THE MAGIC OF AUDACITY - How to fix muffled/poor quality audio

I didn't expect this video to gain so much views. Otherwise i would put more effort in it :) Anyway, someone may get this wrong so i want to make it clear. This is rather just an experiment, it is not a canon way of editing audio. Of course it won't work everytime and sometimes it can make things even worse. And you definitely shouldn't use it for anything serious.

[@grandexandi]

i did this and now it sounds like theres a cat screaming in the back

[@sagered8007]

oh my goodness. i tried it and too got the cat.

[@TJOEL20]

Yeah because this is a stupid method that doesn't work.

[@sagered8007]

@@TJOEL20 Yeah i ended up doing my own thing and got a good result.

[@melonsoda3141]

@@sagered8007 do you mind telling me what it is?

[@sagered8007]

@@melonsoda3141 I made a comment on the main comment section about what i did.

[@andersj.gonzalez4823]

Awesome!!! After much experimenting with Audacity and applying this trick with my own twist I am finally bringing my old shellac and vinyl classical music records back to life!!! The cellos, the violins, the wind sections, so much was "hidden" in these recordings!!! I am now fully enjoying my digitized collection! Saludos desde Cuba!

[@MineBro56]

Oh my god. Now I can listen to the entire Project X Zone 2 OST in high-quality. Bless you, man.

[@Llyander]

Holy crap, this actually helped. Thanks so much! The audio I'm working with is still dreadful, sounds like the guy is talking through a pillow, but you can actually make out what he's saying now!

[@a.9589]

holy crap lois

[@TheProwlingSleepster]

You don't know how much I needed this. Whenever I try to make growling or roaring sounds by changing the speed it always makes the quality of the audio sound bad, but when I use this it ACTUALLY makes the quality sound a lot better

[@elliykollek]

It's great with music, but for vocals, it creates a second unwanted high pitched voice.

[@onullo]

I don’t know if Audacity can do this, but EQing and completely blocking out audio from the specific pitch may help.

[@elliykollek]

@@fhsjames that will revert the enhancement by removing the added high frequencies and only keeping some of them, I tried EQing but the problem is that the high pitched voice doesn't have a single pitch, it changes depending on the original vocals.

[@AndrewsMagicandMore]

It _would_ help if you mix the modified duplicate track with that track turned down to -10 if you need to reduce the high pitch.

[@sound_hunterr]

Man, why You have only 161 subs?!?!?! This is overpowered tip to repair AI generated music now!! I love You!

[@thesegaguy1499]

Bro, this is wizardy or what, I just tried it and the difference is night and day, thank you so much for this tutorial, it helped me a lot

[@drizzypuffs523]

They call him the devil. But you're an angel. Thank you.

[@uTSPhere]

Thank you very much M4Music! I utilized your technique on the copied track; however, instead of using JUST a highpass filter, I: - used a low pass filter at 15000 Hz (to create a ceiling for my voice @ 15 kHz) - used a high pass filter at 5000 Hz (to create a floor of that same track @ 5 kHz) The result made for a very clear (octave-enhanced) voice, that occurs naturally, when examined in say, Melodyne Studio. (As anyone who's done a spectral vocal removal/extraction in Celemony Melodyne or Adobe SoundBooth has probably seen.) I used these tools in this particular order, as I could not find a simple "Bandpass" option for limiting the secondary vocal track from 5 kHz - 15 kHz. Excellent video!

[@_bibleboy]

I have a muffled audio file I'd love to get mastered. How much?

[@Johnson0717]

I used your settings on an audio that had a microphone inside a car and I really wanted the car sound from the outside, and this helped a lot. Thanks stranger.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

I'm trying this with an 9ld recording from 2011, but putting the low pass at 14000 hz and putting the high pass at 7000 hz, because that seems to be the max for the audio itself.

[@uTSPhere]

@@CoasterMan13Official Yeah, certain bitrates can only handle certain frequency filters, sadly! Great job!

[@uTSPhere]

@@Johnson0717 You're welcome! Sorry I missed this comment so many years ago!

[@andreicoste7679]

at first, I had the same result of squeaking mice, the second time worked perfectly. What I did wrong I applied that to all 3 tracks instead of the last ones only, had the Hz range wrong too. I looked better the second time and it's perfect. Thanks, man you really helped me in a crappy situation now I have my proof for the police to actually take me seriously.

[@SONICBOOM1889]

I can now restore old muffled anime opening themes. TYSM!

[@Jir0u]

so glad that this video suddenly popped out of nowhere in my recommendation lel

[@RandomScottishHistory]

I just followed your How-to - thank you so much for the effort - I started with a man talking that was pretty muffled & I was looking to clean it up to make it more audible. The 1st try was exactly as per your video but with default High-Pass Filter setting, which resulted in something that sounded like a sped up high-pitched alien. So I backtracked & put in the same settings as you had for this same filter and that resulted in mostly silence but what sounded like insects when there was any sound at all. At least I know now how to create those sound effects, I guess. I'm going to go back to the drawing board with regards my muffled speaker, I think.

[@eiryves8554]

My audio sounds amazing now but.. They have squeaky voices... Help?

[@LiberalsGettheBulletToo]

Adjust the timing frequency in the earlier step. It might be difficult to entirely remove, though. Its a flaw in the method.

[@kenny0989_]

Instead of paulstretch, try changing the pitch by 1 octave

[@davidfaisca3967]

You can use spliter ai to extract vocals

[@CocoRoxas]

This helped me roughly clear up an old demo song from a toy piano that I had recorded, thanks a bunch! :-D

[@proximant]

WOW! This is so useful! Now I can make the Mechanical Commando 2 (Invasion/Burning Skies) OST sound even better!

[@ArmadusMalaysia]

Nice! But it's not so suitable for what I'm doing currently, which is trying to improve a muffled voice from a poor voice recording. But this is something I will definitely try again for upcoming projects.

[@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800]

i think it should work for anything but it depends on how much your audio is damaged of course you can't make gold out of shit ;)

[@ArmadusMalaysia]

M4Music I don't know, the higher frequency does give it a sharper feeling to it. but sometimes it feels unnecessary and makes me worried if it turns out annoying to through patato speakers. What I mean is, it doesn't make the words any more clearer, just adds a higher pitch in the background so to speak. Nevertheless, this video deserves more views for it's unique tips compared to other unoriginal vids.

[@LiberalsGettheBulletToo]

Use the EQ. Most static is on either far end, and voices are always in the middle. just clip the ends and make a smooth curve with the rest until it sounds good.

[@kingsharoe8453]

Same here

[@GabrielMartinez-pe6ln]

M4Music do you take requests to make a song sound better?

[@ajambor4796]

This is VERY GOOD! Thank you! From this I wondered how the full spectrum could be brought back!++++

[@mrteroo8953]

Perfect if you want your song to sound like a Pinky & Perky cover version.

[@LionelMathew]

Worked well for me. On both speech and music. Set the same values as in this video. And to make it more realistic, i had to do an extra step in the end... that is to amplify the treble track.

[@AndrewDrewJamison]

You can also now just analyze it, open a high pass filter, and then apply that Hz number.

[@militaristica]

this tutorial is still insanely good, thanks dude

[@peopledrinkwords5813]

Wow, this is amazing, thanks! This really helped for my last episode recording mess up.

[@orra143]

Wow! It really works! Made a Karaoke of an old song. Lost a lot of frequencies, but this trick really did the magic. Thanks!

[@arielrizu]

poor quality > mix edited effect = Poor Quality

[@PinkSlimeEntertainment]

I need to reverse the effect, I need bad quality audio memes

[@Dumpsterfire95]

use VLC to convert a good quality video, in the conversion settings but the audio bitrate the lowest possible

[@5AG3Official]

No body exept me liked the video!? People need to come here. Cause like I said in that Skrillex lmms dubstep vid, you deserve more subs.

[@cooperjan9475]

my guitar just sounds like a synth now lmao

[@Dumpsterfire95]

thats cool

[@sora_is_my_dad420]

It really showed me the kinda cool stuff you can do. Thank you.

[@dalemonaghan]

Thanks heaps. My recording was 48kbps and lost everything after 5 k so adjusted for 5000 instead of your 7000. Just mix it in just enough to add some sparkle to the top end. Awesome! Too much and it just sound like terrible artifact. Great solution.

[@montemallin7119]

Thank you for this! I was not aware of this technique.

[@QuaixiAnimations]

OH. MY. GOD. THIS ACTUALLY WORKED! Thanks!

[@UncensoredScion]

Bro you helped me out MASSIVELY thank you for this!

[@Johnny-WaIker]

It's amazing! But there's a strong hissing sound after. :( Anyone knows how to fix this? Thanks

[@Barlemon]

Delete the hissing sound

[@Barlemon]

@oskar idk i forgot its been 8 months

[@BlackVulpine]

This technique is not perfect, but it's pretty dang good!

[@locuus]

Works great on fixing muffled old audiobook recordings. Thanks!!

[@alphacrusaders6535]

Why don’t you have more views and subs for this?

[@montemallin7119]

this is, amazingly, working. You are a very clever individual to have figured this out. My biggest problem though is this: When you use the high-pass filter, you suggest copying the info from the frequency spectrum that you analyze. However, I am not a sound person, and in all honesty, I don't know how to look at that complex frequency spectrum chart and know what numbers I am supposed to use for the two inputs. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[@calvin8464]

I dont understand. What number from the plot spectrum od I put into the high pass filter? After I applied it at 7000 and then I tried again at 14000 (the peak of the spectrum) it just became super quiet

[@carltoncotter2614]

Hello and thank you. I am new to Audacity, but have figured out how to import MP3 albums or concerts. Then, to cut, paste and save as a new project to isolate a single track or song that I might like. As an Audacity "project" these cuts sound just fine - more or less like the original file. However, when I try to export that smaller section as a new file (WAV or MP3) they sound weird, muffled and / or out of phase? Most grateful for any advice from anyone in this community.

[@lewie895]

this didnt fix my problem, what i did was just go on the Bass & treble effect and turn the bass down, the treble up and also the volume a bit, perfect (My audio was from a live concert bare in mind)

[@gfelchitarista788]

this is the best thing that i have ever done to my music

[@Dasvidanya]

Holy shiitake. This absolutely worked for my audio.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

I'm trying to improve the audio of a video from 2011 that has terrible sounding audio. I might try this method with a video from early 2008. I can't seem to get rid of the whine this method generates.

[@janinadoyle8076]

I see you are showing how to get rid of the muffle from some music. Can you do the same for voice? I have a guests voice recorded remotely and it is quite muffled and poppy all at the same time, due to the fact that they did not have a microphone - can I still fix this?

[@ITAC85]

No, it sounds in vocals like a cat is screaming in the background or something. It only sounds best on some high-pitched vocal sounds, like X or S or T

[@emmap4339]

Thanks EGW for this great info. Can you explain what we do and why for plus how it works? It looks like you find out the energy range is quite low and find a technic to increase it largely but how does the magic work? That would be interesting to understand. Thanks again

[@hayd7371]

You are basically taking what's already there, increasing the frequency and applying that over the top. You aren't restoring what's missing, just filling in the space with a high-pitched chorus of what you already have.

[@robertobissanti]

Hi, Do you think that this fixing method is able to enhance muffled human voice (from internet interview)? How can I reproduce this method in Adobe Audition? Thanks!

[@officialkingstreerailfan2003]

How can it be done with videos because I was recording trains with the screen protector on my old phone and part of the audio sounds lower than the rest for some reason

[@MajorTomFisher]

I was trying to repair this track ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ_En42ZgM1lgLs ) from Empire Earth which I've been unable to find a good recording of, and while the result wasn't pitch-perfect, it certainly improved the audio quite a bit. My only major problem is the trumpets now seem to have a second much-higher twin trumpet noise playing alongside them, but the drum noises are definitely a lot better.

[@ToastGhost26]

Holy shit, this works waaay to well!

[@theborger7844]

How did you get the project rate at the bottom

[@rediop4309]

It does not work with a voice person. When I do this, the result is an alien voice. The muffled voice I try to recreate has only 3800Hz for the peak (you it was 7000Hz). I did exactly as you and the result is laughable. It's a voice recording coming from a telephone recorder, I called the number and I recorded the voice with my smartphone with highest quality. Anyway thanks and if you have tips, do not hesitate.

[@girabbit]

Telephone calls only have specific frequencies due to compression so this wouldn't work so well

[@mungoarmstrong4306]

There’s no high pass filter on my audacity?

[@AlanJojy]

task failed successfully... somewhat it ll not work with everything... i think so

[@PesquisasMormonas]

we gonna use

[@breakingthehabit6596]

It has no use if I try it with a dialogue between two people?

[@nnnayabi]

i did this and it sounded like demons doing an acapella

[@frdagzd]

It's good in soundtracks, but not in songs with vocals.

[@Ponk_80]

So technically all you did was pitch it up one octave, and use a band pass filter above the missing frequencies of the original track? Am I understanding this correctly?

[@Ggboy158]

holy shit it actually works

[@sarahsheepdog]

Oh god that's terrifying

[@timrox5626]

I cant wait to try this!

[@izzyrov5814]

Wow great! Thanks for this!

[@tyx823]

mine sounded bitcrushed after the process

[@Bifstak]

Thanks, this helped a bunch!

[@69metersbelow25]

Woah that audio is impoved

[@noka4033]

My audio sounds like the chipmunks now.

[@jeffreysantner3717]

Your track levels are too high, that's why it's distorted.

[@yellerbelly]

I tried this for spoken word, no music, and the result was ridiculously awful. Just FYI.

[@SPQRIUS]

this was a joke

[@Uhidfk]

THANK YOU COMRADE!!!!!!

[@stephenyork7514]

This never worked and I'm shocked. I was trying to make a dance track clearer. When I listen to the stereo track I hear nothing, even though I can see the waveform.

[@AlejandroParis]

Maybe you inverted the phase of the new one, so now the stereo waves cancel each others?

[@elliottflinchbaugh1959]

1:52 ignore me

[@Irlandian]

Stupefacente, impressionante, intelligente!

[@grimmalkin169]

Can anyone help me out with Gorillaz Mix 2?

[@gabrielthegabi6828]

doesn't work at my problem

[@trescincodos6212]

Thank you Sir!

[@eliasmalam]

10/10 amazing thank you

[@skullarax]

Can u do one with audio recording

[@robo-dale3746]

I did it and it sounded like trash. The song I was trying to improve was black sheep from the adolescents

[@keepz1945]

Awesome!!!!!

[@KlaskyWolfLodge]

2:02 It Sounds Like Xtra 4x

[@Lightcode]

nope. I got opera singing chipmunks...

[@MinigunTony]

What OS are you using?

[@Dumpsterfire95]

looks like windows vista or 7 with the classic theme

[@hish5125]

awesome

[@Gamro_]

i think dude is showing this to us in windows XP🤣

[@lucien5112]

i sound like parseltongue when I use this

[@SexyGreek92]

W O W

[@jennifer-qu9hx]

nono, I WANT poor quality audio, how do i do it?

[@rafaelrobles895]

go to tracks, resample, and sample rate is 8000 between 32000 is bad enough.

[@TheLightOI]

Not working

[@sodoi2756]

how to make sound turn to bad? i want to avoid copyright by that

[@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800]

lol you're funny i like you

[@sodoi2756]

@@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800 I'm dead serious

[@sodoi2756]

@@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800 I couldn't find tutorial anywhere on YT. I want to make it sound bad but also listenable

[@sodoi2756]

@@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800 Sound like in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ana6cnyceauAes0

[@exclusivegoodswarehouse2800]

@@sodoi2756 Even if i knew something like that, i'm not going to make it public. Note that YT officials could read it and improve their detection algorithm.

[@mcb5602]

There's no sound lol

[@colonelclev4500]

I’d rather not.

[@pellier08]

This is the worst example to remaster, it's horrible noise not even music

[@Dino-su2wh]

audio get worst

[@FURDOG1961]

0:35

[@Amorrecords]

Made my song worse !!

[@pegaosucorafael5716]

It's possible on Android?

[@LordTchernobog]

didn't work, altought I followed every step...

[@lgnd2k3]

Its not magic and trash quality audio is only gonna be able to be made less fuzzy, try other tricks to remove background noise and stuff and see if that helps at all.

[@stephenyork7514]

This never worked for me which I'm surprised about. I was trying to make a dance track more clearer. When I solo the stereo track, I hear nothing even though I can see the wave and the tracks not muted.