Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..?? -Sound Forge - PC

Subject:Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..?? Posted by: secretsam007 Date:11/21/2004 4:42:21 PM I was using Camtasia and then post-processing with Soundforge/Noise-reduction, which created a fab audio track in my AVI, but when I put the audio back into Camtasia it sounded like there was a sort of"harshness" to the voice.... Sort of abit clipped in the base - Im struggling for the right word here, its not really clipping, but more like there is a buzz in the voice/speaker (even at low volume) I cant understand why it would sound perfect when in Studio, Media-Player, etc - but really harsh and with a buzzing-tone to the voice in Camtasia...? Do some applications need more normalisation to work with their audio perhaps..?? Sample processing (which sounds fab!):- 1. Noise reduction 2. Clipped peak restoration 3. Smooth/Enhance 4. Normalisation (Any suggestions to the above would be fab!)
Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..?? Reply by: mpd Date:11/22/2004 7:12:17 AM What kind of audio were you loading into SF, and what were you saving as? Based on your previous post, it sounded like you may be recompressing compressed audio, which almost always sounds bad.
Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..?? Reply by: secretsam007 Date:11/23/2004 7:38:22 AM Yes - I recorded (perhaps somewhat stupidly) in GSM 6.10 4kbs.... I figure I should have chosen G711/PCM or MP3 at the max bit-rate....? Anyway for post I then processed the audio for Noise, Clipped restoration, Ehnance and then normalise.... ....and then recompressed into MP3 (and even PCM - which should be near perfect for speech) Strangly enough the same resultant AVI file plays fine in Soundforge and Media-Player; and I only get this "buzzy" sound to the voice in one application - the one I need it in - Camtasia studio... (which then turns it into a flash file, with the exact same problem..!)... So Im not quite sure where the probem is being introduced... ta! Sam
Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..?? Reply by: mpd Date:11/23/2004 11:17:34 AM Not to sound mean, but there were problems introduced at every step... Always record to an uncompressed format, such as WAV. Only process the file if it needs it. All of the processes you used can improve quality, but they can also wreck audio. Compress to MP3 as your last step. If you do everything right, voice at 16kbps will still sound pretty decent. Remember that Camtasia Studio will compress the audio, too, (you have three compressions going on in your setup!). That is probably where your buzz is coming from. In other words, if you destination is anthing other than SF, save your audio as a WAV.

Subject:Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..??

Posted by: secretsam007

Date:11/21/2004 4:42:21 PM

I was using Camtasia and then post-processing with Soundforge/Noise-reduction, which created a fab audio track in my AVI, but when I put the audio back into Camtasia it sounded like there was a sort of"harshness" to the voice....
Sort of abit clipped in the base - Im struggling for the right word here, its not really clipping, but more like there is a buzz in the voice/speaker (even at low volume)

I cant understand why it would sound perfect when in Studio, Media-Player, etc - but really harsh and with a buzzing-tone to the voice in Camtasia...?

Do some applications need more normalisation to work with their audio perhaps..??

Sample processing (which sounds fab!):-
1. Noise reduction
2. Clipped peak restoration
3. Smooth/Enhance
4. Normalisation

(Any suggestions to the above would be fab!)

Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..??

Reply by: mpd

Date:11/22/2004 7:12:17 AM

What kind of audio were you loading into SF, and what were you saving as?

Based on your previous post, it sounded like you may be recompressing compressed audio, which almost always sounds bad.

Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..??

Reply by: secretsam007

Date:11/23/2004 7:38:22 AM

Yes - I recorded (perhaps somewhat stupidly) in GSM 6.10 4kbs....
I figure I should have chosen G711/PCM or MP3 at the max bit-rate....?

Anyway for post I then processed the audio for Noise, Clipped restoration, Ehnance and then normalise....

....and then recompressed into MP3 (and even PCM - which should be near perfect for speech)

Strangly enough the same resultant AVI file plays fine in Soundforge and Media-Player; and I only get this "buzzy" sound to the voice in one application - the one I need it in - Camtasia studio... (which then turns it into a flash file, with the exact same problem..!)...

So Im not quite sure where the probem is being introduced...

ta!
Sam

Subject:RE: Why does speech sound somewhat "buzzy" with one application after my audio procesing..??

Reply by: mpd

Date:11/23/2004 11:17:34 AM

Not to sound mean, but there were problems introduced at every step...

Always record to an uncompressed format, such as WAV.

Only process the file if it needs it. All of the processes you used can improve quality, but they can also wreck audio.

Compress to MP3 as your last step. If you do everything right, voice at 16kbps will still sound pretty decent. Remember that Camtasia Studio will compress the audio, too, (you have three compressions going on in your setup!). That is probably where your buzz is coming from. In other words, if you destination is anthing other than SF, save your audio as a WAV.