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I have an audio file that I have a conversation that is hard to hear the vocals due to street noise - traffic background, barking dogs etc...
I'm trying to isolate the vocals to hear the conversation. I have tried Audacity using the noise reduction - but it has not removed the noises. I have tried both an MP3 and WAV format after converting it from a OGG file.
Not sure if there is a software that is best to remove this background noise to make the conversation more clear?
The audio codec is not really relevant.
If capturing noise profiles does not work, then you can try operating with low and high pass filters. High pass filters help to elimiate humming of car motors. Low pass filters help to reduce high pitch noises, like screeching brakes. Of course you have to be aware not to cut off relevant frequencies from the vocals. Also try adjusting the frequencies with an EQ by de-emphasizing the frequencies outside the human voice.
With some noisy locations it is impossible to get a decent recording even with the best equipment. Usually in film-making, when you cannot avoid a noisy set, you completely replace the dialogue tracks later. It's a good idea to additionally record a noise track on set with nobody speaking and have that as a subdued background track later in the mix. But the dialogue has to be re-recorded in the studio and needs ot be lip synced it to the video. This technique is called ADR. However this is a bit too much work for a low budget production (which I assume is the case here.)
If noise removal tools, low/high pass filters and EQ don't help, and re-recording is too much trouble, you will probably have to live with what you have.
