Audio reverb problem

Hello,
I'm trying to fix an audio track recorded with a shotgun mic, after some editing I've managed like this
voca.ro/1oPxVc4dcPmz

But to me it sound too robotic and there still some echo/reverb.. I've tried some plugins but nothing is working very well for me.

Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you🙏

hi whitelibra,

any chance you can post a small part of the original audio not the already processed one? it will be easier to give direction.

Also do you have access to any other audio tool beside the one in FCP?

Thanks for your time,
here's the wav from the original file. I'm not a very audio guy so I don't have any other tool. I've tried RX10 and EchoRemover but doesn't seems to work well on my footage...

hi, RX10 is your best friend but the audio recording is pretty bad. I mean, the voice and the background noise are almost at the same level .Was it really recorded with a shotgun?  It will be hard to separate them without affecting the voice. Have a listen to my example, if it is good enough for you I will write you the steps I used. if not, maybe someone else in here can give you better advice. 

Thanks, yes it was recorded with a Sennheiser MKE 200, probably not the best one but was hoping the quality was a little better. The room was very big and actually a working space (to my surprise as the interview should have been recorded in a more intimate space). The voice is too metallic also in your attempt, really didn't know if it's possible to save something. Probably should invest into a different kind of mic for the next gig.

I ran the test clip through the "Repair Assistant" in RX9 Advanced and it was a good first step (it sounded better than anything posted, so far, way better). Also the voice isolation function in FCP did a very good job, perhaps better than just using the default results of Repair Assistant in RX9. If you add some EQ and perhaps something else, it would sound quite good. You need to keep in mind that multiple passes of "fixes" are usually more effective than trying to do it in one go.

The microphone is probably okay (for what it is). It's likely just poor recording technique... not getting the mic close enough (within a couple of feet) or pointed correctly. Using moving/sound blankets on the floor and sides of the set might help immensely. Choosing a different location is another option (scouting is good). If it was camera-mounted (or on a smartphone) then that's always going to be an issue (lots of ambient noise if not close to the speaker).

I'd suggest you trash the second channel, as it looks like a duplicate. Dialogue audio should be mono unless recorded specifically with a stereo mic, which the MKE 200 isn't. The second channel can cause potential phase issues, etc.

Hello:

A shotgun microphone is not the best choice indoors because is picks up a lot of off axis sounds (reflections off walls).  

The best thing you can do is to record in a room that has been treated for sound to remove the reflections.  Will your wife let you do this?  Mine won’t.

Given that you can not treat the walls your next best choice is to use a dynamic microphone--Shure SM58.  Such microphones are not very sensitive off axis and you how to get your mouth close to the microphone to pick-up the sound.  You would require some kind of amplifier to drive the microphone.  Also, all of these microphones will be terminated with an XLR connector.

A condenser omni direction microphone will work.  I have used a Tentacle Sync Track E with mircrophone to record in doors.  With a little EQ it sounds fairly nice.

Removing reflections is called deverberation.  There is nice one built into Acon Digitals Acoustica.

In general, removing reflections can distort the voice.  If a recording has lots of reflections it will difficult to remove without damaging the voice.  However, if used sparingly and a little EQ it will sound OK.  But, nothing is better than not having to remove reflections to begin with.

Check out Curtis Judd’s YouTube channel.  He has many videos on microphones, how to EQ, removing reverb, et. al.

Hope this helps.

Don

I took a shot at it through GarageBand.  It is great tool to have.  It is free and if you check out any tutorial about simple EQ, you can make a pretty good difference.  The problem I hear is definitely Mic placement.  I am sure the Mic is fine, but it should be very close.  there is just too much ambient noise. Also, I find in recording and editing audio, "noise gate" is your best friend.  

Hello:

You can try noise gate and see if it works for you.

I first started using noise gates with Adobe Audition.  Regardless of the parameters, I was never able to find a happy medium where I removed the amount of noise I wanted and did not clip trailing consonants, e.g. propellers became propeller, tact became tac, etc.

The best way is not to put the noise into begin with.  If that does not work, a good noise removal plugin will help if you use it sparingly.

As time passed, I became less sensitive to noise and much of it was covered up by the music track.

Hope this helps,

Don

Thanks so much to @DaveM @dgbarar @XWCPO 
I've read carefully your answer, so much to learn! I've delivered the video and I beliebe it's ok for this time but next time I'll try to follow your advise. The main problem for this job (and some other I've assisted) is that you don't get much choice of where the video will be shoot and you don't know until you're there... I'll check some more info because I need to get it right during recording, I know that now!

Hi W,

You are most welcome.  There are tons of things to learn.  But as I have done, learn a little bit at a time and them apply them to next project.  I have been doing this for 10 years and still learning new stuff and concepts.

Don