Removing clicks from audio in iZotope RX (& without it!), a thread from a professional dialogue editor🧵

First, pin down where you hear the click in your audio. Not the exact spot, but a region where it is inside of. Click & drag your mouse to shade the area where the click appears. Open RX's De-click module--it's going to help you. Here's how to use it.

Listen & determine the frequency of your click. Is it high (HF), low (LF), or in the middle? Set the Frequency to approximately where you hear the click's frequency to be. Hint: most clicks are higher frequency.

Now, check your chosen De-click algorithm & use the best one for the task. I break them down as follows:

Single band: For very quick, high-frequency clicks Multi-band (periodic): For clicks of various frequencies that single band won't pick up Multi-band (random): Same thing, different algorithm Low-latency: Good for clicks with a more unusual sound/not your typical click

"Huh? But the algorithms are called--" Yes I know what the algorithms are called. But they are *algorithms*, so different algorithm will process the same audio w/ a click very differently. The above breakdown of each algorithm is how I've used them in my years of RX experience.

So, once you choose your algorithm, you set Sensitivity & Click Widening. Let's break these down: Sensitivity: how strongly the de-click algorithm affects the audio Click Widening: how big the click is (approximately) so the algorithm knows what to target

Click Widening should usually be at 0.1 milliseconds, at most maybe 0.3. Clicks are short, quick noise, so Click Widening should be short. Sensitivity I usually don't go higher than 6 (out of a max of 10) There are exceptions, but the above is how it is for me 99% of the time.

Once you have all this set in RX, click Preview. Listen. Then, adjust as needed. Click still there? Frequency target might be off. Click reduced but not completely? Raise your Sensitivity slightly. Click gone but audio sounds filtered? Sensitivity &/or Click Widening is too high

Keep adjusting & using Preview as feedback for what you need to change in the De-click settings--until the click is gone & you're happy with the sound. Then, click Process &...voila! "But Eliana I don't have RX!" Then let me introduce you to removing clicks by hand. In *any* DAW

Just like the first step above, find approximately where your click is in your audio. Then, zoom in. Refine the clicks location further. Zoom in again. Rinse & repeat. Soon, you should have a small, approximate area with your click.

Zoom in even further, & look at the waveforms. Waveforms are hills going up & down, but a click, obstructing that hill, is a straight line. Find the line. And delete it. Then, listen back to your audio. It should be like the click was never there. (Pic: the Audacity manual)

Hand cleaning doesn't work for all clicks & is mainly for quick ones, but it did me a lot of good half a decade ago when I didn't even know iZotope RX existed--& even if I did know, I couldn't afford it then.

And that ends our primer on click removal! I hope it was helpful! Have a lovely day!

Great stuff Eliana!

Thank you! <3

Great thread

This last bit is a good technique. And I have found it works more reliably, and less noticeably, if you delete the complete cycle containing the click.

Yes, that is what I do too! I was just trying to explain the technique in a way that even audio newbies can easily understand. 😊 I might make a separate thread on hand cleaning clicks specifically bc there are other, more technical things to know about it. 😁

Nicely explained. The whole audio community benefits from what you've shared here. Thank you.

Ahhhh thank you so much! 💖

And if De-Click fails, there’s always Spectral Repair

Absolutely beautiful thread, thank you for being so generous with your knowledge! 🥰

Ahhh you're very welcome! <3

You can also do a combination of sample repairing and spectral editing in Audacity

Love iZotope Declicker

I got that declicker and I'm definitely bookmarking this for later ^_^

Cool! Glad it'll be put to good use! <3

Really useful. I used to record edit and mix readings for bbc radio 4, and I’d dread the clean up if the reader had a clicky mouth. Pre RX Mouth De click I had to track down and manually insert room tone….

Really great thread! Bookmarking for later too.

Glad it was helpful! <3

Very useful! I’ve avoided De-Click because it’s gnarly if you aren’t careful, and using “eliminate clicks” from Mouth De-Click (running after selecting only the click). But I will totally give your method a go now!

Let me know how it goes! <3

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this sort of advice existing for the public. The amount of awful information for dialogue editing is awful on this site. Thank you for providing a well detailed guide on declicking.

You're so welcome! I'm very glad it was helpful! <3

This is awesome Eliana, thanks! I'm a huge De-click fan and use it often, but didn't know the ins and outs in anything like this kind of depth. Gonna up my game now, thanks!

You're very welcome! Glad you found it helpful! <3

Great thread! It’s always baffled me that RX doesn’t come with more detailed information about how to use these controls.

This is such a great write-up! I still fall back on manual click editing from time to time; very handy skill to learn.

Awesome. Thank you for sharing this with us. 🙏🏼

Thank you!

Perfectly timed with RX 10 coming out today.

Thank you so much for this! I need to do that for a recording (it's working with them but it would be nice to clean them up) and this will help!

Cool! I hope it helps! <3