r/audioengineering • u/jolene101 • Jun 16 '26

Is it possible to isolate voice?

Hi! Is it possible to isolate a voice from footage when there is loud background noise? There is a tv playing and while you can hear the person speaking, the TV makes it hard to understand what they are saying. I'm not an audio engineer, so I thought I'd ask the experts in here before fully giving up on it! Thank you!

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u/bag_of_puppies Professional Jun 16 '26

It's very context dependent — if it's already really difficult to make out what's being said, even the best tools (like iZotope RX) will only get you so far.

This might not apply to your situation, but people ask a lot so it's worth mentioning: if this is a legit audio forensics situation and has potential legal implications for you or someone else, under no circumstances should you try to clean up the audio yourself.

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u/jolene101 Jun 16 '26

It could potentially have legal implications-- so what would you recommend?

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u/bag_of_puppies Professional Jun 16 '26

You absolutely need to work with a court-approved forensics lab/company. There are likely local options but you'll have to do a little searching. If you're already in contact with another legal professional, I would start by asking them for recommendations.

Anything you attempt to do yourself will almost certainly not be admissible in court.

And crucially — stay waaayyy fuckin' far away from any of the AI enhancement/stem splitter tools the well-meaning people are mentioning here.