Removing Echo from Audio with Adobe Audition

So, there I was, shooting a video for a Peer Review for StreamingMedia.com. If you’re not familiar with these videos, it’s where I critique videos presented by different web sites. While I simply don’t have the production facilities to match the quality of some of the sites that I comment on, I do try to maximize the quality of my audio and video.

I was trying out a new microphone with the video segment, saw that levels were good, but didn’t otherway pay attention to the quality. Then I got to editing the video (after putting away the lights, and storing all the audio gear, of course) and noticed a pretty severe echo in the audio. Well, here it is, you give it a listen.

 

Clearly unusable unless I could chromakey myself into a big church or other large room. With my deadline approaching, I quickly started Google-ing, finding many items that said removing echo was impossible. On another site, I saw a suggestion to use Adobe Audition’s Center Channel Extractor (see the bottom post here).

The filter is simple enough to apply; in the main menu choose Effects > Filters > Center Channel Extractor. Here’s the filter itself, which I just used in its default configuration.

center channel extractor.jpg

I applied the filter, saved the file, and this is what I got.

It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough to use in the final production. Here’s the before again for easier comparison.

So, if you run into a similar problem, give it a shot!

About Jan Ozer

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I help companies train new technical hires in streaming media-related positions; I also help companies optimize their codec selections and encoding stacks and evaluate new encoders and codecs. I am a contributing editor to Streaming Media Magazine, writing about codecs and encoding tools. I have written multiple authoritative books on video encoding, including Video Encoding by the Numbers: Eliminate the Guesswork from your Streaming Video (https://amzn.to/3kV6R1j) and Learn to Produce Video with FFmpeg: In Thirty Minutes or Less (https://amzn.to/3ZJih7e). I have multiple courses relating to streaming media production, all available at https://bit.ly/slc_courses. I currently work as www.netint.com as a Senior Director in Marketing.

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