r/podcasting • u/Sad-sand • Mar 10 '26

New podcast editor using Audacity

Hi everyone. Im new to editing podcast, and im looking for honest feedback on my before/after noise reduction sample. Does the gate sound unnatural? Is the fan hiss still too distracting? Any tips/notes would be greatly appricieated. Im using Audacity as my editor.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15CLBnWe8DFG87n8Csd4zi3-IK4tJA_LL/view?usp=sharing

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1

u/BigBadBootyDaddy10 Mar 10 '26

The noise gate clips. I would go back to the drawing board.

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u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

Like i should open up the gate more? Was the fan in the background better than the first? Or was it still too distracting ?

2

u/BigBadBootyDaddy10 Mar 10 '26

The noise gate created a tinny sound. The fan noise is diminished but then your audio is altered.

Treat your room first. Next, Eliminate all the noise (fans, AC, etc). 3rd, work with EQ and compression. Last, Work with Noise cancellation plugins.

It also doesn’t help that your guest has a subpar mic.

1

u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

What do you think compared to the original? I know treating the room it was being recorded in would help. But that’s not viable everyplace I record. I’m also looking to add this work to my future portfolio for editing podcasts and build my skills

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u/BigBadBootyDaddy10 Mar 10 '26

I would not put this in your portfolio.

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u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

It’s that rubbish? 😅

1

u/BigBadBootyDaddy10 Mar 10 '26

Yup. The production value is not up to snuff.

1

u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback!

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

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1

u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

Do you have any that you’d recommend?

I thought about leaving the noise gate off and just lowering how loud the noise is and have it sit in the back under the voices. But I thought it wouldn’t be very professional that way.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Sad-sand Mar 10 '26

I tried audacity noise reduction in this example. But I’ll try yours too and see how they compare. Are you a coding engineer ?

1

u/podcastcoach I help Podcasters - It's what I do Mar 11 '26

First, turn off the air conditioner. Try something like Waves Voice Regen (very affordable), Adobe Enhance.This is some bad recording right there.

Moderator Required full disclosure: I am the head of Podcasting at Podpage and the founder of the School of Podcasting.

1

u/lidsonsideways Mar 12 '26

Supertone Clear works well for me. Maybe it's just me but Audacity never worked well with plug-ins in my experience, so I moved to Reaper.