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RX Tools Tios and Techniques by Nat Johnson 2008
RX Tools Tios and Techniques by Nat Johnson 2008
© 2008 iZotope, Inc. All rights reserved. iZotope and iZotope RX are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of iZotope, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other product or company names
mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................4
Intended Audience for This Guide .................................................................................. 4
WHAT IS AUDIO RESTORATION?......................................................................5
What are the Goals of Good Audio Restoration? ........................................................... 5
WHAT IS IZOTOPE RX? ......................................................................................7
Today, audio and video recordings can be made by nearly anyone. From the simple camcorder
to sophisticated studios and sound stages, a growing number of recordings are produced daily.
And as our world becomes increasingly and audibly congested, so the rate of ruined recordings
is rising! Human error, unexpected electrical or mechanical interference and unwelcome
intrusions from aircraft, cell phones, pets, people and Mother Nature regularly impact even the
most seasoned professional. Whether you’re a professional or just getting started, you have
probably run into difficult audio situations like this and wished you could correct what seemed
like an impossible dilemma.
The purpose of this guide is to help you develop practical and effective ways to remove noise
and fix audio problems using iZotope RX™. We hope this guide will help you understand the
basics (and beyond) of audio restoration and help you to apply them to your own projects.
• If you don’t know anything about audio restoration and don’t have iZotope RX, we still hope this
guide will help you. Feel free to download the trial version of RX to follow along and try out
these concepts for yourself.
• If you don’t understand audio restoration but do have RX, you’re in luck. RX gives you a complete
range of audio restoration tools and this guide shows you how to use them.
• If you have RX and know the basics of restoring audio, this guide will still show you tricks or
techniques that are possible in RX. Just say “yeah, I knew that” when appropriate for the other
parts.
Be sure to download our RX Restoration Guide audio examples and try your hand at restoring
them. At the end of this guide you’ll find an Appendix that will walk you through how to do the
repairs. It’s a great way to apply what you’ll learn from reading this guide.
• ambient background noise, including fans, air‐conditioners and heating systems
• electrically‐generated interference like buzz from fluorescent lights
• hum from bad ground connections or induced from power sources
• background hiss from reel‐to‐reel tape, audio and video cassettes
• surface ticks and pops from vinyl, shellac 78 or other phonograph recordings
• audience noise including coughs, pagers and cell phones
• overload distortion (or clipping)
When you hear the word “restoration,” you might be inclined to think of dusty vaults filled with
aging master tapes and records. Of course, audio restoration includes taking old recordings and
reviving them, but it is hardly limited to antiquity. Every time you switch on a USB recorder,
camcorder, digital camera, voice recorder, or cell phone you may encounter a variety of
unexpected and unwelcome audio “guests.”
For example, we recently read a review of a concert pianist whose debut at Carnegie Hall was
marred by the ringing of a cell phone. The reviewer assumed that,” this and other intrusions will
no doubt be magically erased when this concert is issued on CD.” While there is no magic
button for removing cell phone noise (yet), the latest generation of audio restoration tools like
RX can be just as useful for cleaning up 21st century problems as they are for restoring the
earliest phonograph recordings.
The goal of good audio restoration is to render the best possible sound with the least audible
human intrusion. In essence, your intervention in the original recording should be transparent
and not introduce new artifacts that distract the listener. It’s useful to remember that no
recording is truly perfect. What we hear in playback, no matter how well recorded originally,
represents only a facsimile of the actual audio event.
In the early 1980’s, when compact‐disc players became readily available and affordable,
commercial tape vaults turned into gold mines. But strangely, during the early days of CD
restoration, whole armies of purists became outraged when the record companies sought to
change the character of certain, reverenced recordings (no matter how old) from their original,
boxy‐quality and dull, wooly ambience. Today, we have fresher ears that seem to be more
• Remove hum without sacrificing low‐end frequencies
• Reduce ambient hiss without compromising upper partials
• Eliminate pops and clicks leaving no audible artifacts
• Remedy distortion and even gaps in the audio recording
• Repair audible clipping with perfect precision
• Replace damaged parts with inaudible patches
• Visualize your repairs before and after processing with our revolutionary spectrogram
utility
• Record and recall an unlimited number of precise presets within each module
• Use a variety of application modules in any order in virtually unlimited combinations
Where can I use RX?
RX is ideal for audio restoration and archiving, recording and mastering, broadcasting and
podcasting, video production, forensics, and any application that demands flawless audio. In
addition, RX features the most advanced spectrogram available, plus a wide array of convenient
workflow features designed to make the process of audio restoration easier – with superior
results.
Editing or Mixing Software
In addition to iZotope RX, we recommend an audio editor or DAW (Sony Sound Forge, Adobe
Audition, Digidesign Pro Tools, Cakewalk SONAR, Steinberg Cubase, MOTU Digital Performer,
etc.). RX does offer basic editing and a fine parametric EQ, but programs like these will give you
the tools you need to record, apply fades, assemble and deliver your projects.
Computer Requirements
To make your restoration experience more rewarding (and far less frustrating) you’ll want a fast
computer with lots of memory and ample hard drive storage. No need to break the bank!
Hardware costs are continually dropping and today, you can purchase a very decent desktop
computer with a large monitor and professional sound card for less than a good laptop.
Sound Card/Audio Interface
You can use the sound card that came with your computer to monitor audio when doing
restoration work, but we recommend getting a higher quality sound card or audio interface
designed for professional‐level audio recording and playback. This in most cases will let you
monitor audio with less noise, will give you higher quality inputs for transferring from analog
media to your computer, and will include professional standard outputs such as XLR or balanced
quarter‐inch phone jacks, which will let you connect to audio reference monitors with well
shielded cables. Check your favorite audio retailer and you’ll see a wide range of interfaces at a
wide range of prices. Choose one that fits you and has features that fit the way you want to
work. For example if you will be transferring a lot of recordings from vinyl, some interfaces
include features like a ground screw and built in phono preamp.
Connector Cables
Poor connector cables are often the weakest link in recording and transfer. If you’re connecting
your computer to your speakers with a 1/8th inch cable that came with your commercial CD
player, don’t be surprised if your cables actually add noise, making it harder to hear what you’re
trying to remove. Spend a few extra dollars and buy higher quality, well shielded cables. You’ll
thank us.
Video Display
The larger the video monitor, the easier it will be to perform quick and accurate sound
decisions. RX provides a high‐resolution spectrographic display to visually aid in the restoration
process and, with a large LCD screen, you’ll actually be able to see the problems that you hear.
Monitoring Audio
Don’t be a cheapskate when it comes to speakers! Reliable audio monitoring, as you might
imagine, is essential to successful restoration. We suggest a full‐range speaker system that suits
your needs, as well as your working space. It’s a good idea to frequently check your work on
other systems as well. As with mastering, the most important advice we can give with monitors
is to learn the unique characteristics of your pair and how they sound in your room. The best
way to “learn” your monitors is to listen to lots of recordings you know well to calibrate your
ears.
Room Acoustics
You can have the best reference monitors money can buy, but if you’re working in a tiny square
room with no acoustic treatment you will probably not hear the “flat” representation of
frequencies that critical audio restoration work requires. Even small details like where your
speakers are placed can change your speakers’ frequency response drastically. We recommend
researching room acoustics online. Even if you’re on a budget, you can come up with a solution
that will dramatically improve the sound of your room.
Headphones
Occasionally, you may want to listen to low‐level details that may not be obvious on
loudspeakers. Obviously, we need to be careful of sound pressure levels on headphones and it’s
wise to use them sparingly.
When you sit down to start restoring an audio project, you might be lucky enough to have a
digital file, such as .wav or .aiff, that has either already been digitized, or started in a digital
format. However, many audio restoration tasks require you to get an old recording from tape,
vinyl or other sources to your computer. Here are some tips for getting the most usable digital
transfers of your audio.
Start with the master copy
It can’t be stressed too strongly: always utilize original, unprocessed source when possible. Files
that have already been copied from record to tape, or digital files that have been converted to
MP3 or another compressed format like lossy ATRAC, will be more difficult to repair. You’ll be
faced with more audible artifacts introduced during the copying or compression process.
Similarly, audio that someone has already attempted to do noise reduction and audio repair on
may be much harder to get good results with than an original copy.
Input levels
Whatever your source – tape, disc, analog or digital – if you’re recording audio into the
computer it’s important to keep input signals at a moderate level. Too high a level may result in
inadvertent clipping at the soundcard or audio interface. Too low a level and you may not have
adequate headroom to accommodate changes in level as you apply certain processing functions
during restoration. Since the noise floor of an analog to digital converter is fixed, if you record
at too low a level, you will have a lower signal to noise ratio.
 Some CD and DAT players feature digital outputs, and many sound cards/audio interfaces
have their own digital inputs. Taking advantage of this can be the perfect way to get digital
audio directly into your computer without having to go through conversion back to analog
and then back to digital.
Recording from analog formats
Vinyl LPs and 45s
Once you transfer a record to the computer you can do a lot to remove noise and improve the
quality of the recording. However getting a good transfer from vinyl records can be tricky. Keep
these things in mind:
• The vast majority of turntables don’t output a line level signal, they require a phono
pre‐amp. Phono preamps not only boost the level of audio coming from the turntable,
they also apply special equalization that is part of the RIAA standard for creating vinyl
records. Without this gain and EQ stage, your transfer will just plain sound bad.
1. Back up your work. Always make a backup of the original audio file before you begin
attempting to restore it.
2. Keep the ears rested and the mind open. In doing audio restoration work, you will
spend a lot of time focusing on details. Taking breaks will help you return with a fresh
mind and see the big picture.
3. Make multiple versions. Sometimes it helps to try doing the same audio repair more
than once with different settings and then compare the results. RX 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. Begin work on the most obvious or obnoxious defect you hear first. There is no right or
wrong order to use RX’s audio restoration modules in, but some processes will make
sense to do before others in certain cases. For example, a loud hum might prevent you
from hearing other details that need to be fixed, or clipping might make other flaws
hard to hear—peeling away that first layer may make the next step more obvious to
you. Take restoration one step at a time and don’t be afraid to try different
combinations of tools to get the result you want.
5. Keep good notes. Accurate record‐keeping is invaluable, particularly when multiple
options for the restoration process present themselves. Write down your settings, the
technique you used and the name of each file you applied that method to, no matter
how minute the different details may seem. Saving presets within RX can save you the
trouble of writing out all of the parameters.
6. Back up your work. The first and last rule of any audio restoration project! You never
know when a hard drive or your original analog master might fail. Again, always back up
your work!
You’ve listened to the material in question but you may not be sure exactly what the problem is
or how often it occurs. The spectrogram displays the individual frequencies of the audio over
time. If you’re used to using the wave form display, it takes a bit to get your head around this
unique way to “see” the audio. As a start, lets look at a few simple pieces of audio.
Sine Wave
Here is a picture of a sine wave moving up in pitch from 60 to 12,000 Hz as seen in RX’s
waveform view. The waveform view can be enabled by moving the slider below the
Spectrogram Display all the way to the left.
One thing you’ll notice when looking at the waveform display is that it is good at showing
amplitude (loudness) of audio, but not very effective at showing what is happening at different
Now it’s very obvious what is happening to the pitch of the audio: it is moving up! In the
spectrogram display, the horizontal axis shows time, just like in the waveform display. But now,
the vertical axis shows us frequency in Hz—that is, the pitch of the event that is happening. We
can see how loud events are by how bright the image is. The black background is silence, while
the bright orange curve is the sine wave moving up in pitch.
Human Voice
Now lets look at something more complex: the human voice. Here is a short spoken phrase as
seen in RX’s waveform view:
:
First of all you can now see that the human voice is much more complex than it might seem
from looking at the waveform view. Each word is made up of a fundamental frequency (at the
bottom of the spectrogram) harmonics that extend above that frequency, sibilance (“S” sounds)
that begin or end words, and more. And of course, you can now more clearly see the noise that
is surrounding the voice.
This is why having a detailed spectrogram display is so important to doing audio restoration. It
helps you clearly see the problems you are trying to fix. Now we’ll move on to some specific
examples of noise and other audio problems and how to visually identify them.
In situations like this example, which has only a few harmonics, RX's Hum Removal module is a
good tool for the job. Hum Removal lets you set the primary frequency of the hum and control
suppression of up to 7 harmonics above the low frequency. RX’s Denoiser is also a logical choice
to use for removing hum, you may want to try both to see which gives you the best results.
Buzz
In some cases, the electrical noise will extend up into higher frequencies, this will often manifest
itself as a background buzz. See the example below:
 The above screenshot shows RX’s Spectrogram Display in a higher time resolution mode
that makes seeing tonal noise easier. Read on to learn how to adjust spectrogram settings.
Hiss and other Broadband Noise
Unlike hum and buzz, broadband noise is spread throughout the frequency spectrum and not
concentrated at specific frequencies. Tape hiss and noise from fans and air conditioners are
good examples of broadband noise. In RX's Spectrogram Display, broadband noise usually
appears as speckles that surround the program material. See image below:
RX's Denoiser module is the go‐to tool for removing noises of this type.
Clicks, Pops and other short impulse noises
Clicks and pops are common on recordings made from vinyl, and can also be introduced by
some kinds of digital errors, including recording into a DAW with improper buffer settings. These
short impulse noises appear in RX's spectrogram as vertical lines. The louder the click or pop, the
brighter the line will appear. Below is an example of clicks and pops from a recording made from
RX's Declicker includes both automatic and manual tools for removing clicks and pops.
Clipping
Clipping is a common problem that occurs when a loud signal distorts on input to a sound
card/converter, mixing console, field recorder or other piece of equipment. The result is
overload distortion. This clipping can usually be seen most easily from RX's waveform display
(move the slider below the spectrogram to the left to superimpose the waveform display). As
you will see in the image below, the clipping appears as "squared off" sections of the waveform.
RX has a dedicated Declipper tool which can in many cases rebuild the squared‐off peaks caused
by clipping and restore the recording to a natural sounding state. Not every kind of distortion
can be removed, but RX’s Declipper works well on a range of analog and digital clipping.
 Sometimes heavily limited audio will also appear “squared off” when zoomed out – zoom
in by time to see if individual waveform tops are clipped.
Intermittent Noises
Intermittent noises are different than noises like hiss or hum, they may appear infrequently and
may not be consistent in pitch or duration. Examples include coughs, sneezes, footsteps, car
horns, cell phone rings, etc. The pictures below represent two different examples of these
Because noises like this are often unpredictable, they usually need to be removed manually.
RX's Spectral Repair tool provides a number of different modes that allow you to select and
remove intermittent noises and replace them with re‐synthesized content based on the
surrounding audio.
RX's Spectral Repair can be used to resynthesize gaps in audio, sometimes of up to a half second
long or more, by using information around the gap to fill in the missing information using
patterns and advanced re‐synthesis.
In addition, there are countless ways to alter the
spectrogram and how files can be displayed.
Sometimes changing spectrogram settings can
show audio in a different light, helping you to
identify problems and zero in on noise. For
example, just changing the colors of RX’s
spectrogram can bring different events to the
forefront.
RX also has the unique ability to save your
Spectrogram preferences as presets for easy
recall later.
RX’s Spectrogram Display showing vinyl clicks
and hiss with four different color settings
iZotope RX offers advanced spectrogram options under the View | Spectrogram Settings menu.
Here is an in‐depth description of the Spectrogram Settings controls:
Spectrogram Type ‐ RX offers some different methods for displaying time and frequency
information in the spectrogram. RX has advanced spectrogram modes that allow you to see
sharper time (horizontal) and frequency (vertical) resolution at the same time. There is always a
trade off of display quality versus processing time, so keep in mind that some modes will take
longer to draw on the screen than others.
• STFT (short‐time Fourier transform) ‐ This refers to the method that's used to transform
the audio data into the spectrogram display. This type of spectrogram is the most
common one and can be found in other editors. It has a fixed uniform time‐frequency
resolution. This is the simplest mode in RX.
• Auto‐Adjustable STFT ‐ This mode automatically adjusts FFT size (i.e. time and
frequency resolution of a spectrogram) according to the zoom level. For example, if you
zoom in horizontally (time) you'll see that percussive sounds and transients will be more
clearly defined. When you zoom in vertically (frequency), you'll see individual musical
notes and frequency events will appear more clearly defined. This is RX’s default mode.
• Multi‐resolution ‐ This mode calculates the spectrogram with better frequency
resolution at low frequencies and better time resolution at high frequencies. This
mimics psychoacoustic properties of our perception, allowing the spectrogram display
to show you the most important information clearly.
• Adaptively Sparse ‐ This mode automatically varies time and frequency resolution of a
spectrogram to achieve the best spectrogram sharpness in every area of a
time‐frequency plane. This often lets you see the most details for a thorough analysis,
but it's the slowest mode to calculate.
FFT size ‐ FFT is a fast Fourier transform, a procedure for calculation of a signal frequency
spectrum. The higher the FFT size, the greater the frequency resolution i.e. notes and tonal
events will be clearer. However, choosing a larger number here will make time events less
sharply defined because of the way this type of processing is done. Choosing "Auto‐Adjustable"
or "Multi‐resolution" modes allow you to get a good combination of frequency and time
resolution without having to change this setting as you work.
Enable reassignment ‐ This control enables a special technique for spectrogram calculation that
allows very precise pitch tracking for any harmonic components of the signal. When used
together with Frequency overlap / Time overlap controls, this option can provide virtually
unlimited time and frequency resolution simultaneously for signals consisting of tones.
Window ‐ The Window control lets you choose different weighting windows that are used for
• Linear ‐ this simply shows frequencies spread out in a uniform way. This is most useful
when you want to analyze higher frequencies.
• Logarithmic ‐ this scale puts more attention on lower frequencies.
• Mel ‐ the Mel scale (derived from the word Melody) is a frequency scale based on how
humans percieve sound. This selection is one of the more intuitive choices because it
corresponds to how we hear differences in pitch.
• Bark ‐ the Bark scale is also based on how we perceive sound, and corresponds to a
series of critical bands.
Frequency overlap (a.k.a. zero padding factor) ‐ controls the amount of oversampling on the
frequency scale of spectrogram. When used together with the Reassignment option, it will
increase the resolution of the spectrogram vertically (by frequency).
Time overlap ‐ This controls the time oversampling of the spectrogram. In most cases, overlap
of 4x or 8x is a good setting to start with. However using higher overlap together with the
Reassignment option will increase the time resolution of a spectrogram, making transient events
appear more clearly.
Color Map ‐ RX's spectrogram display allows you to choose between several different color
schemes. There is no right or wrong color setting to use‐we recommend you try them all.
Sometimes certain color modes will make different types of noise stand out more clearly.
Experiment!
High quality rendering ‐ turning this control off makes spectrogram rendering slightly faster, but
you'll lose some detail and clarity in the spectrogram image.
Reduce Quality Above ‐ RX's spectrogram uses very accurate rendering letting you see audio
problems, such as clicks, even at zoomed‐out state. However doing such rendering for long files
can be somewhat slow. So, when the length of the visible spectrogram is above the specified
number of seconds, the spectrogram calculation is changed to a fast and less accurate preview
mode. When the user zooms in, the spectrogram calculation becomes accurate again.
The far left hand side of these shots illustrates how RX visualizes the background surface noise
(notice the white arrows pointing to the green granules in the left image) and the results of RX’s
Denoiser (right image). Notice that after being processed with Denoiser, the visual “static” will
be decreased in level, or will appear dimmer. This is a good visual indicator of how much noise
you’ve removed. Also, we’ve selected a portion of voice component for display on the RX
spectrum analyzer – another extremely useful visual instrument in the RX toolbox (you can find
this tool under View | Spectrum Analyzer, or just hit Alt + R). Keep these visualizations in mind
as you read on.
Basic Techniques for using RX’s Denoiser
Training
RX’s Denoiser works by “learning” what the noise in your file is from a section of noise‐only
material. By examining this section, Denoiser creates what is called a “noise profile.” Once
you’ve taught Denoiser what noise is, it uses this noise profile to intelligently suppress noise that
To train Denoiser, identify a section of the recording that contains only noise, without any useful
audio signal. Often these places are at the beginning or end of a file, but may also be during
pauses or breaks.
Selecting just noise and hitting “Train” will capture a noise profile
Select the longest section of noise you can find, then hit the Train button. This will "teach"
Denoiser the noise profile of your file. In some cases you may not have a section of just noise, or
you may want RX to find a quiet section for you. If this is the case, open the options menu next
to the Train button (+) and choose Auto Train.
Denoising
After the noise profile is captured, adjust the Noise Reduction slider and hit Preview to listen to
the result. Moving the Noise Reduction slider up and down will control how aggressively RX is
reducing the noise. When you’re happy with your settings, you can hit Apply to process the
entire file. If you wish to just process a certain selection (by time or by frequency or both), select
an area using RX’s selection tools then hit Apply.
Make sure that the “A (realtime)” algorithm is selected if you want to preview the result in
realtime—the other modes may yield higher quality but they take much longer to process.
Starting with the “A” algorithm is a good way to quickly get a sense of how the noise reduction
will sound. In many cases you won’t need to use RX’s more powerful “B” and “C” algorithms to
get a great sounding result.
Output noise only – This useful check box outputs the difference between the original and
processed signals (suppressed noise). This is a tremendously useful feature in Denoiser because
it allows you to hear instantly how effectively noises are being removed and how much, if any,
program content is being impacted by your settings.
How much noise should I remove?
Sometimes having a little bit of broadband noise is a good thing. It can help gel recordings
together and make them sound more natural‐‐some audio engineers actually add broadband
noise subtly to their mixes to simulate the forgiving characteristics of tape’s noise floor. And
sometimes, for interviews, movies and other situations, leaving a bit of noise adds important
atmosphere to the recording.
When attempting to remove background or broadband noise from a recording, it’s preferable to
identify and isolate annoying and obtrusive elements – high hiss levels, disc noise,
air‐conditioning, etc. When you’ve successfully removed that which is annoying, listen to what’s
left. Hopefully, you’ll still hear some kind of room‐tone or natural ambience. If not, you may
have removed too much.
 To get a usable, natural sounding result, you won’t normally have to apply more than
15db of Noise Reduction to get a huge difference. We encourage you to try a wide range of
settings by using the Compare button (more on this feature later). Keep in mind that turning
Noise Reduction all the way up isn’t usually the best sounding option!
Smoothing and Musical Noise Reduction
Especially when doing very drastic noise reduction, you may begin to hear artifacts left over
from the noise reduction process. These are often chirpy, watery noises which in technical terms
are referred to as “musical noise.”
The Smoothing (Basic tab) and Musical Noise Reduction (Advanced tab) controls supress
artifacts that result from removing broadband noise. Increase the Smoothing (Basic view) or
Musical Noise Reduction (Advanced view) parameter to reduce these artifacts. RX’s musical
Choosing an Algorithm
RX's Denoiser offers three algorithms that range in processing time. It is a good idea to start
with Algorithm A, as it works very quickly. This algorithm is optimized for realtime playback, so
it’s best to use this setting when you’re using Denoiser as a plug‐in. If you're not happy with the
results in this mode, try B and then C, which will take longer to process but they use more
complex techniques that may result in an even better fix.
Algorithm B uses a different Musical Noise Reduction technique for smoothing out artifacts
which can give you more natural sounding repairs. Algorithm C uses multi‐resolution processing
to preserve transients better than other noise reduction tools. While they sound excellent,
Algorithms B and C are fairly slow, and may not be able to preview in realtime. This is a good
place to use the Compare Settings window to save time when comparing these options (see the
General RX Tools chapter for more details).
After you train RX’s Denoiser, you’ll immediately see the Noise Spectrum Display change. This
shows the “profile” of the noise you’ve trained RX with. You can see where the noise you’re
trying to remove sits in the frequency spectrum, and how loud it is.
The Noise Spectrum Display offers useful information both during playback and when the noise
reduction process is applied. The four curves shown display different information:
• The Magenta curve – shows the spectrum of the input audio signal
• The Blue curve – shows the noise threshold. This curve represents the learned noise
profile added to the threshold elevation control
• The White curve – shows the desired noise floor after denoising, This can be
controlled by Reduction and Residual whitening controls (advanced mode only)
Scrolling and Zooming ‐ by grabbing and moving the horizontal and vertical rulers, you can
adjust what part of the graph is shown. In addition, holding the pointer above a ruler and using
your mouse wheel will zoom the display in and out. Running the mouse over the graph displays
corresponding db/frequency characteristics for each curve in the upper part of the window.
Why use this? Sometimes there will be two types of noise in your audio file that are of varying
intensity. For example, you may have a very loud buzz (tonal noise) as well as a quieter tape hiss
(broadband noise). By fine tuning these controls, you can remove the buzz more aggressively
while gently removing the tape hiss. This can lead to more natural sounding repairs with less
residual noise and artifacts.
 The numerous slider controls found in both Simple and Advanced mode offer fine‐tuning
of your settings. Holding the CTRL key as you move the slider with your mouse allows more
exact management of the slider motion.
Threshold Controls
The advanced panel also features threshold controls for broadband and tonal noise. These
controls are useful for fine tuning the noise suppression. For example, if you feel not enough
noise is being “caught” by Denoiser, try raising the threshold slightly. If you feel Denoiser is
damaging audio you don’t want to remove, try lowering the threshold slightly.
In many cases you will never need to touch the threshold control to get the result you want. We
recommend you start with a threshold of zero.
Residual Whitening
This feature modifies the amount of noise reduction applied at different frequencies to shape
the spectrum of the noise that’s left over.
When residual whitening is zero, noise suppression is the same at all frequencies, and the
suppressed noise has a similar spectral shape to the original noise. When residual whitening is at
its highest setting, the desired shape of suppressed noise floor is made closer to white noise,
which is usually more neutral sounding. This control in combination with the Musical Noise
Suppression control can make a huge difference in controlling residual artifacts.
More Advanced Mode Controls (RX Advanced Only):
MNS algorithm ‐ Musical noise artifact suppression algorithm
• The Simple algorithm performs independent noise gating in every frequency channel of FFT.
Release time of sub‐band gates is controlled by the Release control. This is a fast algorithm
with small latency (delay) that is suitable for real‐time operation.
• The Advanced and Extreme algorithms perform joint time‐frequency analysis of the audio
signal which results in better quality and less "musical noise" artifacts. These algorithms
have higher latency and computational complexity.
FFT size (ms)
In RX, we control FFT window size for specific requirements: longer windows mean lower time
resolution, but better frequency resolution. Good frequency resolution (longer windows) allows
for better separation of tonal signals and noise, but it also reduces time precision of Denoiser
which can lead to softened transients and less noise reduction around transients. Switching to
Multi‐Resolution mode will disable this control.
 Whenever FFT size is changed, it's recommended you retrain Denoiser because the old
noise profile was taken at a different FFT size and therefore becomes inaccurate.
Multi‐Resolution
The multi‐resolution processing selects the best time‐frequency resolution for every portion of
the signal to minimize smearing of transients and at the same time achieve high frequency
resolution where it is needed. The overall quality of noise reduction is increased, but at the cost
of much higher computational complexity. The FFT size control does not have any affect in
multi‐resolution mode because FFT resolution is selected automatically.
Knee sharpness
Adjusts the sharpness of the noise gates used in the noise reduction process (1 is soft knee, 8 is
sharp knee).
Psychoacoustic suppression
Enables a psychoacoustic model that dynamically controls suppression amount. This allows RX
to use softer suppression where noise is subjectively inaudible to the human ear. The position of
the slider controls the influence of psychoacoustic model on suppression levels.
Harmonic enhancement
This control allows for softer suppression of harmonics of the signal that could be buried in
noise. It can make the resulting signal brighter and more natural sounding, but high values of
harmonic enhancement can result in high‐frequency noise being modulated by the signal so use
it sparingly.
To begin, select a section of the recording where the hum is prominent. Sometimes there will be
silence (or near silence) at the beginning or end of the program material that will contain noise
but not any other audio. Otherwise, try choosing a quiet passage of the recording where hum is
obvious. Next, select the section of audio where the hum is most clearly audible. Choose the
Loop Playback button. This will allow you to set Hum Removal's parameters as audio plays back.
When attempting to remove hum, you first need to find the hum's primary frequency. The two
most common base frequencies for hum are 50 Hz (Europe) and 60 Hz (U.S.) due to those
regions’ difference in electrical delivery. It’s a good idea to try the 50 and 60 Hz presets included
with RX first. If you hear the hum disappear or get much quieter, you’ll know you’re on the right
track.
In some cases, for example a recording made from analog tape that is not precisely at its original
recorded speed, you may need to choose the "Free" Frequency Type. Selecting this option
unlocks the Base Frequency control and allows you to manually find the Hum's root note. With
Preview engaged, move the slider up and down until you find the point where the hum lessens
or disappears.
Using the Spectrogram
For even more precise settings in free mode, use RX's Spectrogram Display to zoom in on the
project's low frequencies. You can hover over the low‐frequency part of the scale on the right
and move your mouse wheel up to zoom in. Under View | Spectrogram Settings, choose the
Adaptively Sparse spectrogram type to see pitch with razor sharp accuracy. Dragging the ruler
up and down will re‐position the spectrogram at different frequencies. Remember, hum usually
appears as a bright horizontal line, sometimes with many less bright lines above it (harmonics).
Using the Number of Harmonics control, you can select up to 7 harmonics above the primary
hum frequency. Again, the spectrogram display in many cases makes it easy to identify the
number of hum harmonics in your project.
After selecting number of harmonics, RX engages new filters at set harmonic points above the
primary frequency. Use the Harmonic Slope control to how aggressively the higher harmonics
are being cut. The Filter Q control adjusts the width of the hum filters.
Using the Residual Output control
By selecting the Residual Output checkbox, RX will boost the signal at the points where you are
attempting to remove hum. This is useful for fine tuning your settings. Play through a section of
your file where the hum is mixed with other material, and select Residual output mode and then
hit Preview. Now you can adjust parameters like the Filter Q (width) control and the Harmonic
Slope control to maximize hum removal while minimizing the affect on the program material. If
you hear wanted program material leaking through in this mode, you may want to try narrower
filters or Linear Phase mode.
Filter DC Offset
This removes the DC (direct current) offset that is caused by the imbalance that sometimes
occurs in A/D converters. DC offset is exhibited by the waveform appearing above or below the
zero line, and is undesirable because maximum audio levels cannot be effectively achieved. DC
offset may also cause audible artifacts depending how the signal is being processed.
As we mentioned, RX’s Hum Removal tool is optimized for low frequency hum. For addressing
that upper frequency buzz we recommend you use RX Denoiser, which is capable of removing
this type of tonal noise. See the Broadband Noise Reduction chapter for details on how to use
Denoiser.
Using the Histogram to set the Clipping Threshold
The most important part of setting Declipper is figuring out at what level in the recording the
clipping is happening so you can set the Clipping Threshold control. Depending on how the
recording was made, whether the clipping is analog or digital in nature, and other factors,
clipping can appear at different dB levels.
The histogram meter in the Declipper module allows you to analyze clipping in your file. Select a
section that is clipped, and hit the Compute button (if you’re using the plug‐in version of
Declipper, the meter will automatically update during playback). A graph will appear showing
the average levels of the audio over the selected time. This is called a histogram.
To set the module's threshold, move the red line in the histogram, or the Clipping Threshold
slider, until the red line in the histogram is just below the line where clipping is concentrated.
 if the clipping point is below ‐8 dB FS, the histogram will be empty. Your file may
need to be normalized. You can also raise the overall gain of the file using RX's Gain
module.
Makeup Gain
This control accommodates the increased peak levels caused by the declipping process. When
RX rebuilds the clipped peaks, they will often go higher than zero. If the rebuilt peaks go above
zero dB in RX, your recording will clip again when you export it. The make up gain control lets
you set the resulting gain of the declipping process so that the waveform is brought down below
zero.
When using Declipper, start by setting make‐up gain at around ‐6.0 dB. If you're removing
clipping during a short selection of a file, you may want to set this control higher to prevent a
noticeable volume drop in the program material during the declipped section.
Choosing a quality mode
There are three quality modes in RX's Declipper: Low, Medium, and High. Low quality mode
processes very quickly; High quality mode processes slowly but in some cases can achieve better
results. In many cases you will find that "Low" quality mode gives you great results. To save time,
always start by previewing the Low quality modes first.
 To avoid fluctuations in volume, you may want to apply Declipper to your entire file
rather than just short clipped sections. Single Band mode will not adversely affect the quality
of the non‐clipped material.
When to use Multiband and Multi‐resolution modes
Usually, Single‐band mode is a good start for any audio file, but if the quality of single‐band
declipping is insufficient, you may want to try other modes, such as Multi‐band or
Multi‐resolution declipping.
Both Multiband and Multi‐Resolution modes have similar parameters to Single Band mode.
However they also allow you to select the number of frequency bands RX uses to perform
interpolation. A higher number of bands does not necessarily mean higher quality, you may need
to search for a good sound with this parameter as it is extremely situation‐dependent. For
example, multi‐resolution mode can be used in certain scenarios like high female vocals with
reverberation that have only a moderate amount of clipping. We recommend you try multiple
modes and preview the results in the Compare Settings window.
Using RX Declicker
RX’s Declicker repairs or reduces clicks, pops and other impulse noises in the audio waveform. It
has two modes: Manual and Automatic. In the Manual mode, you can manually select a click or
other impulse noise on RX’s Spectrogram or Waveform. In Automatic mode, the program
automatically detects and interpolates clicks in a long selection.
 As with other modules discussed earlier, we recommend you begin with factory settings
or presets as you explore the best way to eliminate clicks. And as with other operations in
RX, it’s easy to Undo and Redo before committing your changes to the file itself.
 If you want to create amazingly realistic lo‐fi effects, try leaving Output Clicks Only on
when you apply the Declicking process. You’ll be left with just the clicks and pops, which you
can export as a sample that you can use as an effect elsewhere.
Quality
The Low and Medium quality modes offer fairly good sound quality with low latency and CPU
usage. These modes are ideal for using in time critical applications or when you’re using the
plug‐in version of Declicker in realtime in your audio host. The high quality settings will allow
you to remove more ticks with less residual damage to the audio.
 You may find the lower quality settings are helpful for previewing the declick process in
real‐time. Preview in low quality mode then apply the process in high quality mode. This can
be especially useful for long recordings with a lot of small clicks
Once zoomed in, you’ll want to carefully reselect the noise you need to eliminate including only
the noise spike that’s visible. While the spectrogram will help with finding clicks, the waveform
display will help you accurately select click boundaries. When you hit Apply, the click will be
removed using interpolation from the surrounding audio data.
 The Declicker can only process selections with 4000 samples or less in Manual mode.
Should your selection be wider than 4000 samples, you may need to remove the problem
with Spectral Repair (which we’ll discuss in the next chapter).
If the result is not satisfactory, try adjusting Interpolation Order or other parameters. If the click
or pop is very long, Declicker may cause a minor drop in level. You may want to try the RX
Spectral Repair tool instead.
Processing on one channel only
In the example below, we wanted to remove a click, present in the left channel alone, without
disturbing the sound in the right channel. The fragile program content (a boy choir singing a
cappella in an empty cathedral) required precise and delicate processing.
RX can isolate either the left or right channel and process in just that channel when required. In
a stereo program, you can select either left channel alone, right channel alone or both together
when choosing a portion of your file for processing. Select the left channel alone by dragging the
mouse at the top of the display, the right channel alone by dragging at the bottom of the display
or both channels by selecting in the middle. You can also de‐select a channel by clicking the gray
rectangle to the left of the channel in the display.
 There are many tricks of the trade and the more you try, the easier and quicker declicking
will become. For example, with material containing clicks and pops of varying sizes try
running Declicker in several passes. Begin by repairing short clicks, and then continue on to
longer ones. Also, you might try first applying the automatic declicker and then moving on to
manual declicker for those clicks missed in automatic mode (or vice versa).
If you didn’t know how to read a spectrogram display when you started this guide, you probably
now have a better sense of what information one can help you see. When going after tricky
intermittent noises, RX’s Spectrogram Display not only allows you to see the problem, it allows
you to selectively choose a time and frequency range to apply Spectral Repair to. This is the
essence of Spectral Repair—it allows you to focus in and repair only certain parts of the
frequency spectrum.
Let’s take a look at the RX spectrogram and the all‐important time‐frequency selector controls:
Time Selection – this tool allows you to select a segment of your project along the timeline.
Time‐Frequency Selection ‐‐ allows you to make rectangular selections in the Spectrogram
Most often when removing intermittent noise you will be using the Time Selection tool to select
a short slice of audio along the timeline, or using the Time‐Frequency selection tool to draw a
box around an offending sound buried in your audio file. Here’s an example of what making a
Time‐Frequency selection will look like in RX’s Spectrogram Display:
In this case we’ve drawn a narrow rectangular selection around a very clearly defined sound: an
electronic beep. This is a good example of a sound that occupies only a certain frequency range
that must be surgically removed to avoid damaging the surrounding frequencies.
In some cases you will want to select all frequencies over a range of time and apply Spectral
Repair. Usually this works best for short sections of audio that are completely corrupted or
unusable, gaps and dropouts, and where a noise extends from the top to the bottom of the
frequency spectrum.
Previewing the selected sound
Once you’ve drawn a selection around a specific time and frequency range, click the Preview
Selection button in the transport. This special Play button will play back only the selection,
allowing you to hear what is in the box you’ve selected. This is great for making sure you’ve
Pattern
This mode searches for a pattern in the surrounding material and uses it to replace the selection
Partials+Noise
This mode can be thought of as an advanced version of Replace mode. It is also a good choice
for sustained musical material and tones. When used carefully it restores harmonics of the audio
more accurately. It can even track changes in pitch between the beginning and end of a gap.
Partials+Noise mode links detected harmonics by synthesizing them through the selection, and
interpolates the rest of the signal using the Replace method.
• Harmonic Sensitivity adjusts the amount of detected and linked harmonics in Partials +
Noise mode. Lower values will detect fewer harmonics, while higher values will detect
more harmonics and can introduce some unnatural pitch modulations in the
interpolated result.
Common Controls
Spectral Repair’s modes share several common controls that affect the way the selection is
repaired.
• Surrounding Region Length lets you choose how far before and after the selection
Spectral Repair will look when figuring out how to make the repair. Trying different
settings will help you find the best repair for your particular problem.
• Before/After Weighting determines whether Spectral Repair uses more information
from before or after the selection to make the repair. For example, you may need to
repair a sustained section of audio right before another event on the timeline. To avoid
smearing of that other event into your repair, set the Weighting control all the way to
the left to only use audio before the selection to make the repair.
• Number of bands selects the number of frequency bands that RX uses to make the
repair. A higher number of bands can provide better frequency resolution, but will also
use a wider surrounding area.
• Multi‐resolution (RX Advanced only) this mode allows for better frequency resolution at
low frequencies and better time resolution at high frequencies simultaneously.
Comparing Settings
The ability to easily, repeatedly and accurately compare settings, visually and aurally, within the
five RX modules is a valuable tool as well as a true timesaver in whatever project you undertake.
You’ll find the Compare Settings feature to be an extremely useful reference when contrasting a
wide range of choices with the original. Taking notes on your settings and saving your own
presets can be an excellent path toward efficient and effective audio restoration procedure.
Sending settings to the Compare Settings Window
Find a setting in the module you feel works for a specific situation and then click on the
Compare button. RX automatically opens the Compare Settings window while processing the
result of your settings in the background. View and change your settings and click again on
Compare. RX will add a new item to the list each time you click on Compare. By clicking on
Original with your new Settings, you’ll have an instant comparison with every Setting listed in
the window.
Repeat this step with other control settings or processing modes in the module. These will be
listed with default names, but you can use the Rename button to choose your own names for
the items in your Compare list. Notice that the Spectrogram display, as well as the sound,
changes each time you select a Setting in the Compare Settings window.
 Use of Batch Processing allows automation of a long list of files to be run and processed
in the background while you do other things: get a snack, walk the dog, take a nap.
Apply Batch Processing to files
Begin by selecting File| Batch Processing. Click the "Add Files" button to add one or more file for
batch processing, then choose the processing module you wish to use. To view the settings for a
particular batch processing job, click the View Settings button. After making changes, to grab a
snapshot of the module's current settings to use for batch processing, click the Update Settings
button.
Running a Batch Process
Once you are satisfied with the batch processing jobs, click the Run button to run all of them.
You will see a progress dialog while RX runs each job. To cancel the current job and all
subsequent jobs, click the Cancel button.
After batch processing, the results will be presented to you in the batch processing window. If a
job has failed or been cancelled, you can click the Run button to attempt these jobs again.
Setting the Batch Processing output settings
To configure the output file format for all batch processing, click the Settings button.
RX includes a 4 band parametric equalizer module with adjustable notch filters and
low‐pass/high‐pass filters. This can be a handy tool for cutting or boosting certain frequencies,
or for quickly removing unwanted low or high frequency sounds like rumble or hiss.
The EQ module comes in two flavors or EQ Types:
Analog EQ is a non‐linear phase filter. The Linear‐phase EQ uses a FIR (finite response) filter.
The analog filter gives a very different (some say “warmer”) character than the linear phase
filter which is very precise and designed to minimize phase shifts in audio. You can easily switch
between the two filters to hear which best suits your project. As with all the modules in RX, you
have the option of Preview and Compare plus the ability to create and save your own settings
(presets) in EQ.
 It may be useful to separate and associate the filename of each preset for export with the
type of module. For example, if I’ve found a useful preset for Hum, I’ll name the preset
Roosevelt Oval 1940 Side A and export the file as Hum RoosOval1940_A. When saved, RX will
add the extension (.pluginpreset). Whatever you name your exported file, RX automatically
knows which preset goes with which module.
Like presets, RX includes default keyboard shortcuts but you can customize them to your
preference. The keyboard shorcuts menu is quite straightforward and like the presets tool, saves
time and increases efficiency.
Presets menu ‐ save groups of key assignments with this tool (see paragraph on Presets)
Show commands containing ‐ lets you search by keyword for a command you want to assign to a
keystroke
Shortcuts for selected command ‐ shows if there are any keystrokes assigned to the command
selected in the above menu
Remove ‐ removes the currently assigned keystroke from a command
Press Shortcut Key ‐ to assign a new keystroke to a command, select the command from the
menu, then click in this field and press a key or combination of keys
Assign ‐ assigns the entered keystroke to the current command
Shortcut key currently used by ‐ lists commands to which the current keystroke is assigned
Reset ‐ returns settings to defaults
 This would be a good time to save your original work as a back‐up file, either in a
separate folder or an auxiliary storage device such as a flash drive. Having a duplicate copy of
your originals is always a smart idea!
Dither Modes:
• None (Truncate) ‐ converts to a new bit depth without applying dither, instead truncating or
removing the extra bits.
• White Noise (TPDF) ‐ standard quality dithering
The Dither module applies iZotope's MBIT+ dithering technology to improve the quality of your
audio files whether you are converting to 24, 20, 16, 12, or 8 bits. MBIT+ uses proprietary noise
shaping method for improved quality.
While the basic RX application does have one simple MBIT+ mode, RX Advanced gives you an
entire panel for customizing the dithering settings for optimal results.
As with many of the modules in RX, the MBIT+ options menu allows for saving and importing of
your own settings as Presets.
New bit depth ‐ This sets the target resolution (bit depth) of the audio file.
Noise shaping ‐ By shaping the dither noise, it is possible to provide more effective and
transparent dithering by shifting the dither noise spectrum into the least audible frequency
bands. You can control the aggressiveness of this shaping, ranging from None (no shaping)
through Ultra (roughly 14 dB of audible noise suppression)
Dither Amount ‐ The dithering amount can be varied from None (noise shaping only) to High. No
dithering or Low dither amount can leave some non‐linear quantization distortion or dither
noise modulation, while higher settings completely eliminate the non‐linear distortion at the
expense of a slightly increased noise floor. In general, the Normal dither amount is a good
choice.
Auto‐blanking ‐ This option instructs RX to completely mute dither output (i.e. dither noise)
when the input signal is completely silent (0 bits of audio).
Limiting of noise peaks ‐ Dither noise is random in nature and exhibits very low amplitude.
However, after noise shaping, especially in aggressive dithering modes, the high‐frequency
dither noise is significantly amplified, and the overall dither signal can show spurious peaks up
to ‐60 dBfs, (an abbreviation for decibel amplitude levels in digital systems which have a
maximum available level). If such high peaks are undesirable, you can enable this option to
effectively suppress the spurious peaks in the noise‐shaped dither.
RX's Resample module allows you to convert an audio file from one sample rate to another.
Sample Rate Conversion (SRC) is a necessary process when converting material from one
sampling rate (such as studio quality 192kHz) to another rate (such as CD quality 44.1kHz). It is
common to record and edit in high sampling rates since higher rates allow higher frequencies to
be represented. For example, a 192kHz audio sample can represent frequencies up to 96kHz
whereas a 44.1kHz audio sample can only represent frequencies up to 22.05kHz.
When reducing the sampling rate, or down‐sampling, it is crucial to remove the frequencies that
cannot be represented at the lower sampling rate. Leaving frequencies above this point causes
aliasing. Not unlike quantization, aliasing can be heard as the frequencies in an inaudible range
are shifted into an audible range causing distortion and noise. With iZotope SRC's users can
completely avoid the common aliasing artifacts while maintaining the maximum frequency
content.
New Sampling Rate ‐ This setting chooses the sampling rate you want to convert to. Choose a
sample rate from the drop down list, or click on the field to type in another sample rate
Filter steepness ‐ Controls the steepness of filter cutoff. Steeper filters perform better in
frequency domain, i.e. pass more in useful range and suppress aliasing better, but worse in time
domain, i.e.have stronger ringing. Ringing of digital filters is smearing of transient energy in
processed signals near the Nyquist frequency. It's disputable whether this affects sound quality
at all, but some suggest that excessive ringing negatively affects stereo imaging and bass
perception. That's why it may be important for some users to decide how precise they really
need to be in frequency domain and how much ringing they can tolerate in the time domain.
Cutoff shift ‐ Cutoff scaling shifts the filter cutoff frequency up or down to fine‐tune the
frequency response of the resampler. Shifting cutoff down suppresses more useful pass‐band
signals, but also rejects more aliasing components in the stop‐band. It's possible to shift the
cut‐off to completely suppress any aliasing in the stop‐band (by about 180 dB or more). It's
In addition to the hard work of iZotope’s development, QA and content development teams, we
also wish to extend our thanks to Nat Johnson whose writing, restoration expertise and audio
examples contributed greatly to this guide.
Nat Johnson
While still a music student in Boston, Nat Johnson began a career in radio broadcasting and
sound recording when he joined the Concert Network as an announcer and music programmer.
During this period, he was offered the opportunity to record a season of live performances for
Sarah Caldwell’s Opera Company of Boston. Soon thereafter, Nat joined the staff at WGBH‐TV
and Radio and was assigned the unique, triple‐role of announcer, producer and audio engineer
and where he became engaged with the recording and mixing of multi‐track recordings,
including broadcasts by the Boston Symphony and Pops Orchestras.
While in England producing an album for WGBH at the BBC Studios in London, Nat received an
invitation from Ray Dolby to tour Dolby Laboratories at Clapham and later, as a producer for
RCA Records, continued his associations with Dolby in New York developing Pro‐Logic surround
remastering projects for CD. In 1999, while supervising classical and film‐music reissues at
BMG/RCA, Johnson initiated a unique audiophile series of high‐end CD’s employing Weiss 24/96
A/D converters and Sonic Solutions’ High Density editing system. In 2000, Nat was nominated
for a Grammy as Producer of the 94‐CD Rubinstein Collection for BMG/RCA.
In 2004, Nat founded his own company, Rockport Restoration Studios in Rockport,
Massachusetts, specializing in the restoration and preservation of early sound recordings. At
present, he is heading a project to restore all known extant recordings containing the speeches
and White House conversations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Train Denoiser with the just‐noise signal present before the organ starts playing
The Spectrogram Display before and after Denoiser and EQ are applied
Using a tag-team approach of EQ and Denoiser can make “buried” dialog much more
intelligible
Each of the phone handset noises is comprised of a vertical spike and a horizontal
thump
A quick pass with Attenuate mode gets rid of the low frequency sound
The recording before running Automatic Declicker
Analyze a clipped area with the “Compute” button and Histogram window
String squeak selected
String squeak interpolated using material from before the event
Select the gap and use Spectral Repair’s Partials + Noise mode