[BC] Optimod distortion?

[Cowboy]

On Saturday 24 December 2005 10:56 pm, Dennis Cope wrote:
>Need help with a little problem.
>
>I process many 45's and LP's to the hard drive.  Some (most) have clicks and
>pops.
>I use Adobe Audition to record and de-noise.
>
>The result, although not the best but is acceptable.

 I can promise you that I have a brother whose hearing is far, far superior
 to mine, who would not find it "acceptable" and therein lies the problem.

 I spent weeks, literally, de-noising some long ( 1958 ) out of print vinyl,
 only to have him find the result unlistenable. 
 No one, and I mean NO one else objected.

 So, I spent a few more weeks, un-doing the "de-noise" that automated
 software had done, replacing holes with a completed waveform.
 The result was to most, a subtle difference, but an important lesson
 in what is, and what is not, "good" production.

>When put on the air some of the songs sound like they are running down a
>water pipe, sounds bad...
>
>In the studio I checked the output of the board,,,  acceptable
>Into the Optimod,,, acceptable
>Out of the Optimod,,, water pipe

>What is the Optimod doing to the audio?

 Now, don't take this wrong.....

 Exactly what it's supposed to do !

 Bob, and Frank, do wonderful things with what they are given to work with,
 but even the best can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear !

 What you're doing may be quick and easy, and under *some* circumstances
 the compromised output *may* be "acceptable" but obviously the low 
 quality is not acceptable in a professional environment where further processing
 may accentuate the artifacts, and serve to make a bad situation worse.

 You're pumping water into the gas tank, and blaming the carburettor.
 The only *real* solution, is to stop pumping the water into the gas tank !

 I know that's not what you want to hear.
 You *could* try less aggressive "noise replacement" in the studio, and see
 if you get a "good enough" compromise, or perhaps the clicks and pops
 from the vinyl arn't as bad as what Audition is replacing them with ?

 You can also *try* less-aggressive processing with the Optimod, or
 some combination of the two.

 Note that it *is* noise replacement, not noise removal.
 Pick your poison, or obtain new versions of those cuts.

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

If you took all the students that felt asleep in class and laid them
end to end, they'd be a lot more comfortable.
		-- "Graffiti in the Big Ten"