notice that the reverb tails are truncated. Others may not be able to identify exactly what's wrong, but will still think "That doesn't sound right." If they'd left it alone, no one would notice the noise.
Another example is old movies on broadcast TV. The automatic gain control in the broadcast chain pumps up the quiet parts and turns down the loud parts. That means when no one is talking, the background noise is turned up to the point where it becomes really obvious, then suddenly drops out as soon as someone speaks. That's the opposite of the noise reduction affect, but it illustrates the same point: Obvious fluctuations in background noise level are distracting, whereas a steady hiss isn't as noticeable. There's background noise in real life too, so our brains are used to tuning it out.
Noise reduction can be really useful, especially the Izotope product Victor is using, as long as the user doesn't get carried away. Often leaving some noise will sound better, or at least more natural, than a noise-free product.