Soundforge restoration of"overblown" snds

[jeremym]

This is my first question on your forum (I paid my membership dues yesterday.)

I recorded a concert.. a once in a lifetime event,
about 3 years ago, and recently imported the DAT
into WAV / Soundforge 6.0.

Bad news for me: the first 30 minutes, I had the wrong switch on the DAT flicked, and all that material is "blown out"... super super crunhy bass .. muddy beyond muddy.

Just awful.

I've tried *ALL* the relevant filters you supplied for SF. I imported them and gave 'em a shot.. but, none really helped.

Soundforge 8.0 (which I also tried) doesn't "think"
the material is clipped. But, that's what it is. On the DAT's meter, it's just off the charts "OVER" (I'm sure.)

I'd love to upload / send you two 30 second snippets of the recording (one in the "overblown 30 minutes" and one in the "just fine and dandy" sections) and I'd love to get your take to figure out what filters would smooth it out.

Let me know if this is possible.

Thanks in advance.

[admin]

Upload a clip here http://www.digitalfaq.com/uploads/upload.asp

FILE SIZE MUST BE UNDER 10 MB.

You may want to compress 1-2 minutes worth of audio to a high bitrate MP3. It is not an optimal method for retaining all possible quality, but it will suffice for my needs. A 320k stereo MP3 should be fine.

Edited by: admin

[jeremym]

Okay.. Done. Look for:

goodsample-moskowitz.mp3
and
badsample-moskowitz.mp3

Same concert, same tape.. just had the wrong switch
during badsample.

Thanks for taking a peek. Most appreciated !!

PS: I've had this concert on tape for 3 years,
and never knew what I was going to do with it...
Thanks again for taking a peek.

[admin]

Your audio has what is technically referred to as "distortion". There is no way to remove it, at least not by any software or hardware that I am familiar with. Maybe an audio engineer with special gear and a lot of time could do it, but not us.

The best that can be done to remove that noise is to give it a steep lowpass filter. SoundForge has no such filter (at least not in the configuration that is needed). I would Goldwave in this situation.

I would use SoundForge only to correct other aspects of the file (reducing bass, bringing out the high/mid tones, attempt to restore fidelity).

This is the process I'd use (text only):

Goldwave:
Lowpass filter - static, 5000, 20

SoundForge
Graphic EQ - Restore High
Normalize 20%
Paragraphic EQ - High Restore P (Volt6)
Paragraphic EQ - Remove Bass Grumble (Half)

Goldwave:
Lowpass filter - static, 4200, 20

If you want some images to go with this, let me know. Of course this is assuming you have access to Goldwave, or can find a trial that is not crippled (one that is fully functional during a trial time). The goldwave.com site does not make reference to how the trial works.



Edited by: admin