I messed up, recording way too loud, anything to be done?

[ch33sl3y]

I'm such a nong, I haven't recorded anything in about 2 years and I made a complete beginner error recording the Kristin Hersh Electric Trio in Manchester. Instead of turning down the input on my Tascam DR-05 I turned down the output & was loving the gig so much I didn't go back to check it. So I now have a horribly clipped distorted recording. I think it's probably scrap but just thought I'd ask if anyone knows if anything can be done at all to improve it a little bit?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

[Audioarchivist]

In the early 2000's, I switched from a nice analog Sony WM-D3 cassette recorder to minidiscs, and the overloaded digital mic preamps in the stupid things distorted even when record levels were low...

Fast forward to today, when I am beginning to revisit those recordings that I shelved for decades, and some fresh transfers that I've been making of them. Still distorted, I have been using iZotope RX Advanced and it's Declip module to almost unlock and decode the distortion into something that is a bit more listenable... it's far from perfect, but it can help a bit and take the edge off the grating crunchiness of the worst distortion... Takes a bit to dial in the settings, but it definitely can help....

There is also a declipping feature in Adobe Audition as well but it isn't quite as good as the iZotope RX Advanced one. It won't sound quite like a perfect recording, but it will be better than your raw master. Good luck!

[ch33sl3y]

Originally Posted by Audioarchivist

In the early 2000's, I switched from a nice analog Sony WM-D3 cassette recorder to minidiscs, and the overloaded digital mic preamps in the stupid things distorted even when record levels were low...

Fast forward to today, when I am beginning to revisit those recordings that I shelved for decades, and some fresh transfers that I've been making of them. Still distorted, I have been using iZotope RX Advanced and it's Declip module to almost unlock and decode the distortion into something that is a bit more listenable... it's far from perfect, but it can help a bit and take the edge off the grating crunchiness of the worst distortion... Takes a bit to dial in the settings, but it definitely can help....

There is also a declipping feature in Adobe Audition as well but it isn't quite as good as the iZotope RX Advanced one. It won't sound quite like a perfect recording, but it will be better than your raw master. Good luck!

Thanks for this mate. Nice to know there may be something I can do to help. I appreciate your advice. I recorded her again last night and did a much better job. Unfortunately the sound in the venue was nowhere near the standard of the one I screwed. Anyway, I'll get it chopped and sorted then upload it. I'll look into those suggestions for the other one too. Thanks.