Hiss or no hiss? (1 Viewer)

[Peter Ericsson]

I have now learned how to get rid of the hiss on my bird recordings. I am not sure what is the common approach to this? Some folks seem to prefer the hiss and others leave it out.....any advice?
I wish I could post the same recording with and without for you to listen to but I don't know where to post it.

 

[jmepler]

Peter,

To load audio files into a new post you just need to scroll down to the "Attach Files" section, and click the "Manage Attachments" button.

If you are attempting to attach audio files to an existing thread you need to click the "Go Advanced" button in order to get to the "Attach Files" option.

You may attach mp3 or wav files.

Mike

 

[pshute]

I have now learned how to get rid of the hiss on my bird recordings. I am not sure what is the common approach to this? Some folks seem to prefer the hiss and others leave it out.....any advice?
I wish I could post the same recording with and without for you to listen to but I don't know where to post it.

I've tried using Audacity's Noise Removal option, but I'm not sure I like the results. It sounds ok if I lower the noise by just a few dB, but then I can still hear the noise. If I remove enough to make a big difference to the noise then it also kills the reverb in the recording, and it sounds very dead.

So I stopped bothering. It's also rare that there isn't some kind of environmental noise masking the hiss, like wind in the trees or a nearby stream.

I find that I get used to hiss in a recording after a while. It's only when I first start listening that it's really obvious, although I'd prefer if it wasn't there.

I'm told Izotope RX does a better job. What are you using? I'm keen to hear your samples.

 

[RafaelMatias]

I guess that depends on the frequency of the hiss you mention and the frequency of the bird sounds you're recording. I guess a hiss means very high frequency and in that case you may try and use the low pass option in Audacity (that will reduce the hissing sound above the frequency value you determine but it won't eliminate it completely). This is if there is no overlap between the hissing sound and bird sound frequencies (if you are recording Goldcrests you'll be in trouble ). Otherwise I have no suggestions.

 

[Peter Ericsson]

Files

So here are the two files one with unedited hiss and one without....I guess I could simply reduce the hiss a bit as suggested but haven't tried that yet.....

 

[Mono]

I did a bit of fiddling and here is "just the hiss", the stuff in the original but not in the no hiss version. You can still hear some of the Blue Pitta, that would not be in the no hiss version. As folk have said above, that can matter more if there is a greater frequency overlap between the desired sound and the hiss. You have also taken out a lot of the character of the background noise, which may be the desired effect I don't know the intent of the recording.

 

[Peter Ericsson]

Hi Mono,

My intent is to highlite the main bird species which is Blue and Giant Pitta without it sounding too sterile. In your file the Blue Pitta has almost disappeared.

Peter

 

[iveljay]

I have collected various audio processing packages and will have a play when time permits as I am sure that I have a lot to learn in getting the best sound, without removing the bird.

I must admit though that listening to the recordings I have bought, I don't find background hiss or other noise too much of a problem as long as the birdsong is still clear enough. This is why I am building a cheap 'parabolic'/squirrel deflector microphone to try and get a higher birdsong to noise ratio.