How to Remove Background Noise in Audacity?

The most frequent request you'll get from video makers is to eliminate irritating noises like rumbling or humming from an original clip. Almost all of the time, capturing high-quality audio during filming is challenging since the conversation is often hard to hear or is made unclear due to surrounding noises, such as the dreadful air conditioners or fans.

To get rid of all these awful noises, this Audacity Noise Reduction feature will serve you a significant purpose in removing unwanted background noise for your future videos. Without further ado, let's get started!

Part 1: Things You Need to Prepare for Background Noise Reduction

Here are few things that you need to consider before you apply the noise reduction to your clips:

1. Noise Sample

A decent sample of the noise you wish to eliminate is perhaps the most crucial aspect of the Audacity remove noise procedure.

This will be used by Audacity to understand the noise and build a noise profile. The noise recording should last for a fair amount of time and be devoid of any other noises.

2. Avoid Copy Pasting Tiny Noise Section in Your Spoken Phrases

When you have a tiny part of noise between your stated words on your audio, please don't copy/paste it to make a more significant piece of sound for Audacity to examine.

You would not be supplying Audacity with any more information that will help it generate a decent noise profile. The noise profile is what enables Audacity to tell the difference between speech and noise.

3. Minimum 2048 Data Samples Required

To build a noise profile, the Noise Reduction function requires a minimum of 2048 sample data. An audio file with a sampling frequency of 44.1kHz is roughly five hundredths of a second.

Note that this is the minor sound level that Audacity needs to generate a noise profile; however, should you supply a larger sample of the noise, Audacity can typically perform a great job of producing a suitable noise profile. As a result, attempt to capture a few seconds of background noises wherever possible.

4. Establish Recording Level and Record "Silence"

Setting your audio volume and capturing some "quiet" prior to speaking is the best way to achieve this. Instead, when you've finished talking, keep your camera/recorder going for a few moments.

Don't move or create any sounds while capturing the background noises, and keep an ear open for any other noises. You only need to capture the ambient noise for a few moments; two to five seconds will suffice.

Part 2: How to Remove Background Noise in Audacity on Windows and Mac?

Whether you are using Windows or macOS, we will show you a step-by-step process to achieve your results using both software in this part of Audacity remove background music guide.

Remove background noise in Audacity on Windows

Step 1: On your recording, select a few moments of sound. Any segment of noise that incorporates other noises should be avoided.

Step 2: From the Effect menu, select Noise Reduction.

Step 3: Select the Get Noise Profile option whenever the Noise Reduction effect screen appears.

Note: Choose whether to implement the noise removal to the entire waveforms or only a portion of it.

Step 4: To access the Noise Reduction effects window, go to Effects > Noise Reduction. Raise the level of noise reduction progressively while previewing the result.

Step 5: Head over to the File section to Export and Save the result. Audacity does not save sound clips when you select Save Project; instead, you must choose Export. Select the file type you want to store and the place wherever you can save it. Select Save after giving the File Name.

Remove background noise in Audacity on Mac

Step 1: Create a room tone-containing audio file. When you don't have a separate track for room tone, use a recording with a few moments of quiet in it. Click-and-drag to select a segment with a few minutes of silence using the Selection Tool.

Step 2: Select Noise Reduction from the Effects tab. Select the Get Noise Profile tab in the new tab under Step 1. The screen will shut, and Audacity will take noise profile samples of the indicated area.

Step 3: Click-and-drag to select the whole file, which requires noise reduction with the Selection Tool. To re-open the function, go to the Effect tab and pick Noise Reduction. Make modifications to the following parameters under Step 2:

Step 4: To listen to how the chosen file will look with the selected parameters, select Preview. Re-adjust until you have a sound noise reduction with no interference. When you're finished, select Reduce and click OK.

Part 3: Why is Audacity Noise Reduction Not Working?

It's possible that the Noise Reduction function isn't letting you mop up your recording since your audio isn't appropriate for it. The disturbance must be continuous, not random or fluctuating, to work for Audacity's Noise Reduction function.

For example, the Noise Reduction function will not assist if your audio was made in a busy environment with unique noises such as background chatter, random traffic noises, or in an exhibition space or museum. The Noise Reduction feature in Audacity isn't meant to cope with that kind of distortion. You'll need to alter your recording approach if you're capturing voice in either of those situations. 

Under the following situations, the Audacity Noise Reduction function might underperform.

Part 4: How to Prevent Background Noise in Audio Recording?

Although Audacity allows eliminating noise very simply, it is still an additional level that takes time to refine your podcast production. These pointers can help you avoid the necessity for noise reduction and cut down on the amount of time you spend processing.

1. Reduce the Computer Fan Noise

Whenever computers become too heated, they can produce a lot of noise. You may limit the amount of software that runs and position your mic away from the keyboard to help lessen this impact and avoid the fan from coming on.

However, even if you observe all of these guidelines, undesired recording sounds may still appear in your program. Fortunately, contemporary software makes this problem quite simple to resolve.

2. Reduce the Gain and Get Close to the Mic

Reduce the gain (sensitivity of the microphone) and go nearer to it. Talking straight into the microphone won't distort your audio if you reduce the gain, and that would assist your microphone in concentrating on scooping up your voice's tone.

Bonus Tip: Set your recorder's (or DAW's) sensitivity such that your speech peaks between -12 and -10db.

3. Utilize a Versatile Microphone

Condenser and dynamic microphones are the two most common types of podcast microphones. Condenser microphones are significantly more sensitive instruments meant to take up average atmospheric noise, whereas dynamic microphones have a narrower frequency range, picking up fewer ambient noises. 

4. Optimize Your Recording Environment

The most significant and most crucial aspect of your podcasts' sound quality is where you capture it. To optimize your personal podcasting space, we recommend choosing a peaceful, compact area away from HVAC systems, vehicles, external hard drives, background sound, motors, and other distractions. You may also increase the tone of your room by using natural sound absorbents such as curtains, rugs, carpets, and sofas.

Part 5: How to Remove Background Noise in Filmora?

Although there is a lot of software available to eliminate ambient noise, we highly suggest Wondershare Filmora Video Editor to edit audio and video in one place.

In addition to the standard audio editing capabilities, the recently redesigned Filmora currently includes enhanced waveforms, volume Keyframing, peak metering, and audio transitions, giving you a better audio editing interface.

Filmora Video Editor will quickly remove ambient sound from both sound/video. You may also remove the sound from the video with this simple video editor, use the Audio Equalizer or Audio Mixer functions to modify the audio further, and then Export and save the audio in an Mp3 file. Here are the detailed steps:

Step 1: In the Wondershare Filmora Timeline menu, Import your footage. Trim the footage after previewing it and deleting the sections you don't want to retain.

Step 2: To eliminate the ambient noise immediately, double-click on the video file, and go to the Audio panel to select the Remove Background Noise option. You will find that the background noise is removed automatically.

Step 3: After checking the results, select Export to download the noise-reduced clip to your desktop or upload it immediately to YouTube or Vimeo.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. In this Audacity Remove Background Noise guide, we have reviewed every possible method you can adopt to get rid of the unnecessary background noise in the Audacity. And if the desired results are still not achieved, we highly recommend using the Wondershare Filmora editing software. Not only will it help you remove the unwanted ambient noise, but it will also allow you to customize your audio or video file further.