A pop/click filter is a specially designed filter that searches for abrupt changes in the sound and eliminates them. Such a filter is often used to remove pops and clicks caused by dust and scratches when recording old vinyl records.
When a click is detected, the filter attempts to reconstruct the damaged waveform based on the surrounding waveform shape making the repair almost imperceptible. However with excessive pops and clicks or at low tolerance levels, reconstructed waveforms may overlap and sound distorted. The tolerance setting should be kept as high as possible. Using a very low setting may introduce more distortion than existed in the original. This is most noticeable in voice recordings and instrument solos, particularly trumpet solos. Always start with the maximum tolerance setting for those types of sounds.
| Pop/Click Setting | |
|---|---|
| Setting | Description |
| Tolerance (%) | Sets how abrupt a change in amplitude can be before it is considered a click. It is best to start with a value of 1000% or higher. Using a lower value will detect more clicks, but may eliminate natural clicks such as drum sticks tapping together or a conductor tapping the baton. Values less than 500% should be used on short selections only. |
The filter requires a minimum selection of 4000 samples (about one tenth of a second at CD quality) to establish a baseline. Using the filter on a shorter selection has no effect.
See Also: Noise Reduction, Find, Presets