How To Apply Noise Reduction in Audacity

Reducing the amount of noise in a track is important for clean audio. Now that we have the ability to do it via realtime effects, it can be done non-destructively. But not everyone is on board with using realtime effects yet so I want to take a few minutes to show you how to apply the Noise Reduction effect that comes packaged with Audacity.
Hardware I used in this video (NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases).
- Shure SM7B Dynamic Microphone amzn.to/3VvCAlY
- DBX 286s Microphone Pre-Amp Processor amzn.to/3CMt4EV
- StarTech.com 4U 19" Desktop Open Frame Rack amzn.to/3fWrE1E
- ZOOM H6 Portable Studio amzn.to/3rIpfdl
- 2022 MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro processor and 32 GB memory
Software I Used:
- Audacity Version 3.2.3 www.audacityteam.org/
- Camtasia 2022 www.techsmith.com/video-edito...
- Auphonic Desktop App auphonic.com/leveler
Other places you'll find me:
- Audacity Step-by-Step: Beginner to Advanced - www.audacitybootcamp.com/p/au...
- ACX Audiobook Production Using Audacity - www.audacitybootcamp.com/p/ac...
- Audacity Bootcamp Online School - www.audacitybootcamp.com/
- Learn Audacity - learnaudacity.com
- Zoom H6 Audio Recording Essentials: learnaudacity.com/zoom-h6-aud...
- Facebook: / learnaudacity
- TikTok: / learnaudacity
- Instagram: / learn_audacity

[@klchu]

Thanks for this more detailed video. So many of these "reduce noise" videos just cover the basics.

[@CharlieB86]

😅😢

[@rsxen8990]

perfect video. really helped pointing out the DB reduction and why certain number was selected!

[@RolyPolyGames]

Oh this channel is going to be a treasure trove of helping me with video editing and sound editing for my game. Thank you.

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad to help!

[@anujintumurbaatar9937]

OMG was really sad about the noise and I probably have watched 10 videos but nothing helped but yours was the best one and I really appreciate your content. Thank you so much

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks!

[@grzegorzbaanda1714]

Straight to the point, very informative. Thank you!

[@1oolabob]

I like that you did this video to fully cover one operation. It allowed me to understand all the steps. Too many of the Audacity tutorials run through 10-15 operations too quickly for me to see every step, then I'm lost when I try to do any of those operations. Really, Audacity is pretty simple, but only if one makes the correct moves in the proper order.

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you. I prefer to be methodical when I’m teaching something.

[@lucaaasfut]

Thank you for the class, I'm watching you from Brazil!

[@awaitingthetrumpetcall4529]

Thank you. I stepped through my recording and followed along.

[@dagmawilemenih]

This is a really good video and helped me out a lot. Thanks my guy 💯

[@ChorizoMachine]

Excellent video, very helpful - thank you.

[@fixitmakeit72]

Brilliant sir. Was ready to invest in a different mic but this solved my noise issues. Well done great video. Have subscribed.

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@user-kh2rd5iz2c]

Thx!!! This really helped me! I'm so thankful to you, sir

[@youdontknowme8608]

Thank you for the useful tip. That helped a lot

[@gnofriends5678]

Great video! Thank you!

[@brandoncroll]

Great video! Keep up the good work!

[@TheDramaCoach]

really useful, thanks for sharing

[@AdredenGaming]

Thank you for this video :) This was not intuitive so it was good to see you do it Cheers

[@tequilaghoul]

you, Sir, are AMAZING! Thank you for this tutorial! subbed!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@SixtyEightCircles]

Thanks for your help!

[@YonathanJ]

Thank you so much for the detailed tutorial, this is going to come in very handy for my channel! I made a quick test and the audio quality is incredibly better with just a little messing around with noise reduction, cheers

[@LearnAudacity]

That’s great! Thanks for letting me know.

[@ashuuddin6415]

yo SIR! this is brilliant haha. I can't believe my crappy microphone could produce such a crisp voice over haha. Thanks for helping us out here

[@yOGlo]

Lol

[@wilcandou]

Hi everyone... So that your grab doesn't sound glitchy when you reduce the noise, try this: 1) don't go crazy with the sensitivity. Pull it back around 15-18dB. Then 2), in the frequency smoothing bands, select 5 or 6 bands as this curves the noise profile and leaves what you want to remain not as glitchy sounding. 😉

[@kead6636]

This was a nice and easy tutorial, thank you. I notice that the voice part also gets affected by doing this, not necessarily for the better. Should I aim for a lower reduction? Like -50dB instead of -70dB to keep the quality?

[@ThaiNguyen-hd1hj]

Thank you so much!

[@bethreth5151]

Thank you!

[@ClydeRougeAmbient]

Great tutorial, thanks very much. You have a new subscriber.

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks for the sub!

[@wabvv]

Great video thank you

[@LearnAudacity]

Very welcome

[@EnglishRain]

Thanks a ton for the excellent tutorial

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re welcome!

[@RobotRich]

Really great video!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thank you!

[@Daniel-Judson]

God bless you, so thankful for this tutorial!

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad it was helpful!

[@IZO_9]

Thanks!

[@anthonywilliams3606]

If you don't want to watch 7 mins to do something this simple, first highlight a sample of the noise in your track that doesn't include audio, select noise reduction > get noise profile, than highlight the whole track and go to it again but this time push OK at the bottom.

[@cagedbutterfly93]

The hero we all need

[@taylormccallister2612]

Super helpful, super easy to follow and immediately apply. Thank you!

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks!

[@baru612]

Extreme useful ❤

[@MathiasAmling]

thank you so much!!!

[@LearnAudacity]

You’re welcome!

[@alilotfi1304]

Thank you very much

[@eyitayoayodeji3690]

Nice video thumbs up

[@TerrellThinksThrowBack]

This is so good

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks!

[@adirmiller2141]

This guy reminds me of the how its made guy, as in his voice. Its amazing

[@danielheisler8281]

Well explained

[@LearnAudacity]

Thanks!

[@theheartpharmacist]

Thank you so much for this! I had a difficult time figuring it out after trying to select the section for noise reduction. It really isn't very intuitive...

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad it helped!

[@Hernandezvideofilmaudio]

Do you have a video on good settings for Noise Gate?

[@georgeprice4212]

I generally take the needle drop/lead in and massively crank the volume level on that, grab that as the sound to remove. I then undo most of the work, except for removing the entire audio track…and it works perfectly for me.

[@NeonPhyite]

mwah im ur 400th subscriber

[@sissyv.6074]

Hello! I have a specific question. When i record my first podcast there was noises in the background and i tried to remove it with effect - noise reduction. The first setting for dB to not hear it i tap 17, but the volume is quiet, it mutes my volume quite a bit and I don't know how to remove the noise without reducing my volume so much.

[@JFK1180]

How does this affect the background noise? And the ACX checker. Also thought the track sounds metallic after listening to it after trying this.

[@falcoperegrinus82]

Would selecting a longer piece of noise make the noise reduction work better since you're giving Audacity more data to work with?

[@boydappels1501]

hi if i put de plugins in de plugin audicaty folder they come no in de programm audicaty help please can you make a video oalso for the effects in audicaty

[@josephsy]

How the.. hell did it do that. amazing. thank you

[@LearnAudacity]

Glad you liked it!

[@PolishVoiceFM]

Hi. I’ve got problem with recording with Audiacity and using scarlet solo. If record single channel then OK but one channel is quiet if change for 2 channels then is error code. One microphone single connected to scarlet. How can I record podcasts on two channels with scarlet?

[@MrNitehawk7]

Thank you for this. It got me through the noise reduction on a 30 yr old cassette tape I had recorded some songs. The songs sound good. But for some reason it reduced the noise to zero. My audio playback meter shows absolutely nothing. When the song begins the meter shows normal decibels. My noise was at about 44 dB before. 0 dB after. I used Noise Reduction of 30. Sensitivity 6. Smoothing 3. Song sounds good, but should I have gone with 20-25 reduction instead? Thanks for your tutorial!

[@LearnAudacity]

Don’t be too aggressive with noise reduction. It can be a trial and error process. Make sure you back up your project first.

[@johnjusko4789]

Hello When you do this why is it that you have misgivings about noise reduction in which I would use the DOLBY NR coming fromn my cassette tape decks because all of our CD players don't have DOLBY NR in themif I'm correct and so what do you think about this here?

[@greatamericandreamrealtyli6583]

I just started recording videos for some local bands. Just purchased my first editing software today and am not a techie. Can I filter out the annoying people around me that are talking while the band is playing without sacrificing the quality of the music?

[@madhawadhamsika5421]

hi i need a help, i hav a audio that cannot find correct figures to noice cancellation. plz help me

[@Jamie-1985]

What settings would be best to strip out car engine noise from a dashcam?

[@LearnAudacity]

Maybe try noise reduction.

[@mfarooqiqbal]

what if we do not have silent part in the track?

[@sentimentaloldme]

A big problem with noise reduction is it effects & distorts the original audio..The higher the setting the more distortion.. I don't use it for that particular reason..The very most I would set it to is 12...

[@LearnAudacity]

It can. It also depends on what's in the audio you sampled to get the noise profile. I've never had it distort my audio but I know it can.

[@lunama151]

Any chance I can remove some background noise without affecting too much the speaker voice on my video? I got cars and other noise at the same time when the speaker talk, and audacity isn't doing a good job. Thanks.

[@LearnAudacity]

That's hard to do completely. You might try it using RX10 or something similar. But that's pricey.

[@lunama151]

Thanks for the quick reply!

[@abhishekbairagi2410]

sir how to make music track

[@LearnAudacity]

I don't do music any more

[@VRG1959]

Sir, I don't know how to contact Audacity My concern is iam not able to save project file in hard disc( External).. can you please forward my concern to audacity platform or give me solution. I don't want to save in c drive for space problem... Please Sir 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@LearnAudacity]

You can reach them at forum.audacityteam.org

[@liltoto371]

If i apply noise reduction it alway sounds like im in a zoom call it worsens my audio by a lot can someone please help me I would be so greatful

[@LearnAudacity]

Your settings might be too aggressive.

[@liltoto371]

@@LearnAudacity Yeah idk i record with OBS now there it works better for some reason but thx🙃

[@gasmith7486]

Oh geez 🙄

[@KiddTripz]

this video could literally be 3 min long..

[@CoggySings]

try to be a bit more concise...

[@Smokdeel]

Thank you!

[@nvsn]

Thanks!