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   Software Review
   Sony Noise Reduction 2.0
   Publisher: Sony
   Genre: Noise Reduction; Audio Restoration -
    4 Plugins: DX

   Release Dates: July 15, 2005

   Website:Sony Media Software
   Demo Downloads: Click Here

   MSRP: $279.99




   Review Date:
February 15, 2006

   Reviewed By: John Howard
Final Score:
7.6

Editor's Note: If you haven't read our introduction to Noise Reduction article, go back and read it now to get a framework for how we're doing these Noise Reduction reviews.

As a long time user of Sound Forge, Acid and CD Architect, I was a big fan of Sonic Foundry's audio software. I was one of the first in line to try their Noise Reduction plugin when it became available. Now a part of Sony's holdings, the entire Sonic Foundry line of media applications, which also includes Vegas, DVD Architect and a whole slew of plugins for audio and video enhancement, sports an updated look and some sexy new features. Noise Reduction 2.0 (NR2) is advertised as being no exception, so of course I was eager to see how it has evolved!

Noise Reduction 2.0 now consists of a suite of four plugins for audio restoration. "The Noise Reduction" systems, etc. Similar to the "Learn Noise" feature in Sound Soap, NR2 analyzes a looped section of your audio that you specify as the "noiseprint" then uses that to create a filter that reduces that noiseprint throughout the file. "Vinyl Restoration" is a pretty self explanatory little plugin -- straight forward, simple reduction of the noises records make. "Click and Crackle Remover" is again simple, easy and effective at doing one thing. "Clipped Peak Restoration" allows users to rebuild, to some extent, audio that has been "clipped off" due to having the input too loud during recording. This can very handy for the occasional peak that occurs when an actor gets a little louder than usual. However, it will not restore the terrible distortion that results in overdriving the input too much, so unfortunately we still have to think about audio during the shoot.

Ease of Use
NR2's simple, straight forward GUI helps keep the technology out of the way and lets the user focus on sound. However, most video people will want to check out the manual to see what some of the parameters do in the Noise Reduction plugin as some of them may seem a bit technical. After that, play with the settings a bit and you'll get a handle on it. In most cases I only needed to adjust the Mode, Attack, and Release parameters after getting a good sample of the noise captured as the noiseprint.

Depth of Options
As you've probably noticed by now, my take on this collection is that Sony has pretty much designed each plugin to address one problem with no more parameters than necessary for each. As is often the case, simplicity comes with fewer options. The Noise Reduction plugin has the lion's share of tweak-ability and features and actually is fairly loaded. It's just that most of the more in-depth features are on the Noiseprint tab -- you don't have to play with them if you don't want to because the default settings are usually enough to get decent results. When the noiseprint is analyzed, a graphical representation can bee seen on the Noiseprint tab. The software automatically creates an extensive series of drag points which you can use to manually tweak the algorithm's response to certain frequencies. It also lets you specify how many points/handles to create for the noiseprint. Keep in mind what appears on the screen here is not just a watered down representation of what the algorithm is doing -- it actually affects the algorithm. So if you lessen the number of points created in order to make it easier to select individual ones, you are in some ways reducing the "resolution" of the filter, grouping more frequencies together to be controlled by a single point. The software conveniently lets you zoom the frequency range you have selected and has several ways to view the noiseprint that may make it a bit more comprehensible.

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