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I have a six-minute audio recording that a child put a lot of time and effort into, six months ago, so re-recording is not an option. Everything is clear and understandable, but it sounds a bit distorted, I think because he was too close to the microphone.

Here is the first minute of the recording (the rest shows exactly the same problem): https://clyp.it/ohggyjvr

Is there anything we can do to reduce that distorted feeling?

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What you are asking for is pretty much like trying to take the sugar of a baked cake. There are tools that could help but I have no personal experience with them. From what I was told, iZotope RX can work some magic. I think they have a trial version, but I don't know how limited it is.

Using a software like audacity or reaper you can also put a hi-pass filter on the whole thing around 120hz to take te rumble and pops out. For the distortion that you hear from time to time, cut the wave to isolate them as well as you can (dont be scared to zoom in a lot) and put a low-pass around 6khz-8khz to reduce the distortion only when it happens since it's very high pitched.

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  • Sorry, I don't understand "clipped your soundcard input" or "clip the mic." Can you explain? // Also, thanks for listening to the sample. How would you describe the type of distortion I hear?
    – aparente001
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 21:06
  • You can hear a lot of pops (that is indeed from talking too close to a mic with no windscreen/pop screen) but you can fix that by putting a hi-pass filter around 120Hz. As for the clipping, I don't know what was used to record but it sounds like digital distortion, probably from coming in too hot in the sound card input. If it was recorded with a 1/8" jack microphone from the electronic store next door, you don't have much control over that besides, as you said, speaking away from the mic. The iZotope software is supposed to be able to edit that kind of thing and fix it
    – BadgerBadger
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 22:03
  • And you could also try putting a low-pass filter around 8Khz to clean some of it, but it will make the voice less airy at the same time if you turn it down too low.
    – BadgerBadger
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 22:05
  • Edited my answer. Hope it's clearer.
    – BadgerBadger
    Commented Feb 8, 2017 at 22:28

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