Sound enhancing software

Statex2_2

Hi I am not sure if anyone can help me  but I need some sound enhancing software. I am suffering  anti social behaviour from a neighbour, verbal abuse etc. Council said I have to have recorded evidence. I fitted a CCTV camera, which also captures sound but the sound quality is poor and not clear. Does anyone know of any sound enhancing software that would make the recordings clearer. Alternatively any mics or recorders that would do a better job?

Neil_Jones

Unfortunately if the sound quality was poor in the first place there's going to be very little you can do to make it better, because even if you just boost it all you'll do is boost the background noise as well, which makes it even worse.

Its the same reason as why you can't take a tiny 3x3 picture and blow it up to the point where you can see the hair up somebody's nose from the other end of the street, as you may have seen on the likes of NCIS and others.  Doesn't work like that - in fiction it works beautifully, in reality it'll look like an explosion in a Lego factory.  The audio equivalent will sound crystal clear in fiction, but in reality it'll just be a result of a horrible hissing noise and probably an irritating buzz, and the recorded sound will be poor and unclear, and may just highlight passing cars, trees rustling, dogs/cats etc more than anything else.

You can try feeding it through something like Audacity but unfortunately I fear the end result will be the same.

Decent microphones aren't really very conspicuous, but depending on what you have already you may be able to add something.  Whether it'll pick up any decent sound is up for debate.

pendragon_arther

Another way is to record with your laptop/pc if that's what you're using. You'll obviously need a mike then you can marry the audio to the video using a free video suite (I use vegas movie studio but it's not free). As above you can record using Audacity. You can use Any Video Converter or HD Video Converter Factory (both free) to convert the CCTV recording. If you need any more help post here.

googler

Go onto any of the websites that deal in professional recording equipment. Look for a digital recorder with a decent microphone. Spend what you can afford. Alternatively, go to eBay and see if used examples are available to fit with a lower budget than the new prices. 

You could go for (for instance) a Tascam portable with built-in microphones, or a standalone machine to connect a separate microphone to. 

Statex2_2

Hi Thanks for the replies. The only recording I have is via a CCTV camera that also records sound. I did download a recording but it is not clear and sounds a bit muffled.  Have ordered a mic off ebay and will try that . Thanks.