Transferring tape to digital... noise reduction?

[G'OlPeachPhan]

I need to use my Pro Tools LE rig to transfer some spoken word material from the microcassetes it's recorded on into the digital domain.

Given what these were recorded with, there is obviously a lot of background noise and hiss that gets in the way of the recording. Further, the voice levels vary quite a bit, so I'll be using a good deal of compression to even it out (my RNC prior to the A-D conversion to heat up the level, and then a bit more compression from plug-ins after that).

Is there something that comes with the Pro Tools Factory Bundle that works really well for getting rid of some of this noise?

I've tried using EQ to isolate and drop out the frequencies where most of the noise resides, and have had some success, but not quite what I'd like it to be.

This is just for a friend, and doesn't need to be professional quality by any means... Any suggestions?

[Unburst]

You need some kind of broadband noise reduction, Digi make one but I don't know if they include it with PTLE.

Check out Sound Soap from Bias.

http://www.bias-inc.com/products/soundsoap/

[G'OlPeachPhan]

Cool... That looks perfect and the price is right. I'll have to get the 14 day trial and see how well it works.

Thanks Unburst.

[MichaelK]

Waves X-noise is fantastic - another free demo, too! Try them both.

[G'OlPeachPhan]

Excellent! Thanks for the tip. I'll check that one out too.

Cooledit 2k (and I assume some other editors) will let you sample a section off the hiss, then pseudo-surgically remove just that from the recording. Sometimes this works miracles, other times it doesnt.

[G'OlPeachPhan]

Just wanted to do a follow up on this project... I had largely ameteur results in mind, but the audio had to be useable and clean. The noise was a REAL problem given that it was very invasive, and these recordings are guided meditations so that's a real problem as far as being disruptive to the whole experience.

(on a side note, I was told that a lot of the noise on the recordings comes from all the 'energy' in the room from the meditation... found that pretty interesting!)

Anyways, for the $100, I went with Bias' SoundSoap 2, and it has proved to be an extremely effective tool. I am extremely happy with the results... It has taken what I'd consider to be almost unuseable to completely unuseable recordings and scrubbed them to the point of being very useable all the way through.

Great product, especially for the money.