How to get started with Needledrops?

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Lord Reith
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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by Lord Reith »

This is how I remove clicks in Audacity:

- make a copy of the audio underneath the regular one.

- apply "high pass filter -48db/octave" at around 10khz to the copy

- highlight the filtered copy and amplify it up to 0db (ie: as far as it'll go)

The clicks should then stick out as sharp vertical lines. Even the most subtle ones will still be quite obvious if you zoom in. You can then zoom in on the same region in the unfiltered track and use the "repair" function (in the effects menu) to remove the click. Repair will only work on sections 128 samples or less, so make sure the display at the bottom is set to samples and not minutes/seconds, so you can tell how much you are highlighting.

Of course this is tedious and best suited to cases where there are only odd random clicks. Regular ticks and pops will require something else. But this way produces a perfect result.

When done... don't forget to delete the filtered track!
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ianbuckers
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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by ianbuckers »

zaval80 wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 11:51 pm
ianbuckers wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 10:22 am
Nimbus wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:43 pm Open Audacity, select the USB DAC as the input and record the LP. I save the output as a WAV file, as I use Clickrepair to remove the majority of clicks. Play the clickrepair(ed) track in Audacity and manually remove any clicks that have been missed. These are usually in first and last few seconds of a recording.
I also use clickrepair but I've never done manual removal in Audacity. Could you share your method so I can give it a try?
Manual removal is easy. The waveform should be scaled so that the resolution allows you to observe all of it (or the most of it) still remaining within the screen limits what regards the amplitude axis; as to the time axis, the scaling should be between several milliseconds and a fraction of 1 msec. Then you analyze the look of the waveform. Anything looking out of the ordinary is suspect, but it can be useful signal and not the pop or the click. Mark the place with a marker in the software and scale the waveform back, so you'd be able to play the sound back through this suspect spot and to check whether you hear the pop / click in the position of your marker. Then, set up the time resolution to a fraction of a millisecond. Now, if you "extrapolate" the suspicious place by drawing in the software a straight line between the points which look convenient for making the "extrapolation", and if upon the playback you won't hear the pop or the click, or probably hear what sounds like a change to how it sounded before, then you hit the exact spot of a pop or a click. In the latter case, if you still hear something, probably you'll need to retry your "extrapolation" by choosing different points. The smaller the time range of the extrapolation, the better. It is preferable for it to be less than 1 msec, but in some cases it could be up to something like 5 msec. Sadly, I've never done this in Audacity, as I have SoundForge which IMO is more convenient for editing, but the principle is the same, you "draw" in the software the line between two points which seem like it, and if you hit the pop or the click, you'll notice this in the course of playback. (Otherwise, if you chose the wrong spot, the pop or the click will remain in its rightful place.) It is possible to edit out things manually in any place provided you can still hear where the wrong sound occurs.
Thanks Zaval but my query was specifically about how to in Audacity. I've manually declicked in others but never Audacity so curious about how to there specifically.
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ianbuckers
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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by ianbuckers »

Lord Reith wrote: Fri Jul 08, 2022 3:05 am This is how I remove clicks in Audacity:

- make a copy of the audio underneath the regular one.

- apply "high pass filter -48db/octave" at around 10khz to the copy

- highlight the filtered copy and amplify it up to 0db (ie: as far as it'll go)

The clicks should then stick out as sharp vertical lines. Even the most subtle ones will still be quite obvious if you zoom in. You can then zoom in on the same region in the unfiltered track and use the "repair" function (in the effects menu) to remove the click. Repair will only work on sections 128 samples or less, so make sure the display at the bottom is set to samples and not minutes/seconds, so you can tell how much you are highlighting.

Of course this is tedious and best suited to cases where there are only odd random clicks. Regular ticks and pops will require something else. But this way produces a perfect result.

When done... don't forget to delete the filtered track!
Thanks LR. I will try that out next time I'm declicking something.
Nimbus
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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by Nimbus »

Sent you a PM.
RalseiDeltarune
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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by RalseiDeltarune »

Nimbus wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:43 pm Here's what I do. Turntable is connected to amp. Take the output from the amp which goes to cassette deck/minidisk deck and plug it into a DAC. I use the Behringer UCA202 (very reasonably priced). Plug the USB cable from the DAC into the laptop. Open Audacity, select the USB DAC as the input and record the LP. I save the output as a WAV file, as I use Clickrepair to remove the majority of clicks. Play the clickrepair(ed) track in Audacity and manually remove any clicks that have been missed. These are usually in first and last few seconds of a recording. Save the output as a FLAC file. Job done. Other than click removal I don't perform any other processing.

Alternatively, buy a decent USB turntable (not the cheap and nasty versions which are nothing more than toys) and plug straight into the laptop.

Note: when selecting the USB DAC in Audacity make sure you check the sound settings in control panel. In my case it defaulted to mono and it was a while before I realised this.
Will have to try it out when I get a new turntable. The goal for next year or so is to make enough money to buy some of my own stuff.
Interested in any/all Bootlegs. Sometimes I make my own.

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Re: How to get started with Needledrops?

Post by Doug »

... and make sure you have a decent cartridge, or you're just wasting your time. I upgraded to an Ortofon blue (about $275) and the difference between that and my previous cartridge is striking.

I also use Click Repair on everything. It removes thousands of clicks (both large and small) in a given sound file and doesn't change the sound if you use a reasonable setting.
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