Need expert advice on mitigating the harmful effects of digital/compressed sound (mostly voices)

[TerpSound]

Here is the latest in my bag of tricks using multiband expander/compressor and dynamic EQ plugins to regain audio track dynamic range of favorite tracks--those damaged during mastering. There are two such plugins available from FabFilter Pro (with 1 month free trial for evaluation):

Pro-MB (for "multiband expander"), and
Pro-Q4 (for "dynamic EQ")

I find them extremely easy and powerful to use--since these are the same plugins used by the mastering guys to compress the tracks in the first place. Reversing those effects using the same (professional) plugins is the closest thing to a real solution that anyone is ever going to find (IMHO).

However, you must use your eyes and ears to use these plugins to reverse mastering compression, limiting, and EQ. It's pretty straightforward once you can see the dynamics of each audio track moving around during real-time playback, and see the limiting (clipping) within Audacity. Static and dynamic EQ can be applied to find the most effective reverse EQ settings for each track, then save the results to HD for future playback (instead of the tracks found on the compact disc or original download tracks).



You can run these plugins on something like Audacity and save the tracks in order to avoid your self-imposed issue of added computational load. This is what I do for the music tracks I listen to often but are otherwise compressed (damaged) to the point of needing something to reverse the damage. Then you only need to do this once, and then you can forget about having to recall the particular settings for each track in the future.

Chris

Thanks, this sounds promising!

Problem is, I need to do all that automatically, on the fly, with sources that vary in quality, male and female voices, etc.

Here's a brief explanation of one of the biggest problems lifted from a LinkedIn post:
"one of the biggest problems we have with sound in RSI (remote simultaneous interpreting) is that its range is compressed, and at the same time you lose certain frequencies altogether, while the remaining ones are boosted unnaturally. This means that much of the energy of the sound (up to 70%) is delivered in a narrow frequency band at around 4kHz, which can be damaging even if your volume is within safe limits, even within a relatively short time."

Here's an article that describes the severe damage that happens if I should fail to protect my hearing:
https://aiic.org/uploaded/web/UN%20NegDel/Technical%20Note%20to%20the%20CEB.pdf

If there is no safe software and/or hardware solution, the only option I have is simply not accepting remote interpreting assignments, and focusing on in-person jobs and translation. Some clients however may want a combination of these... (I'm an internationally working professional freelance interpreter and translator living in Europe).

 

[Cask05]

Problem is, I need to do all that automatically...

The FabFilter Pro-Q4 plugin has an "automatic EQ" mode to achieve some self-defined output spectrum density profile that you can either copy from another reference audio track or draw yourself.

Since I have no interest in that sort of operation of the plugins for music "demastering", you'll have to try it out yourself.

Perhaps you can scan the online YouTube and FabFilter product videos for a description of how to do that operation (which I where I discovered that capability myself).

Good luck.

Chris

 

[TerpSound]

The FabFilter Pro-Q4 plugin has an "automatic EQ" mode to achieve some self-defined output spectrum density profile that you can either copy from another reference audio track or draw yourself.

Since I have no interest in that sort of operation of the plugins for music "demastering", you'll have to try it out yourself.

Perhaps you can scan the online YouTube and FabFilter product videos for a description of how to do that operation (which I where I discovered that capability myself).

Good luck.

Chris

Off of what you said, I started looking at free dynamic EQ plugins, and found TDR Nova (works with Audacity). I still need to do some more reading to really understand what it can do and whether it works for me, but it looks good. It definitely could manipulate the mid-range frequencies, put a limiter on them, and it has compression, and if you pay a little also expansion capabilities. What it clearly can't do is magic frequencies lost in compression out of thin air. I think that's AI stuff, and probably not commercially available yet. And may be a drag on the CPU too.
It should be possible to make the sound safe by balancing out the existing frequencies, that's for sure. It needs to be live and automatic, that's the main thing.

Thanks for chipping in!

 

[twiiii]

You could always change your preferences in music. Popular very trendy types of music are really overly processed to please the performers, producers and to appeal to the people buying that kind of music. Jazz recorded by independents and companies with good reputations might be a viable choise along with different forms of classical music. But here again you will have to be careful about which performers you choose along with the recording companies and formats they have released the music on.

I really enjoy direct to Disc Lp's from DGG and Sheffield Labs as two examples . Chandos and Decca/London have some great CD releases, too. Hope fully DGG with soon release some of their original master series on CD too. Reference Recordings is another company that does a great Job.

Acoustic Sounds in Kansas are masters of producing a lot of analog recordings staying in the all analog format for re-release on LP that are very very good. They might be the one you want to go to for POP recordings that haven't been overly processed either as LP's or CD's. You can also buy very well cared pre-owned LP's that have been cleaned and were made before digital processing came along.

 

[twiiii]

I am pretty much an all analog guy when it comes to processing as thats what I used when I was in the recording business from the 60's to the middle 80's or so. I was just never interested in recording and processing in the digital format. But that said digital has the capability of doing things so well and most of the time better than analog. Its just that producers, performers and engineers making the recordings have certain ideas how recordings should sound today that don't agree with a lot of us. Especially you and me.

I have a parametric EQ, and some DBX products that I use to change the voicing and dynamics of the recording a bit. But as I am not into Rock or Country, or Hip Hop, Raggai(SP?) Soul, Blues, and other forms of Pop Music, I use processing only when absolutely necessary in the analog format. I can't correct for out of tune notes, or pops and clicks on records. I do correct for grossly bad bass, overly accented highs, dull dynamics, and ocassionally I will compress things a bit for playing music in my cars. Which means the music on my iPhone can be totally different than the version on a CD or or music I have down loaded to my computer which feeds the stereo system. Yes, some times I correct what I have down loaded on the computer but only after I have converted it to analog and then put it back digitally on the computer. What's on the computer are recordings I haven't been able to find any where else on CD, SACD, DVD-A or on analog. (LP).