How To Clear Up Audio Distortion From Downloaded Track(s)? [UPDATED 09-15-21]

[Kjennings92]

This is definitely going to be an interesting one: 

 

As the title states, I'm eager to know if there are any ways/methods of clearing up distorted audio from tracks that have been downloaded?  For anyone curious, I used Any Video Converter to download the tracks I wanted several months ago. (Not sure if it's really the best for what I had in mind, but I had no issues with using it Now, from what I have noticed, I don't think the software I used is really to blame for this, but then again, maybe it just comes down to how much you know & how you use the software?) Anyway, with some of the tracks, I noticed that they weren't the same file types which is why I recently had to convert some of them using Handbrake. Thankfully, that went smoothly with no issues; I just had to educate myself on how to properly convert them. But I have noticed with a few of the tracks that I've converted, there is the slightest bit of distortion to the audio even though I can hear each individual track just fine. With that being said, I'm sure there IS some way of clearing up any audio distortion from audio tracks, but I wouldn't know how 1 would go about doing so. Hopefully, you guys can further educate me.

 

As always, don't forget to ask me any questions that you might have & I'll do my very best to provide you with the needed details.  

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help! 

[da na]

ClipGrab is my favourite, and audio quality seems to be better than other video downloaders I've used.

Audacity has a noise cancellation feature, you can select a spot of just noise, no music and then apply the filter to the whole track.

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, Mel0nMan said:

ClipGrab is my favourite, and audio quality seems to be better than other video downloaders I've used.

Audacity has a noise cancellation feature, you can select a spot of just noise, no music and then apply the filter to the whole track.

Hm, interesting. But to be clear, I never implied that the tool/software I used to download the tracks are to blame; I'm thinking it might be how I converted the tracks themselves or it might possibly be down to the video/audio format/file specifications. Also, in case you are confused, I don't wish to completely "remove" the audio; I just want to clear up the slight bit of distortion if I can. Maybe if I provided 1 of the tracks for you to listen to, you might see/hear what I mean? 

[da na]

Just now, Kjennings92 said:

Hm, interesting. But to be clear, I never implied that the tool/software I used to download the tracks are to blame; I'm thinking it might be how I converted the tracks themselves or it might possibly be down to the video/audio format/file specifications. Also, in case you are confused, I don't wish to completely "remove" the audio; I just want to clear up the slight bit of distortion if I can. Maybe if I provided 1 of the tracks for you to listen to, you might see/hear what I mean? 

Yeah, I know - should've been clearer. So for example, if your track looks like this

-----MVMVMVMVMVM------- with some blank spots at the start and end of the signal, you can select some of the -----, press the button in the noise cancellation menu called "find sample" or something like that. Then you can apply the noise cancel filter to the whole track and it will cancel out that specific frequency on the whole track. I used to use that a lot when I ran my school radio station and it worked well for that, I would need to cancel out the air conditioner that we couldn't turn off and thud sounds in the hallway, that sort of thing since the mic was so sensitive. Don't know if for music it will be as good though, it may interfere with cymbals and that sort of thing. But it's pretty easy to use and self explanatory, and white noise/digital noise cancellation yields the best results.

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, Mel0nMan said:

Yeah, I know - should've been clearer. So for example, if your track looks like this

-----MVMVMVMVMVM------- with some blank spots at the start and end of the signal, you can select some of the -----, press the button in the noise cancellation menu called "find sample" or something like that. Then you can apply the noise cancel filter to the whole track and it will cancel out that specific frequency on the whole track. I used to use that a lot when I ran my school radio station and it worked well for that, I would need to cancel out the air conditioner that we couldn't turn off and thud sounds in the hallway, that sort of thing since the mic was so sensitive. Don't know if for music it will be as good though, it may interfere with cymbals and that sort of thing. But it's pretty easy to use and self explanatory, and white noise/digital noise cancellation yields the best results.

Forgive me if I'm unintentionally being rude here, but you didn't even tell me what tool or software you used for this sort of thing. Also, in case you didn't know, none of these tracks I downloaded are my work because I'm not a musician LOL; I simply downloaded them for a project I'm currently working on. 1 last thing, try to at least explain things a little better as I haven't had a ton of experience with audio/audio software not to mention with creating & editing a video. Luckily, I'm a quick learner.

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, The Unknown Voice said:

You could try another software package to see if the distortion is there.

It is also possible that the playback is better than you think, and you are hearing the noise / distortion because of that fact.

 

That might be the case, but obviously, I'm far from an expert on this sort of thing TBH. LOL What did you mean when you said "software package"? Care to clarify for me please?

[Kjennings92]

4 minutes ago, The Unknown Voice said:

I use Audacity, as I feel it is easy to use / figure out.

Is Audacity used for downloading videos or more for like editing them afterward? (Like an Audio Editor of sorts.) I've heard of it, but haven't used it yet.

[Kjennings92]

3 minutes ago, The Unknown Voice said:

No, it doesn't do anyting for video, just audio.

I use it on YouTube to get audio, and trim, compress as needed to make it sound good.

I have never done video editing with computers, as I learned on a Panasonic VHS editing system in the 70's that was broadcast quality.

I might take a look at it when I get my disability, as I want to build a Threadripper system just to see what it takes to do it.

 

 

Hm. So to answer my previous question with a question: it's actually like an audio editor/tweaker for audiophiles, right?

[da na]

23 minutes ago, Kjennings92 said:

Forgive me if I'm unintentionally being rude here, but you didn't even tell me what tool or software you used for this sort of thing. Also, in case you didn't know, none of these tracks I downloaded are my work because I'm not a musician LOL; I simply downloaded them for a project I'm currently working on. 1 last thing, try to at least explain things a little better as I haven't had a ton of experience with audio/audio software not to mention with creating & editing a video. Luckily, I'm a quick learner.

I said in the first post I use Audacity. And yes, I know you're not creating these tracks or anything, I was just saying if there was music in the audio it may not sound as good. There are tons of guides online on how exactly to use the Audacity noise cancellation more in depth if you want to, but leaving it on default settings will usually still yield OK results.

[da na]

12 minutes ago, Kjennings92 said:

Is Audacity used for downloading videos or more for like editing them afterward? (Like an Audio Editor of sorts.) I've heard of it, but haven't used it yet.

Audacity is just an audio editing program. It's an audio editor. No downloading. 

Clipgrab is the best video downloader out there IMO. 

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, Mel0nMan said:

I said in the first post I use Audacity. And yes, I know you're not creating these tracks or anything, I was just saying if there was music in the audio it may not sound as good. There are tons of guides online on how exactly to use the Audacity noise cancellation more in depth if you want to, but leaving it on default settings will usually still yield OK results.

@Mel0nMan @The Unknown Voice Got it, but for what both of you suggested, it can actually clear up the audio distortion without removing the audio itself, right? 

[da na]

34 minutes ago, Kjennings92 said:

@Mel0nMan @The Unknown Voice Got it, but for what both of you suggested, it can actually clear up the audio distortion without removing the audio itself, right? 

As I have said a couple times, yes.

[Kjennings92]

3 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

As I have said a couple times, yes.

OK, just wanted to be sure though.  Thanks!

[Kjennings92]

27 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

As I have said a couple times, yes.

BTW, do you happen to know of any guides out there that show/demonstrates how to use Audacity the way I wish to? 

[da na]

Just now, Kjennings92 said:

BTW, do you happen to know of any guides out there that show/demonstrates how to use Audacity the way I wish to? 

Here you go:

How To Use Audacity - The Ultimate Guide | Accusonus Blog

Good luck!

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, Mel0nMan said:

Here you go:

How To Use Audacity - The Ultimate Guide | Accusonus Blog

Good luck!

Thanks, but is the function I'm needing/wanting labeled as "Trim Audio" for clearing up audio distortion, or is it labeled as something else? 

[da na]

1 minute ago, Kjennings92 said:

Thanks, but is the function I'm needing/wanting labeled as "Trim Audio" for clearing up audio distortion, or is it labeled as something else? 

'Noise reduction' in the Effects menu IIRC

[Kjennings92]

1 minute ago, Mel0nMan said:

'Noise reduction' in the Effects menu IIRC

OK, I'll give it a try. Hopefully, this should be easy & I hope I won't screw anything up... 

[Kjennings92]

@Mel0nMan I have a bit of an update: I downloaded ClipGrab from their official website, but didn't install it just yet. Why? Well, Microsoft Defender labeled it as a threat, & both VirusTotal & MetaDefender results also say the same thing!  I'll include the results of both online scanners just in case you wish to view the results & confirm. VirusTotal results: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/31f8224d6de4f322e2cc44f1516919339ba0dcedc358b5c817bacdca3e8a94de/detection MetaDefender results: https://metadefender.opswat.com/results/file/bzIxMDkwNWNmLXQ4Z3ZRWlZ4UURjRVE2T0Q/regular/overview?lang=en 

 

Now with that being said, do I have any options that are as good as ClipGrab that I can try with being malicious or harmful in any way? I'm open to suggestions here... 

[da na]

1 minute ago, Kjennings92 said:

@Mel0nMan I have a bit of an update: I downloaded ClipGrab from their official website, but didn't install it just yet. Why? Well, Microsoft Defender labeled it as a threat, & both VirusTotal & MetaDefender results also say the same thing!  I'll include the results of both online scanners just in case you wish to view the results & confirm. VirusTotal results: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/31f8224d6de4f322e2cc44f1516919339ba0dcedc358b5c817bacdca3e8a94de/detection MetaDefender results: https://metadefender.opswat.com/results/file/bzIxMDkwNWNmLXQ4Z3ZRWlZ4UURjRVE2T0Q/regular/overview?lang=en 

 

Now with that being said, do I have any options that are as good as ClipGrab that I can try with being malicious or harmful in any way? I'm open to suggestions here... 

It's not malicious in any way at all. It does that for me too. 

[Kjennings92]

6 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

It's not malicious in any way at all. It does that for me too. 

Look, I don't really doubt you, but I'm not so sure. The results from Microsoft Defender label it as App:ClipGrab_BundleInstaller while the results from both VirusTotal & MetaDefender are kind of mixed Are you sure it's not being flagged as a false positive or something? I just want to be sure in case it is malicious in some way...

[da na]

11 minutes ago, Kjennings92 said:

Look, I don't really doubt you, but I'm not so sure. The results from Microsoft Defender label it as App:ClipGrab_BundleInstaller while the results from both VirusTotal & MetaDefender are kind of mixed Are you sure it's not being flagged as a false positive or something? I just want to be sure in case it is malicious in some way...

It's a false positive. It'll probably try to install some other software but just hit decline. 

[Kjennings92]

Just now, Mel0nMan said:

It's a false positive. It'll probably try to install some other software but just hit decline. 

OK, I'll try it even though I'm going out on a limb here...

[Kjennings92]

@Mel0nManI'm giving ClipGrab a try & I notice it tends to be a little finicky when it comes to the results, but that's no big deal.  I forgot to ask at the time if you have any similar suggestions for a software (Or browser extension for that matter.) that can download files/tracks off of Soundcloud with no distorted audio?