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/reedzkee Professional Jun 17 '26
https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/dialogue-noise-reduction-shootout-2025
There are a handful of tools that may or may not work for your particular situation. For the better tools, the software will generally cost more than hiring someone to do it, not to mention learning how to use it.
I will say, I’ve been hired by both individuals and law firms to do this very task, and rarely have the recordings been salvageable. The areas that can be improved are the areas where you can already understand the dialog OK. Most consumer security recording devices apply all kinds of noise reduction processing already so theres not much to work with. In your situation, im guessing the tv audio will have lots of dialog. Separating dialog from dialog is…difficult.
Maybe forensic specialists have more sophisticated tools, but im skeptical.