iZotope RX 3 vs. Adobe Audition, Part 2: Noise and Reverb/Echo Reduction
In this final round between audio editing champs iZotope RX 3 and Adobe Audition CC, we compare the two audio editors in noise reduction and reverb/echo reduction.
Echo/Reverb Removal
Echo/reverb isn’t a huge problem for me; it’s only found its way into my audio once, though it threatened to ruin a screencam I had spent hours recording. I minimized the echo using Audition’s Channel Extractor which I blogged about here [http://www.streaminglearningcenter.com/articles/removing-echo-from-audio-with-adobe-audition.html]. The only reason I’m including echo removal in this comparison is because this post has been viewed over 29,500 times, making it the eight most popular article on the Streaming Learning Center blog. Clearly, I’m not the only one who’s found unwanted echo or reverb in their audio files.
If you listen to the original echo file below with headphones, you’ll firmly believe that I inserted the reverb on purpose, but I didn’t. I just recorded the tutorial as normal, and when I listened, the reverb was there. While Audition’s Channel Extraction tool did a credible job and saved my project, RX3’s Dereverb tool (Figure 2, below) produced a better result, faster and easier.
Figure 2. RX3’s Dereverb tool.
I guess the fact that the Dereverb tool exists at all is further evidence that accidental reverb is a problem many producers face. I used the tool by loading the problem file, and clicking Learn on the top left of the Dereverb tool. That produced a result that was too harsh, with very noticeable artifacts, which I minimized by dragging the Reduction slider on the left to its current position.
If you listen to all three files, you’ll note that RX3 eliminated virtually all of the reverb from the file, albeit with some tonal adjustment. While Audition made the file usable, you can still hear reverb in short segments throughout the file.
Conclusion
Overall, while Dynamic Link will always make Audition more convenient than iZotope for Premiere Pro users--round-trip editing is tough to beat--iZotope’s curative effects were impressive in my tests. While I’ll still gladly use Audition for common functions like compression (using filters that were licensed from iZotope, interestingly enough), and all of my multitrack editing, I’m glad to have RX3 in my tool chest for quality degrading issues like pops and clicks, particularly background noise and reverb/echo.
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