fan noise from LED

[doubledark]

Hi all
I'm keen to hear from the audio experts on this forum about this comment "the fan sound is similar to an air conditioner, and consistent enough to remove with simple noise reduction software."

It's a quote from a filmmaker reviewing an LED light that has a fan which he uses for interviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0QZyFJhjo&feature=youtu.be&t=263 and the comment is at 4:25

cheers

 

[Jim Feeley]

Maybe. Let's start by saying they don't provide a clear example of a clip with noise, and then after their noise-reduction. Also, the standup sure has A LOT of reverb; I'd have a bit more faith in their statement if they'd recorded better audio in a situation that they apparently controlled. Also, they slapped down a music bed...not a terrible thing and a decent way to hide various audio ills...but again, how bad is the noise? (Please don't make me watch the whole thing...)

That said, I've had good success removing HVAC noise....including HVAC noise where I HAD to record a guy sitting directly under a loud open-office-dotcom-co vent... with iZotope RX. It took a few passes (In some situations, I seem to get smoother results if I don't try to crush all noise in a single pass), and I have a fair degree of experience with RX. I'm much less familiar with how well the easy/one-button noise-reduction apps (and NLE features) work.

But before I bought such a light, I'd really want to hear this noise the guy is talking about. And heck, if there's unit-to-unit variance with noise level (like say some units have some plastic flashing left on the fan blades that ends up increasing noise), I'd want to be able to return a unit that didn't work for me.

Others here may have different thoughts.

 

[Noiz2]

And keep in mind that noise reduction does not magically remove only the noise, it's a subtractive process. So depending on the tone of the fan and the thing you are recording you are going to affect your recording to some extent. Most HVAC is low pitched and doesn't overlap with most voices so the impact is often not bad but this fan may be more in the vocal range and have more impact.

Also audio opinions from from non sound people are a bit like medical opinions from roofers. They may be correct but it's not something you should trust they are qualified to talk about. That works in revers also, if I start talking about the visual qualities of some camera feel free to take it with a big pile of salt.