User Guide
Chapter 13: Tools and Utilities
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NOTE: If DeCrackle is set outrageously high, the DeCrackle Activity reading can exceed 100 percent. This is not a bug.
The DeCrackle section does three processing passes in progressively lower frequency bands. It might happen that the first
pass will “heal” a click, but subsequent bands will “heal” the left-over residue of that click.
Sometimes a bad click might be repaired in multiple processing stages, until the defect can no longer be detected. With
absurdly high DeCrackle settings, the DeCrackle Activity can exceed 100 percent, because several stages incrementally
repair the same bad clicks.
DeCrackle Fill Gaps
When a tick is detected, it is smoothly “snipped out” of the high-frequencies, without affecting the lower
frequencies. High-frequency ticks last less than one millisecond. Each muted section is very short, only a few
samples.
If Fill Gaps is set to zero, this tiny high-frequency-muted region is replaced by nothing. It behaves like a very brief
high-frequency dropout. On a clean record, occasional muted ticks are never noticed. But on a dirty scratched disc,
if many snips are made, it will sound like a reduction in high frequencies.
As you increase the Fill Gaps knob, PG Vinyl Tool will extrapolate the signal in the vicinity of the click,
synthesizing a “guess” at what the signal might have been in the tiny muted region. If you set Fill Gaps to 100, it
will insert this extrapolated guess at the same level as the original signal. This allows many ticks to be snipped from
a dirty record, without reducing the high frequency content.
One might encounter a badly damaged record where the audio is so damaged that the guesses are not good enough.
In these problem cases, try setting Fill Gaps to 70, or 50, filling the gaps with lower-amplitude guesses, which may
sound less obnoxious.
Set Fill Gaps to 100, unless it sounds bad.
DeClick Checkbox
Enable the DeClick section. PG Vinyl Tool defines clicks as midrange frequency defects, in the range of 500 Hz to
2000 Hz.
DeClick Amount
Adjust the sensitivity of what PG Vinyl Tool considers to be a click. At zero, nothing is removed. As the DeClick
Amount is increased, PG Vinyl Tool will mute more “click suspects.” If the control is set too high, it can partially
mute musical features, like snare drum hits. Adjust this control only high enough to remove clicks.
Note: A long-duration defect (longer than a couple of milliseconds) might sound like a click or pop until the high and mid
frequency defects have been fixed. On long-duration defects, the left-over defect might sound like a “thump.”
DeClick Activity
This displays the percentage of audio which is being muted. Except for very worn records, it is advisable to adjust
the DeClick Amount so that the DeClick Activity reads no higher than a few percent. On very good discs, one
might get “perfect” results with much less than one percent of DeClick Activity. Strive to mute only the minimum
necessary to clean your record.
NOTE: If DeClick is set outrageously high, the DeClick Activity reading can exceed 100 percent. This is not a bug. The
DeClick section makes two processing passes, in different frequency bands. It can happen that the first pass will “heal” a
bad click, but the next pass will “heal” the left-over residue of the click.
Sometimes a bad click will be repaired in multiple processing stages, until the defect can no longer be detected as a tick or
click. With absurdly high DeClick settings, the DeClick Activity can exceed 100 percent, because both stages incrementally
repair the same bad clicks.
DeClick Fill Gaps
When a click is detected, it is smoothly “snipped out” of the midrange spectrum, without affecting the lower-
frequencies at that point. A typical click might last 0.5 to 2 milliseconds. Each muted section is very short.
If Fill Gaps is set to zero, this small muted region is replaced by nothing. It behaves like a very brief mid-frequency
dropout. On a clean record, occasional muted clicks are never noticed. But on a dirty scratched disc, if many snips
are made, it can sound like a reduction in high and mid frequencies.
As you increase the Fill Gaps knob, PG Vinyl Tool extrapolates the midrange signal in the vicinity of the click,
synthesizing a guess of what the signal might have been in the tiny muted region. If you set Fill Gaps to 100, it will
insert this extrapolated guess at the same level as the original signal. This allows many clicks to be snipped from a
dirty record, without reducing the mid-frequency content.