# noise reduction for LP to CD recording **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469 "2003-01-03T19:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/1 "2003-01-03T19:27:01Z")
My dad is recording LPs to CDs on the computer using the Ripvinyl software program. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have a feature to minimize background noise, i.e. pops & hisses. So during a quiet part of a classical recording, all one can hear is the noise and not the music. Any good software programs that can do that? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/2 "2003-01-03T21:05:11Z")
_Noise Reduction_ by Sonic Foundry is an excellent product for that purpose. You can use it in a quick-and-dirty way, or spend some time and really work wonders. Quick-and-dirty is often enough to get decent results… For surface noise, you sample a part of the record that is supposed to be silent, and the software suppresses bits throughout the entire recording that match the profile of that noise. Sometimes it takes a bit of tweaking, if the “silence” you pick has a pop or scratch that is too close to the frequency range of something you want to keep, the whole recording ends up sounding flattened-- just pick another part and try again. I love it. [Info here.](http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=14) If you’ve got a large library to work through, it’s probably worth the investment. (The software is in the $200 range.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/3 "2003-01-03T21:12:08Z")
One other thing… Older versions of _Sound Forge_ (also by Sonic Foundry) have an early version of the noise-removal feature, which works pretty well. If economy is important, you may be able to pick up a used copy somewhere, and it’s probably good enough for most people’s purposes. (_Caveat_– I’ve only used the noise reduction in _Sound Forge_ to remove ambient noise from live (taped) recordings. I _imagine_ it would work for vinyl, but _Noise Reduction_ is purpose built for vinyl-restoration (among other things) and the algorithms employed by it are bound to be better. Quite apart from it being newer. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/4 "2003-01-03T21:18:27Z")
Also, to use _Noise Reduction_, you need a stand-alone wav-editor that accepts plug-ins. (Does _RipVinyl?_) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/5 "2003-01-03T21:30:23Z")
FYI, this describes an interesting technique for decrackling LPs using CoolEdit or a sound editor with similar functions: [http://web.archive.org/web/20010410094157/http://www.audioforums.com/forums/Forum7/HTML/000796.html](http://web.archive.org/web/20010410094157/http://www.audioforums.com/forums/Forum7/HTML/000796.html) ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noise-reduction-for-lp-to-cd-recording/146469/6 "2003-01-04T02:57:35Z")
There’s also the shareware program [Popfix](http://users.chariot.net.au/~voskulen/popfix/popfix.html), which I’ve used a few times. Pretty easy to use, and does an adequate job.