Clean Up Audio Files With SoundSaver
Noise reduction and audio restoration are a signature skill of Bias Inc. The company's SoundSoap and SoundSoap Pro have been music industry staples for a long time. SoundSoap is even included in Roxio Creator 2011 Pro. But those products are expensive. Enter SoundSaver ($50, 14-day free trial), which not only implements noise reduction, but records, splits and saves multi-song recordings as well.
The program previews all noise reduction during playback so you can adjust the various parameters such as Remove Clicks/Crackle, Remove Noise (mostly hiss), and Enhance and hear them in action before committing to them. Enhance is an SRS Wow-like adjustment that increases the bass and overall dynamic range, which can offset some of the frequency-loss induced by noise reduction.
I do have a few gripes. SoundSaver didn't automatically detect my default audio input and output. I pressed play a few times with no response before I realized what was wrong and set them myself in the preferences dialog. I had to do this every time I loaded a file. My other quibble was that when saving the entire track without "defining tracks" (that is, splitting the file in to multiple songs), I was given no chance to rename the exported file. This could cause an accidental overwrite of imported, non-processed material if you're not careful.
Taken in the big picture, those are piddling complaints that the company assures me will be addressed in short order. In truth, SoundSaver is a steal. You get top-flight noise reduction at a fraction of what you'd normally pay for it and a handy recording app in the mix. A one-stop, home audio restoration station par excellence.