KVR Audio

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:28 am

Recently I was desperate for some audio restoration tools because a recording engineer BADLY screwed up recording some acoustic instruments. These recordings were done with high quality mics in sound-treated rooms, but there was an electrical hum injected in all the files. So I stumbled upon RX3 after unsuccessfully trying to remove it myself. Note - this would be a challenge even for RX3 but so far it seems the best tool for the job.

The Hum Removal tool in RX3 was actually impressive and did the job. However the demo has run out (10+ days). I can't justify spending the $800 for fixing up these files but at the same time I want the job done.

Now the question is - how do I replicate what the tool does (its basically a notch filter with harmonics) without RX3?

- From RX3's spectrograph I found out the frequencies I need to notch out. This is what I entered in the Hum Removal tool and it worked quite well. I just need filters that are of the same quality as RX3.
- I can put the engineer's filter (butterworth) in series for all the frequencies to be notched out, but is this a good approach?
- Are there are any 'engineer's eq' kind of thing where you can notch out exactly the frequencies you don't want?

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:39 am

If you'd like a less-expensive alternative to RX3, Acon Digital has a nice suite for $100: http://acondigital.com/products/restoration-suite/

For a possible free solution, I'd give the free Melda EQ a try. It has a feature that notches out a frequency plus its harmonics: http://www.meldaproduction.com/plugins/ ... MEqualizer

Good luck!

Cheers,
Eddie

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 2:19 am

You don't need rx advanced to remove hum. The standard version will do it. However, if you did desire rx advanced you can purchase it for $687 at plugindiscounts.com. I bought the standard for about $208. Best restoration software I've ever used. It's critical for field recording/sampling.

-Sam

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:19 am

masterhiggins wrote:You don't need rx advanced to remove hum. The standard version will do it. However, if you did desire rx advanced you can purchase it for $687 at plugindiscounts.com. I bought the standard for about $208. Best restoration software I've ever used. It's critical for field recording/sampling.

-Sam

True but the standard doesn't include deVerb, and that is also an effective noise remover. Not to mention you can get a cleaner sound with a crappy bedroom studio.

Gah...I'm going to call the studio engineer and tell him to record those parts again.

Sampleconstruct · Post by **Sampleconstruct** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:25 am

keyman_sam wrote:
masterhiggins wrote:You don't need rx advanced to remove hum. The standard version will do it. However, if you did desire rx advanced you can purchase it for $687 at plugindiscounts.com. I bought the standard for about $208. Best restoration software I've ever used. It's critical for field recording/sampling.

-Sam
True but the standard doesn't include deVerb, and that is also an effective noise remover. Not to mention you can get a cleaner sound with a crappy bedroom studio.

Gah...I'm going to call the studio engineer and tell him to record those parts again.

Deverb is actually the only function in RX3 which doesn't really kick it, it's certainly not a noise remover, more an artifact introducer when trying to deverbrate audio - everything else in RX3 (I use advanced) is fantastic. I made some deverbration tests when RX3 came out:
http://soundcloud.com/sampleconstruct/sets/testing-rx3

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:31 am

+1 for Eddie's recommendations. He's on a roll! I have Acon Digital's reverb and judging by that, I'm sure the quality of the suite will be good. Also, I don't think you'll do better for free with Melda's eq and frequency analyzer.

stardustmedia · Post by **stardustmedia** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:38 am

If you already know the settings, I can run them through RX3. If it's a just couple of files, it's fine, no money needed.

...oh, and PS: I don't know of any real good free contenders for restoraution. Never needed the Deverb modul, but hear a lot about that there are better competitors for that. Let's see what R4 brings

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:39 am

deft_bonz wrote:If you already know the settings, I can run them through RX3. If it's a just couple of files, it's fine, no money needed.

...oh, and PS: I don't know of any real good free contenders for restoraution. Never needed the Deverb modul, but hear a lot about that there are better competitors for that. Let's see what R4 brings

That would be great! Sending a PM your way. I'll export the patches so that you load them and you're good to go. :harp:

Krakatau · Post by **Krakatau** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:53 am

Eddie TX wrote:If you'd like a less-expensive alternative to RX3, Acon Digital has a nice suite for $100: http://acondigital.com/products/restoration-suite/

+1

As a cheeper solution it seems IMO, the best alternative...

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:37 am

Krakatau wrote:
Eddie TX wrote:If you'd like a less-expensive alternative to RX3, Acon Digital has a nice suite for $100: http://acondigital.com/products/restoration-suite/
+1

As a cheeper solution it seems IMO, the best alternative...

Just tried the Acon demo Well, it is not bad for the price, but nowhere close to RX3, sorry. Maybe its meant for more clear cases (where the noise is significant, as demonstrated on the website). In the real world the noise is barely audible when dry, but more than enough to piss you off when you add processing.

For instance the Hum removal doesn't go beyond 500 Hz. The Noise Removal is okay, but still nowhere near RX3. The Hum removal in RX3 offers a lot more parameters that are actually useful.

Also, RX3 has A/B comparison with various settings which makes a huge difference. I'd save the $100 in the bank and plunk it towards RX3 in due time.

Also, P.S. I got a better result with a few Engineer's filters stacked rather than the Hum Removal in Acon.

stian · Post by **stian** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:01 am

keyman_sam wrote:Just tried the Acon demo Well, it is not bad for the price, but nowhere close to RX3, sorry. Maybe its meant for more clear cases (where the noise is significant, as demonstrated on the website). In the real world the noise is barely audible when dry, but more than enough to piss you off when you add processing.

For instance the Hum removal doesn't go beyond 500 Hz. The Noise Removal is okay, but still nowhere near RX3. The Hum removal in RX3 offers a lot more parameters that are actually useful.

The DeHum in the Restoration Suite is definitely one of the highlights and among the most transparent available, so that surprises me. Is it really hum you are picking up there? If you need to go above 500 Hz for the fundamental, I would say it is something else.

keyman_sam wrote:Also, RX3 has A/B comparison with various settings which makes a huge difference. I'd save the $100 in the bank and plunk it towards RX3 in due time.

But all the plug-ins in the Restoration Suite have A/B comparisons...

The guys at Pro Tools Expert just created a nice review video that shows off some of the capabilities of Restoration Suite for those who want to take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf2lgyzv8-8
Best,
Stian

audientronic · Post by **audientronic** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:37 pm

Sampleconstruct wrote:
keyman_sam wrote:
masterhiggins wrote:You don't need rx advanced to remove hum. The standard version will do it. However, if you did desire rx advanced you can purchase it for $687 at plugindiscounts.com. I bought the standard for about $208. Best restoration software I've ever used. It's critical for field recording/sampling.

-Sam
True but the standard doesn't include deVerb, and that is also an effective noise remover. Not to mention you can get a cleaner sound with a crappy bedroom studio.

Gah...I'm going to call the studio engineer and tell him to record those parts again.
Deverb is actually the only function in RX3 which doesn't really kick it, it's certainly not a noise remover, more an artifact introducer when trying to deverbrate audio - everything else in RX3 (I use advanced) is fantastic.

I've read all the comparisons, but I'm wondering, in practice, for sound extraction, cleaning up field recordings, and preparing samples--how much better is advanced? Can standard get the job done? Are the advanced features critical or just nice to have?

Sampleconstruct · Post by **Sampleconstruct** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:53 pm

audientronic wrote:
Sampleconstruct wrote:
keyman_sam wrote:
masterhiggins wrote:You don't need rx advanced to remove hum. The standard version will do it. However, if you did desire rx advanced you can purchase it for $687 at plugindiscounts.com. I bought the standard for about $208. Best restoration software I've ever used. It's critical for field recording/sampling.

-Sam
True but the standard doesn't include deVerb, and that is also an effective noise remover. Not to mention you can get a cleaner sound with a crappy bedroom studio.

Gah...I'm going to call the studio engineer and tell him to record those parts again.
Deverb is actually the only function in RX3 which doesn't really kick it, it's certainly not a noise remover, more an artifact introducer when trying to deverbrate audio - everything else in RX3 (I use advanced) is fantastic.
I've read all the comparisons, but I'm wondering, in practice, for sound extraction, cleaning up field recordings, and preparing samples--how much better is advanced? Can standard get the job done? Are the advanced features critical or just nice to have?

I'm not sure what the actual differences are, check the comparison chart on the iZotope website (two things that come to my mind are the use of 3rd party plugins within RX3 standalone and the deconstruct-feature, a special kind of denoising algo I often use for sounddesign purposes), I only now that I wouldn't want to miss a single feature I have in advanced (apart from the Deverbrate which I never use).

audientronic · Post by **audientronic** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 2:06 pm

Sampleconstruct wrote:
I'm not sure what the actual differences are, check the comparison chart on the iZotope website (two things that come to my mind are the use of 3rd party plugins within RX3 standalone and the deconstruct-feature, a special kind of denoising algo I often use for sounddesign purposes), I only now that I wouldn't want to miss a single feature I have in advanced (apart from the Deverbrate which I never use).

Okay, thanks. I think it may be time to take the plunge...

audientronic · Post by **audientronic** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 2:09 pm

Dereverb seems like it would be most useful for cleaning up speech from less-than-ideal video recordings.

Love Izotope RX3 pro but can't afford it (any freebie replacement?)