SoundSoap
2 offers solid noise reduction capabilities in an
attractive, easy to use, inexpensive package that pretty
much leaves you with no excuses why not to start cleaning
up your audio!
The
standalone version opens almost any digital audio file,
and the plugin will operate on any file your host program
can load. You should generally begin by playing the audio,
then playing with the "Click & Crackle"
slider, the "Rumble" button, and the "Hum"
buttons, if any of those noises are in your track. Then,
try to find a second or more of the audio that only contains
the noise you want to remove. Set your loop points for
that section, click the "Learn Noise" button,
and play. SS2 then removes a great deal of the
noise for you.
Click
the "Noise Only" button to listen to only the
audio that's being removed. If you hear any of the desired
audio, adjust the Noise Tuner knob until you don't. Lastly,
you can try the "Enhance" slider, which basically
boosts the bass and treble frequencies to help produce
a fuller, richer sound. In my experience this should be
used judiciously -- you don't want your dialogue to have
a radio DJ sound. However, I could see it working well
for increasing the clarity of sound effects recorded on
location.
The
pop-up Interface in Sound Soap 2 seems
purposefully designed to stay simple for video
people.
Ease
of Use
Installation was painless. I opted to go ahead and authorize
it via BIAS's web interface and immediately received the
authorization code via email upon entering my information.
The program gives you a grace period of about two weeks
to do this though, so if you're itching to get started you
can satisfy your need for instant gratification.
Using
the software is almost as easy as installing it! I had literally
cleaned up the Old Record clip inside of five minutes! BIAS
provides basic controls without a lot a clutter, making
it very friendly for the beginner getting started. Yet the
experienced user will be impressed with the results one
can achieve with so few controls to tweak. The GUI is laid
out well. The most eye-catching part of it is the oval shaped
spit-screen in the center which displays the frequency spectrum
of the incoming signal on the left and the outgoing signal
on the right. The unique thing about this window is that
it identifies the noise in the signal by using a different
color for those frequencies. It also changes as you adjust
SS2's parameters so you can see how aggressive you're
settings are affecting the signal.
Value
This is perhaps the most impressive display of value I've
seen in a piece of audio software in quite some time! It's
price makes it a justifiable experiment for the beginner
or the skeptic.
Test
Results
I chose four different types of sound issues to really put
Sound Soap 2 through it's paces. The first was an old record
with lots of scratches. The next was a living room interview
that had lots of quiet background noises like hums from
computers and air conditioners. The third example we looked
at was a conversation held in a large, echoey foyer. And
the final one was an outside two channel cell phone interview
for an experimental documentary called The Virtual Kevin
Project.
Old
Record: I got solid results in just a couple of minutes.
Though I did miss the ability to tailor the aggressiveness
of the noise reduction at various frequency bands like
you can with Sound Soap Pro and the Diamond Cut LIVE/SIX
applications, but I could never ask for more at this price!
Living
Room: Good results, very quickly! Using it as a plug-in
in Vegas, I set the loop points to either edge of a spot
where just the noise is being heard. Then, I inserted
just the SS2 plugin into the track FX chain. Having clicked
the "Learn Noise" button, I hit play and let
Vegas loop the noise section a few times. Finally, I set
the loop points to include the entire clip I was working
on and spent just a few moments tweaking the other settings
as it played. Viola! SS2 seems to automatically gate the
NR, which means that it is more aggressive in between
phrases of speech than it is while the subject is actually
speaking. This means you can hear the whine of the computer
fan in the background a little bit while he's talking.
But it's gone in the most noticeable places -- the spaces
between phrases were dead quiet.
Large
Foyer: Again, good results in a short period of time
using the same technique described above. SS2 took out
the background A/C noise without compromising the natural
ambience of the space.
Outside:
Fair results after tweaking for about 10 minutes. I must
admit that SS2 did better than I expected. This is an
extremely difficult clip to deal with! It did take the
noise down pretty well, but it ended up being a balancing
act between taking the noise out and the negative affects
on the dialogue. FYI: This clip was actually recorded
with one person talking on the left channel and the other
on the right. If I was cleaning this up for real, I would
process the two channels separately because each has unique
problems. However, for the purposes of this article I
wanted to see how SS2 would perform in one pass, using
only Vegas (which as best I can tell has no way to separate
audio channels by itself).
[BTW,
if you are a Vegas user, I strongly recommend adding Sony's
Sound Forge audio editor to your arsenal. It works seamlessly,
opening audio clips right out of Vegas.]
Click on the links below and hear .mp3's
of all of our tests!
Final
Comments
I found the results of SS2 to be very solid most of the
time. The trickle-down theory works to your advantage here
as SS2's code is derived from Bias, Inc.'s SoundSoap Pro,
which is used in professional studios the world over. After
a look at the manual, which is easy to read and includes
an overview of the different types of noise and how to remove
them, I think the process will become second nature for
you in no time!
