SF12-Pops & Clicks often showing up in tracks! Is this the norm?

EOH-Editor wrote on 2/20/2020, 8:09 AM

Using Sound Forge 12 on the latest windows based system and it's been 50\50 chance that every track has pops and clicks, some days more than others. Is there a setting missed? Or is this the norm when running on Windows? I can remove/hide them between the draw tool, zooming in and deleting and the Click and Crackle Remover in Tools, but this often leads to the tracks with noticeable overly processed/squished/ compressed to a can sound... Am I the only one with this issue?

Comments

rraud wrote on 2/20/2020, 1:25 PM

If you can see the tics, pops and such on the timeline, and or repair them, they are inherent to the file. Sound Forge does not add anything. The click/crackle plug-in does not add EQ, compression or limiting, though will produce artifacts if used to excess which may be mistaken as such. Some sound cards, monitors and headphones may make clicks and crackle more noticeable. Can you post a sample file somewhere like DropBox?

Are the same files ok on other playback devices in the PC? In SF, glitches, skips, momentary dropouts and such can be an indication the playback buffering needs to be changed. "Options> Preferences> Audio"

EOH-Editor wrote on 2/20/2020, 2:33 PM

Thanks for the response. It is especially noticeable on playback in other devices as well as on the PC.

tried to post a small example file here, but I guess that's not doable. I've loaded a few samples on DropBox, now to get them so you can hear them....

EOH-Editor wrote on 2/20/2020, 2:36 PM

Well what do ya know, figured how to share...here's a link to a few mild ones. some of this may be just mouth noises, but I believe most are not.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9zbiiqqlh16gb9v/Pop%20Click%20Example%204.wav?dl=0

johnebaker wrote on 2/20/2020, 3:43 PM

@EOH-Editor

After examining the audio waveform there are definitely glitches in the recording.

How was this recorded and is it a composite of several takes?

John EB

EOH-Editor wrote on 2/20/2020, 4:08 PM

In a vocal booth, with high quality mic(U87), on a presonus interface, all single takes, as I edit out what's needed (or not) on the 1 take/track...so no multiples or track layering, a lot of cut and pasting, but that never seems to be much of an issue...

rraud wrote on 2/21/2020, 11:51 AM

Make sure SF's zero crossing is set to the default "Options> Preferences> Editing"

You can add a HP & LP filter, There is little content below 100Hz and above 10kHz in the human voice, Other click and such can effectivly be removed with the RX Elements De-click or the legacy NR 2,0 click and crackle tool. The ones the plug-in misses and removed surgically using "Replace" or "Interpolate" tools. Another option is drawing it out in the waveform, but re drawing is usually slower than the above tools, but sometimes necessary.

Most of the clicks I'm hearing are mouth noise, Some of the VO artists I've worked with drink warm non-caffeinated tea, or a few bites of a Granny Smith apple. Most arists have there own favorite remedy... and microphone. U-87s are usually not the go-to mic for females. Dynamics inherently are not as prone to pick it HF ticks and such. A RE20, SM7 or MD421 come to mind. A few big name male VO artists swear by a 416 shotgun mic, don't know if that would work in your case. A U-67 is a renowned mic for many female vocalist, but I never had the opportunity to try one for narration either. A vacuum tube preamp may help as well.

EOH-Editor wrote on 2/21/2020, 3:26 PM

Thank you guys, so much, for the info! I will Definitely be talking to my bosses about the mic. In addition to all of your fixes, I upped the buffer rate and it seems to have done the trick with the additional pops and clicks, not mouth created.