Sound Cleaner

Noise reduction and audio enhancement software

Usually, the examination of audio recordings requires the creation of a verbatim record, or transcription, thereof. Since audio recordings obtained in an operational context are often recorded in difficult conditions and not readily intelligible, the first step is to clean the sound of noise. To do this, the IKAR Lab 3 suite is optionally equipped with Sound Cleaner. It includes modern signal processing algorithms that are effective at suppressing broadband noise, tonal interference and pulses, while performing frequency response correction, equalising the signal, etc.

A waveform and stereo signal processing scheme with filters and parameters pre-set by an expert

Simultaneous display of the spectrogram and waveform for quick assessment of signal and frequency processing needs

To determine the characteristics of noise and interferences, it is possible to build spectrograms, including ones in 3D FFT format. This increases the speed and accuracy of noise reduction.

All filters work in real time — the result can be heard immediately after the filter has been added to the processing chain so that the user can select the optimal parameters by ear.

STC Auto Filter

Significantly reduces the level of the most common types of noise using a single controller.

Cell phone Noise Filter

Reduces interference from the characteristic intermittent sounds of incoming mobile phone calls.

Broadband Noise Filter

Reduces the noise level from rooms and streets and interference from communication channels or recording equipment. Such noises take the form of a hiss and cannot be suppressed by other methods, since the interference spectra intersect or coincide with the useful signal spectra.

Inverse Filter

Equalises the frequency response of the communication channel in which the recording was created. The filter has two settings: amplification of the weak and suppression of the strong spectral components of the signal (flattening the average spectra).

Tone Suppressor

Suppresses the stationary narrow-band and regular interferences (vibrations, network pickup, noises from home appliances, slow music, the sound of a car passing, noise from water or a room, reverberation, etc.).

Reverb Suppressor

Increases the intelligibility of speech, decreases the level of reverberation in recordings and reduces user fatigue by making the perception of a useful reverberated speech signal easier despite the presence of additional noise.

Click Suppressor

Automatically restores the speech or music signals distorted by pulse noises (clicks, radio noises, knocks, crackles, etc.).

Dynamic Range control

Improves intelligibility when large drops occur in signal level. For example, amplifying a weak signal and suppressing a strong signal to balance the amplitude of the output signal.

Equaliser

A 4096-band graphic equaliser with a built-in spectrograph for detailed spectrum correction in distorted recordings.

Clip Restorer

Restores overloaded recording fragments by reconstructing their waveforms.

Reference Noise Suppressor

Suppresses any noise from the main channel present in the reference channel (for example, TV or radio broadcastings, music, etc).

DTMF Suppressor

Processes the phone dialling signals, which is a sequence of short rectangular pulses with dual-frequency filling.

Sound Cleaner saves its processing results in WAV format and automatically generates comprehensive textual reports that log the process. The programme is compatible with any sound editors using VST 3 format.