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RE: [AV Media Matters] Audio Restoration Tool
Peter T. Kiefer, Coordinator
The Pennsylvania State University
Special Services Building
1127 Fox Hill Road
University Park, PA 16803-1824
(814)863-2911
ptk@psulias.psu.edu wrote:
>I know all about the CEDAR systems of audio restoration software however
>the full package runs about $18,000 a little more than my institution will
>pay.
>What does anyone know about the Noise Reduction software newly offerd by
>Sonic Foundry in Madision, WI?? Cost is $400-$500. I realize that it
>doesn't compare to CEDAR but is it worthwhile?
I hate to say this, but probably not, at least for your purposes. It is
not real time, and that is one of the keys to effective use of
restoration processes. If you have LOTS of spare time on your hands to
play with it, and relatively small quantities of material to be
restored, then a non-real time restoration software package may be OK
for you.
The CEDAR "system" consists of a number of separate devices of DSP
(Digital Signal Processing) electronics driven by its own specialized
firmware... not just "software" as in the Sonic Foundry packages. With
exceptions of some plug-ins for SADIE and other workstations, CEDAR
works in real time by DSP processing which is not dependant on the
performance of the CPU in your computer. With CEDAR, feed dirty audio
in the front and get clean audio (subject to whatever processing you are
doing, of course) out the back.
You need to determine WHICH of the CEDAR boxes you need to be effective
for your purposes. This may not be as easy as it sounds, but for your
purposes, you may find that one or two of the boxes will deal with most
of your needs, and over that, you could send out the worst material (to
someone like me... alright I HAD to get a commercial in!) for more
intensive processing that may be needed.
On the other hand, you might look at a workstation like TripleDAT with
the OSIRUS restoration plug-in. Here you can have real time processing
that is frighteningly close to what CEDAR will do, although CEDAR,
compared side by side does come out on top. Lastly, there is a system
from Germany called Sound Laundry that is modularized and does equally
as well or better.
Like anything, nothing is free... it all has a learning curve. CEDAR
would like you to believe that their systems are instantly usable to the
optimum by even the most novice user... sorry, but that is not true. It
takes a LONG time to understand what you can do with what material and
what works best... there are thousands of dismal restoration attempts by
people who "thought" they knew how to do it, or those guided by inept
"producers" who continually bleated the command "take out more noise...
I can still hear hiss!"
... Graham Newton
--
Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, http://www.audio-restoration.com
World class professional services applied to phonograph and tape
recordings for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR processes.