User Manual

10
AUDIO REPAIR
AND ENHANCEMENT
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN
REPAIRING OR RESTORING AUDIO
We highly recommend that you educate yourself about the function of individual tools in your toolbox.
Dedicated audio repair and restoration tools can do a fantastic and fairly autonomous job, but learning
when, where, and to what degree of strength to use a specific tool can yield better, faster, and more trans-
parent results.
It’s also beneficial to establish your aim before setting out. Do you want to treat each file with individual
care and attention, or would you rather define the most appropriate settings with which to batch process
hundreds of files quickly?
RESTORATION QUICK TIPS
1. Back up your work. Always make a backup of the original audio file before you begin
attempting to restore it. Depending on the tool, some edits become permanent once the file
is saved, so it’s always advisable to maintain a prior backup.
RX TIP • RX 4 allows you to save your work and unlimited undo history as an RX 4 document, which
can prevent losing or overwriting work.
2. Keep the ears rested and the mind open. While doing audio restoration work, you’ll likely
spend a lot of time focusing on subtle details. Taking breaks will help you return with a fresh
mind and see and hear the bigger picture.
3. Make multiple versions. Sometimes it helps to try doing the same audio repair more than
once with dierent settings and then compare the results.
RX TIP • RX 4 has a great Compare Settings tool that helps A/B results as you go. Also, you may come
back to a version you tried a few days earlier when you were tired, and now find it sounding worse
than ever. This happens to all of us! See suggestion #2.
4. Keep detailed notes. This is invaluable, particularly when there are so many dierent
methods for dealing with dierent audio problems. For forensics work, documentation is
often a required deliverable.