Restoration Plugins

Restoration plugins reduce unwanted problems in a recording while keeping the music enjoyable to listen to.

Plugin List

• Click Remover - Repairs short clicks, crackles, pops, and dropouts
• Clip Restorer - Restores peaks flattened by hard clipping
• Hum Remover - Removes steady electrical hum and its harmonics
• Noise Reduction - Turns down steady background hiss and hum while keeping the music intact

Click Remover

Click Remover repairs short, isolated faults such as record crackle, pops, brief clicks, and tiny dropouts. Use it for occasional interruptions rather than for a constant hiss or hum.

Listening Guide

1. Start with Sensitivity at 50% and Max Repair Length at 1 ms.
2. Raise Sensitivity gradually until the unwanted clicks become less noticeable. If drum hits or other sharp musical details become softer, lower it again.
3. Increase Max Repair Length only when the faults last longer than a brief click. Keep it short for ordinary crackle.
4. While the affected passage plays, use REPAIRS/S to confirm that the effect is finding faults; compare with the effect bypassed before keeping a stronger setting.

Parameters

• Sensitivity (0–100%, default 50%) controls how readily the effect treats a short change as a fault. Higher values repair more suspected clicks; lower values are more conservative and better preserve sharp musical attacks.
• Max Repair Length (0.1–2 ms, default 1 ms) limits the duration of each repair. Raise it for slightly longer pops or dropouts; lower it when repairing ordinary short crackle.

Reading the Display

REPAIRS/S shows the recent number of click repairs per second. A value near zero means no short faults are currently being repaired. A steady high value on normal music is a reason to lower Sensitivity or Max Repair Length.

Clip Restorer

Clip Restorer reconstructs peaks that were flattened by hard digital clipping. It is useful for recordings with obvious flat-topped distortion; it cannot recover every detail that was lost before the recording reached EffeTune.

Listening Guide

1. Start with Threshold at -0.10 dB and Output Gain at -3 dB.
2. If clearly clipped peaks remain, lower Threshold a little to include less extreme clipping. If loud, sustained sounds are changed unnecessarily, raise it toward 0 dB.
3. Keep Output Gain below 0 dB when possible. Restored peaks can be higher than the original flat peaks, so the default leaves useful headroom.
4. Use RESTORED while a damaged section plays, then compare with the effect bypassed to choose the least intrusive setting.

Parameters

• Threshold (-18–0 dB, default -0.10 dB) sets the level treated as a clipped peak. A value closer to 0 dB targets only nearly full-scale flat peaks. Lowering it includes less obvious clipping, but can affect more loud material.
• Output Gain (-12–0 dB, default -3 dB) sets the output level after restoration. Raise it toward 0 dB for a louder result; lower it for more headroom if restored peaks are too high.

Reading the Display

RESTORED shows the recent percentage of audio samples repaired as clipped peaks. A small value can be normal because clipping often occurs only at brief peaks. If it remains high on material that does not sound clipped, raise Threshold.

Hum Remover

Hum Remover reduces a steady electrical mains hum and its harmonics, such as a 50 Hz or 60 Hz buzz from a turntable, cable, or power-related fault. It is for a constant tone, not general background noise.

Listening Guide

1. Start with Frequency set to Auto, Harmonics at 8, and Tracking Speed at 50%.
2. If you know the mains frequency in the recording, choose 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Otherwise, leave Auto selected and check the displayed FUNDAMENTAL.
3. Raise Harmonics when audible buzz remains above the fundamental; lower it if the music loses too much body or detail.
4. Raise Tracking Speed when a hum slowly drifts in pitch; lower it for a stable hum if you want gentler tracking.
5. If sustained bass or another musical tone exactly matches a hum harmonic, lower Harmonics to leave that frequency less affected.

Parameters

• Frequency (Auto, 50 Hz, or 60 Hz; default Auto) selects the hum fundamental. Auto follows a detected mains-like hum; choose a fixed value when the hum is known to be 50 Hz or 60 Hz.
• Harmonics (1–64, default 8) chooses how many multiples of the fundamental are removed. Higher values can clear more buzz, while lower values preserve more musical content near higher harmonics. The slider uses a logarithmic scale to give lower settings more adjustment space.
• Tracking Speed (0–100%, default 50%) controls how quickly automatic tracking follows a changing hum. Higher values follow drift more quickly; lower values change more slowly and suit a stable hum.

Reading the Display

FUNDAMENTAL shows the frequency currently targeted by the effect. REMOVED shows the level of the hum component being removed in dBFS: a value closer to 0 dBFS means a stronger removed hum, while a very low value (such as -140 dBFS) means little or no hum is currently being removed.

Noise Reduction

Noise Reduction lowers steady background noise such as tape hiss, equipment noise, and room noise. Use it when a recording has a constant layer of noise behind the music. It is most effective on noise that remains present between notes; it is not intended to remove individual clicks, changing background sounds, or other music in the recording.

Listening Guide

1. Start with the default settings: Reduction 12 dB, Sensitivity 0 dB, Smoothing 50%, Treble Care 50%, and Mix 100%.
2. Raise Reduction slowly until the quiet parts become cleaner. If voices, cymbals, or room ambience begin to sound less natural, lower it again.
3. For obvious continuous hiss, raise Sensitivity a little. For a more natural result on already-clean music, lower it.
4. If the noise reduction seems to flutter or change color, raise Smoothing. If the music becomes too softened, lower Smoothing or Reduction.
5. Compare with the effect bypassed, and use Mix to keep some of the original sound when that sounds more natural.

Parameters

• Reduction (0–24 dB, default 12 dB) sets the greatest amount of background-noise reduction.
  • Lower values make a gentle, less noticeable change.
  • Higher values make steady noise quieter, but can also make faint musical detail less clear.
  • Start around 6–12 dB for lightly noisy recordings and increase only when needed.
• Sensitivity (-12–+12 dB, default 0 dB) controls how readily the effect treats sound as background noise.
  • Raise it when steady noise remains too audible after setting Reduction.
  • Lower it when soft instruments, reverb tails, or ambience are reduced too much.
  • Small adjustments are usually enough.
• Smoothing (0–100%, default 50%) makes the amount of reduction change more evenly across nearby frequencies.
  • Higher values help keep the result smoother and reduce a fluttering or watery character.
  • Lower values let the effect react more selectively to the noise.
  • If higher smoothing dulls the music, reduce it a little and use less Reduction instead.
• Treble Care (0–100%, default 50%) protects high-frequency musical detail from strong reduction.
  • Raise it to retain more sparkle in cymbals, strings, and air around voices.
  • Lower it only when high-frequency hiss remains distracting.
  • A middle setting is a good balance for most music.
• Mix (0–100%, default 100%) balances the reduced-noise sound with the original sound.
  • At 100%, you hear only the processed result.
  • Lower it when a small amount of the original ambience makes the recording sound more natural.
  • At 0%, the sound is unchanged, which is useful for comparison.

Recommended Settings

1. Gentle cleanup for a lightly noisy recording
   • Reduction: 6–10 dB
   • Sensitivity: -2 to 0 dB
   • Smoothing: 40–60%
   • Treble Care: 50–70%
2. Clear tape or equipment hiss
   • Reduction: 12–18 dB
   • Sensitivity: 0 to +4 dB
   • Smoothing: 60–80%
   • Treble Care: 50–70%
3. Preserve delicate high frequencies
   • Reduction: 6–12 dB
   • Sensitivity: -4 to 0 dB
   • Smoothing: 50–70%
   • Treble Care: 70–100%
   • Mix: 70–100%