How to audio restore a recorded phone conversation?

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by Donut Nyamer, Sep 7, 2021.

  1. Donut Nyamer

    Donut Nyamer Audiosexual

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    There are vocal samples recorded on a phone that I'm using and trying my best to restore the audio, denoise it, gate it, corrective eq, compression, tilted eq to bring back loss of signal.

    But it's still a sorry phone recording so it leaves a lot to be desired in the low end and overall fullness of the sound and taming the harshness of the sample and making fuller and easier on the ears.

    Is there a special EQ that can substitute or fill in these frequencies and make the phone samples less harsh? Anything that can pull from the frequencies from the existing signal and move them lower down the frequency range without pitching down? Maybe there is something else I need?
     
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  3. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    So you mean the recipe for making gold out of lead. Pure alchemy and sorcery. Scrap remains scrap ...! Sorry
     
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  4. Donut Nyamer

    Donut Nyamer Audiosexual

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    *Sigh* I knew I was blindly asking something stupid in the dark. I was thinking an octaver but that doesn't really give the desired effect. What about bass processors like Bass Professor, Lowender or something similar then low passing some of the sub back out.

    It just sounds so barebones and harsh no matter how I try restoring the audio to something more palatable. But I'm afraid you might just be right. Breaking my head here. I know you can't polish a turd but I've been trying to egg coat it for hours now. Fuck my life.
     
  5. BEAT16

    BEAT16 Audiosexual

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    You poorest ... Try these tools - to filter out a few background noises ...!

    Noises:
    Acon Digital - Restoration Suite 2
    Accusonus - ERA-D VST (Noise & Reverb Removal)
    Brainworx - bx_refinement (Reduce Harshness)
    Wave Arts - Master Restoration Suite 6
    Waves - Waves W43 Noise Reduction Plug-in
    Waves - Waves Z-Noise
    Waves - WNS Noise Suppressor

    Vocal:
    Soundevice - Digital Voxessor
    Voxengo - Voxformer
    Overloud - Gem Voice (Vocal
    Soundevice - Digital Voxessor
    DMG Audio - Essense VST (De-Esser)
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2021
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  6. PersonneAudioZ

    PersonneAudioZ Kapellmeister

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    Without thinking I propose Spectralayers ...

    https://www.steinberg.net/fr/spectralayers/ :)
     
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  7. Donut Nyamer

    Donut Nyamer Audiosexual

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    I've been hearing a few things about it but didn't really know what it was tbh. Thanks for your suggestion, I will try it.

    @PersonneAudioZ Thanks again, this looks like the real deal from this demo. Truly looks like sorcery. Are there any tutorials on it you recommend for me to get closest to the ballpark of what I'm trying to achieve? Don't worry if you can't think of any, you've already been a great help with your suggestion.



    Thanks I will try some of these as I have a couple of them. What about bx sub synth and bx sub filter?
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2021
  8. Ŧยχøя

    Ŧยχøя Audiosexual

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    Waves X-Noise and Z-Noise can do a very good job in series,
    X-Noise also includes presets for White or Pink noise that work very well.. :yes:

    Never tried Waves WNS, but looks like it could be useful on Extreme cases..
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2021
  9. Xupito

    Xupito Audiosexual

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    Like others are saying the usual suspects are the best audio editors with restoration features.
    I'd add Izotope RX, for instance.
    Also, can you upload an example so we can try what works best?
     
  10. pratyahara

    pratyahara Rock Star

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    After noise reduction use
    Thimeo Stereo Tool 9.70. It does not simply EQ but restores frequencies by synthesis. There are two modules for that purpose - 'Absolute Highs' (for high end) and 'Delossifier' (for midrange) /but you can better use the whole 'Repair' module/. Use 'Delossifier' first. You must go to Configuration/Operating mode/Expert to set each module properly before every use.
    For bass synthesis use Leapwing RootOne and to add odd harmonics use SoundSpot Halcyon.
    In the end you can EQ the final result with any HQ equalizer. Instead of manual EQ-ing I suggest you use Sonible SmartEQ3 in 'Vocal' mode.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2021
  11. Donut Nyamer

    Donut Nyamer Audiosexual

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    Thanks, you and PersonneAudioz mentioned things that sounds like what I need! Thimeo and Spectral Layers sound so interesting.
    Also thanks for this tip.
     
  12. junh1024

    junh1024 Rock Star

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  13. Donut Nyamer

    Donut Nyamer Audiosexual

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    Thanks for all of your suggestions again! All great advice and I'm well pointed in the right direction, now I have a lot of work to do.
     
  14. pratyahara

    pratyahara Rock Star

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  15. Flex Rabbit

    Flex Rabbit Kapellmeister

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    For frequency/spectrum recovery maybe Zynaptiq Unfilter, for cleaning tasks izotope RX.
     
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