Can't understand what people are saying - how to make it more clear?

[VideoFanatic]

Short WAV sample after hiss removal. Preferably can someone with Adobe Audition help me but I'll take any help I can get no matter what program I have to use. I know I overdid it but it's just an example so I can see if you guys can make it sound clearer. I can usually remove hiss without lowering the audio quality where it's difficult to make out what people are saying. However some files are like that before I even do noise reduction on them. The files are from a VHS-to-DVD conversion. I've no idea how they were recorded. I just bought them from someone, demuxed to an MPEG2 then converted to WAV.

Before Noise removal

Original Sample from different video. Some VHS-to-DVD conversions are like this where the commentating volume seems to be too low and difficult to make out what people are saying. Is there any way to make it more clearer?

[smrpix]

I'm going to go way out on a limb here. Based on your file name. This is from a VHS recording made with dolby noise reduction. When you played it back on a non-dolby system it sounded too hissy. You tried to fix it in Audition, overdid it because you don't know how to manually adjust the settings, and wiped out all the high end.

If I'm right -- and that's a big if -- you need to play back the original VHS through a dolby decoder to get the best results.

Otherwise, start over and be less agressive with your source.

[Mephesto]

I'd have to hear original first but hiss/noise gives texture to dull audio that you don't notice until you remove it. Denoising doesn't always make sense even if you do it perfectly without destroying detail.

[VideoFanatic]

OK I've updated my first post.

[DB83]

You will not like what you are about to read but I will say it all the same.

I do not speak American. I do not have expensive audio equipment. I play my sound through quite cheap Sony Speakers (2) that I bought almost 10 years ago. I also wear a hearing aid.

I heard the original sample quite clearly and understood every word. The 'cleaned up' version was also just as clear. The second sample was not so clear but I still understood every word.

Dare I say it but the problem is more likely with your own equipment or even your hearing than the source material.

[Mephesto]

Your audio after Mephesto

Ok it looks like whatever you used to fix the hiss was fine in the lower bands then got really aggressive at 1000 Hz and above. Use a better, updated denoiser from Audacity and choose a better noise profile. That pause at 5 seconds worked well.

[VideoFanatic]

OK thanks. I know how to remove hiss, but what I'm asking is if there's a way to make audio sound clearer.

[budwzr]

OK thanks. I know how to remove hiss, but what I'm asking is if there's a way to make audio sound clearer.

Yes, a speech enhancer.

[VideoFanatic]

I found the Vocal Enhancer option in Adobe Audition but I can barely tell the difference before and after I use that.

[netmask56]

VideoFantic we really need more information like

Your playback equipment.

Do other people experience the same perception of the audio as you do? Get a 14 year old in to listen with you and compare results. (assuming he/she hasn't wrecked their ears with over use of earbuds - maybe hard to find!)

I'm 75 retired sound engineer so suffer from the normal ravages of age related hearing loss. So if you are over 40 then you will also have hearing loss above 12Khz ish

Re speech recognition research has shown ( ref library Journal AES) a little bit of controlled hiss can actually assist in speech recognition under difficult aural situations, so it's best not to overdo the filtering.

Make sure you VHS machine does have Dolby decoding on

[jagabo]

Use a graphics equalizer to bump up frequencies from ~2 to ~5 KHz. That will enhance sibilants. Of course, noise in that range will be boosted too. And music may become tinny.