Revolutionize Your Podcast Quality with This Simple Hack to Eliminate Background Noise in Audacity!
If you’re a podcast host or a frequent guest, you know the importance of producing high-quality audio. The quality of your podcast can make or break your show’s success. Background noise is a common problem that often plagues podcasts, disrupting your listener’s experience. In this article, we’ll share a simple hack to eliminate background noise in Audacity that will take your podcast quality to the next level.
Why Is Background Noise a Problem?
Background noise is generally anything audible that is not the primary sound source in your recording. It can be traffic, people talking in the background, or a hum that appears when you plug your microphone into your computer. While some background noise is unavoidable, a significant amount of noise can be disruptive and distracting to your listeners. It can lower the audio quality and decrease the professionalism of your podcast.
Fortunately, there are several tools you can use to eliminate background noise. In this article, we’ll focus on a plugin that is available in Audacity.
The Simple Hack to Eliminate Background Noise in Audacity
If you’re working on a budget and don’t have access to expensive audio tools, don’t despair. Audacity, a free audio-editing software, contains a powerful noise-reduction effect that can eliminate background noise with ease. Here’s how to use it:
Open Audacity and import your audio files. You can do this by clicking “File” and then “Open.”
Highlight an area in your audio where there is only background noise. This process is easier if you have a section of audio that is only noise, so you don’t remove any parts of your primary audio.
Once you have highlighted the section of audio with only background noise, go to the “Effect” tab and select “Noise Reduction” from the drop-down menu.
In the Noise Reduction menu, click on the “Get Noise Profile” button.
Close the Noise Reduction menu by clicking “OK,” and then highlight your entire audio file.
Return to the “Effect” tab and select “Noise Reduction” again.
Adjust the noise-reduction settings to your preferences, and then click “Preview” to hear the changes.
Once you’re satisfied with the changes, click “OK” to apply the noise reduction effect to your audio.
Finally, give your audio a listen to ensure that it sounds clean and free of background noise.
Conclusion
Background noise can be a major problem for podcasters, but with Audacity’s noise-reduction plugin, it doesn’t have to be. Applying the simple hack we’ve shared in this article can significantly improve the quality of your podcast. By taking the time to clean up the background noise in your audio, you can produce a more professional-sounding podcast that your listeners will love.
But not all podcasts are created equal. You might have the perfect idea for a podcast that will blow people’s minds, but if you cannot produce quality-sounding episodes, you’ll lose listeners. From my perspective, within the realm of podcasts, there’s nothing more off-putting than poor audio. Also: The best podcast app doesn’t come from Apple or Google
What is background noise?
The first thing we need to talk about is just what is background noise. Think of this as your AC or heat running. It’s the constant hum you might find that seems to be a natural part of the room in which you record. For example, in my studio, I have a very large aquarium with two massive lights that require fans to keep cool. My CAD E100S mic picks that up every time. Because of that, I have to remove that background noise. What doesn’t count as background noise is unpredictable interruptions like random dogs barking or cars driving by. However, even those sounds can be removed in this same fashion, so long as you can locate them in the timeline. Enough of the blathering. Let’s get to the action. Ready?
How to remove background noise in Audacity for cleaner podcasts
So, how do you remove background noise from your podcast files before they are submitted? If you’re using Audacity, that task is much easier than you might think. Let me show you.
Requirements
The only thing you’ll need for this is Audacity installed on Linux, MacOS, or Windows. The operating system doesn’t matter, as the process is the same. You’ll also need a recorded file to work with, but I would suggest you not test this process on a production file just yet. Make sure to use a test file first. Either that or make a copy of your production file, and try it out on that. Truth be told, this is such a simple process that you most likely wouldn’t harm your audio recording. However, as with everything, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Thus, without further ado… And that’s all there is to removing background noise from your podcasts with Audacity. It’s a bit of a cumbersome process but it works like a charm. If you want your podcasts to sound as professional as possible, consider this a must-do for every file.
