Sound Devices Introduces NoiseAssist Noise Suppression Plugin for 8-Series Mixer-Recorders

May 19 2020, 01:20
Sound Devices announced the NoiseAssist Noise Suppression Plugin for their 8-Series mixer-recorders. NoiseAssist is an advanced signal processing algorithm that reduces background noises such as traffic, generators, HVAC noise, and more. The plugin continuously monitors background noise to make sure only clean audio is recorded for the entire take. It features a simple user interface with only one adjustment, the amount of background noise to suppress. The plugin is available now for an introductory price of $600.
 

The NoiseAssist algorithm is optimized specifically for high-end professional film and television dialog. It accurately distinguishes the desired speech signal from background noise using proprietary advanced multi-band frequency, level, and statistical calculations. NoiseAssist maintains the excellent frequency bandwidth of the audio channel, while effectively suppressing the background noise and reverberation.

This algorithm is the result of two years of in-house research and development by Staff Engineer Steve Popovich and CEO/President Matt Anderson. Steve holds a BSEE, MSEE, and PhD in EE from UW-Madison and Matt holds a BSEE from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Between the two of them, Steve and Matt collectively hold over 20 patents, and have several decades of experience designing audio algorithms and systems.

NoiseAssist automatically and continuously monitors the background noise independently from the desired speech in the signal. There is no need to ‘learn’ the signal, as this is done automatically. Noise suppression happens in real time with just 1 ms of latency, thanks to the 8-Series’ high-horsepower FPGA processing. Up to two instances of NoiseAssist can run on any combination of isolated channels (excluding 17-32 on Scorpio), bus L, or bus R.
 

The background noise and reverberation can then be seamlessly suppressed by a user-selectable dB level without affecting the desired speech signal. This is all done in real time with just 1 ms of latency.

The optional NoiseAssist plugin is compatible with all 8-Series mixer-recorders running firmware version 5.00 or higher, which may be downloaded from the Sound Devices website. Firmware version 5.00 also includes support for the Sonosax SX-LC8+ Control Surface.

8-Series users may visit store.sounddevices.com/product/noiseassist to hear a demo of the plugin and purchase NoiseAssist for their mixer-recorder.
www.sounddevices.com
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