Declick and Decrakle

Restore Rig Declick and Decrackle are not working properly for me. Not only are they not removing clicks and crackle I’m trying to remove, but turning up the controls just creates clicks and crackle (especially) that were not there in the first place on some material. Anyone else experience this? Wavelab Pro 9.5.35 on Windows 10. I ended up using RX to do the processing.

Seems program dependent, but I couldn’t get them to do what I expected on two completely different projects. But maybe it’s just me.

Edit: I should say, the more crackle when turning up the controls seems more obvious on the 96k files I was working on than on 44.1 copies of the files with the same settings applied.

Maybe it’s the 96k element affecting this. I’ve found it removes clicks more or less OK depending on the material, but I’m not processing 96k here. I tend to use other software and other plugins.

I’ve used them once (ERA-D wasn’t the right tool for that job, and I forgot about RX), and they both worked fine here. I’m so old that I’m not inclined to use built-in plugins, so I was actually surprised how well they handled the material. 44.1k project, vinyl source.

r,
j,

Thanks Stingray and Transistor. Maybe it’s me, or maybe decrackle has changed since Restore Rig first came out, or I’ve just come across special cases. My main issue is with decrackle, and I’ve managed to reproduce the problem with a major label pop release I ripped from CD. So it’s 44.1, not just 96k. The song has 2 ticks in the intro and the intro is mostly synths. If I set decrackle to a setting (60%) that removes one of the ticks and reduces the other, crackle is created on top of the synths for the whole intro. Doesn’t happen with Izotope or Sonnox decrackle. Izotope just removes both ticks with the default setting of 5 without affecting the instruments at all. Even if you set it all the way to 10 it’s not introducing any artifacts I can hear, it just might be a little duller, I don’t remember for sure. The Sonnox in Wavelab 9 can be made to introduce some pretty bad artifacts if you crank the setting all the way up, but it’s not introducing crackle, and it can be set to remove the ticks without audibly affecting the instruments.

This is pretty much the same as i was experiencing the other day. One crackle spot I was trying to fix was in the sustain of an electric guitar and bass. No matter how high I went with the decrackle setting, the crackle wasn’t being removed, but a layer of crackle was being added on top of the instruments for the whole section. Izotope and Sonnox were both able to decrackle without these artifacts.

Unless it’s just me, I really think decrackle could use some adjustment. If it is just me I’ll try to come up with some samples, but I think anybody could probably reproduce it by cranking up the settings on some synths or bass parts with sustain.

I have been using RX since it came out and find it to be much better than anything else for removing clicks and crackle. Best of luck in finding a solution to your problem.

Hi,

we will try to investigate your issue.

cheers
Kay

Thanks Kay. Only thing is, I’ve found it’s highly program dependent, and maybe not as easy to reproduce as I thought. But I’ve found a couple of more releases that exhibit this added crackle with (what I think are) reasonable Decrackle settings of 60% or 70%. It’s most easily heard in headphones.

The Weeknd - Starboy - Track 6 - “Secrets”: 0:00-0:08.
The Weeknd - Starboy - Track 3 - “False Alarm”: 2:31-2:53, 3:20-3:40.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon - Track 4 - “Time”: 0:44-2:18.

One could say just turn the settings down and you won’t get this added crackle, but in my other cases I’m trying to remove crackle and have to go to these settings and above, and still wasn’t able to remove the original crackle like I could in Izotope and Sonnox. And they didn’t exhibit this added crackle.

And another one:

Britney Spears - Glory - Track 5 - “Just Luv Me” 0:00-0:19.

bob, you’re using commercial tracks as your source(s)? Most of the ones listed will probably be limited to the sky and back, so it could possibly be clipping artefacts we’re talking about? Either already in the tracks (for some reason emphasised by the declick), or created by the process (ISPs?).

Just a thought.

j,

If it were possible for you to upload a short section of this where the crackle spot is found, I’d be happy to test.

Hi,

yes, please upload a section of the file.

cheers
Kay

I have to agree with Thomas here. I love WaveLab for many many things but when I need to do serious click and pop removal, I use RX. The built-in spectral editing tools of WaveLab are certainly better than most DAWs and audio editors but I think RX really excels above them all.

So, for somebody just starting out, I think the WaveLab spectral editing tools are pretty good and a good value to the product, but I think most power users will stick to RX.

What I wish WaveLab had is something similar to REAPER where you can highlight a section of audio, open a copy of that section in RX, do your editing fixes and save the file, and then toggle back to REAPER where you now have the original version and the fixed version visible at the same time so you can always easily get back to the unfixed version via a playlist or takes system.

I find this workflow to be invaluable.

It’s also invaluable for when a client sends a new mix file of a song you already went through and de-clicked and have to do all the repair work again. Using the REAPER method I described above, you at least now have a visual map of where all the problem spots are to fix and can quickly go fix them again.

When you just have a single file and fix that, it’s not so easy to see where the fixes occurred and you have to listen to the entire file again to find them all.

Sorry but I can’t send even a small part of a client’s file. It would cost $5 to buy the tracks I’ve listed, a very small outlay to guarantee a positive test result. I’ve already spent time finding the exact spots to be tested, which yield a positive result. The fact the files are mastered is a common thing. I am often asked to run declick or decrackle on fully mastered files, after they’ve been fully processed, and I often do that routinely anyway.

The decrackle processing in RR is not correct, it’s not normal for decrackle to add addtitional crackle to a file no matter what the pre-processing, and it doesn’t happen AT ALL in izotope or Sonnox on the same tracks.

Sorry, but I have to agree. In the particular decrackle cases I’m talking about, I’m using a not current version RX Decrackle plugin in Wavelab, and it’s stunning compared to the others and really should serve as the model. The default setting at 5 just automatically “works” on anything I throw at it, and like I said you can crank settings up to 10, and NO artifacts, nothing. And I just have basic RX, not Advanced.

I’ve tried to use Restore Rig and really want to love it, but it has been an exercise in frustration … I had already waited so long for improvements in spectral edit that I’d opted for RX quite a while back, and yes, at the moment when compared to RX, Restore Rig is simply not at the races at all.

You can do this with RX Connect.

Maybe on a base level but not nearly as quickly, seamlessly, and elegantly as in REAPER with RX defined as REAPER’s primary external editor.

Aside from that, it would also need to be available directly in the montage.

On a related note, I think at some point there was talk on WaveLab adding the Direct Offline Processing that exists in Cubase and is similar to AudioSuite in WaveLab.

All these things would be a great benefit to WaveLab.

Totally agree that RX is better.

I’m trying to repro what you’re hearing with RestoreRig. Just tried with the Pink Floyd Time track… I may be hearing what you’re hearing but I’m not sure. I’m hearing serious interference in some of the quieter parts of the signal if I raise the RestoreRig Crackle and Click parameters to 70% ? However, I must add that I hear something similar with Sonnox DeClicker.

RestoreRig seems to have some limitations here and I’m sure the RestoreRig algorithm could be improved. If it were possible, I think some form of definitive test file might help pin this down with a bit more precision.

RX is a very elegant program/plugin. It works and works well. I just did noise reduction on 35 albums for a client. WL + RX made the task very easy. I guess the thing I like best about RX is that it works well without a lot of fiddling with the parameter controls but if you want to use them they are very easy to use and you can immediately hear the results in WL. I would give RX a perfect 10 and Restore Rig a 7.5 rating, good but not as good as RX. I think we all owe PG and his team a big THANK YOU for including this well done noise reduction plugin in WL. Restore rig cost nothing with the purchase of WL, RX is over $1000. FWIW