How do I clarify a wav file?

[Elaphe]

The audio in question is from a Telesync movie. There is a slight buzzing after some bass sounds and deep voices. There is also a slight faint hissing that some ts audio have. Lastly there is a kind of tinny sound to the audio in general. What app can I use to clarify the sound track

[housepig]

most any audio editor will be able to help this - Cool Edit and SoundForge are pretty popular and easy to use, as is WaveLab.

most have a built in equalizer, if you futz with the settings, you should be able to cut some bass (for the bass buzz) add some midrange (for more body) and cut some treble (to cut down on tinniness, although adding mids should help).

If you need more processing like noise reduction, these apps will either include processors to do it, or will accept VST or DirectX plugins that can do more involved processing.

A good cross-platform, freeware alternative, that accepts VST plugins, is Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net

just de-mux your audio into a stream one of these apps can work with, process it until you like the sound, then re-mux back with the video.

- housepig

[Elaphe]

Thanks Housepig.

I try to use Wavelab (the demo), but I am lost. There is so much, and the help files don't help. Do you know if the is a guide that explains step by step what I need to do?

[housepig]

okay, using Wavelab as an example.

open up your wav file.

you should see a floating box that says "Effects / Master / Dithering" on it. click on the white square by Effects, that will open up a set of 8 boxes which should all be empty.

Click on the white square labelled "1" in the top box. This should bring up a list of available effects for you. Select EQ from the list, a box should open up with High, Mid and Low controls. Each control will have two knobs - one for the level of the boost or cut, and one for the center frequency you are affecting. Play with those and see if you can make the wav sound more to your liking. If you have a slow computer, turn the knob then wait a second for the process to catch up.

Once you have it sounding the way you want, go back to the Effects / Master / Dithering box, press the "Render" button, and it will apply that effect setting to the whole file, or whatever portion of the file you highlighted.

Once you're done with that, save the file under a new name, and remux your audio and video.

Hope this helps - if it makes no sense, you might want to go to a bookstore or the library and get a book on basic audio principles and recording. If you have more questions, post 'em, I'll try and keep an eye on this thread and help out.

- housepig

[txpharoah]

Soundforge to tweak equalizers.
DartPro to remove hum/hiss/pops/cracks.