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Topic: Windows error blips in audio masterings (Read 2726 times) previous topic - next topic
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Windows error blips in audio masterings

I've noticed that a few songs in my audio collection have audible Windows OS error sounds within the audio mastering itself.

Link to samples

My first question: how on earth does this even happen? In the second example (Skulls), the artifact which sounds suspiciously like a Windows 7 error sound is also found within the official music video, so it's not just a particular CD mastering.

The second, more vital question: is there any way to fix it? Having the raw .WAVs of the error sounds, is there some magical way of creating a 'mask' and applying it onto the portion of music containing the blip, rendering it inaudible? Or is it just a futile quest since the original sound has likely been distorted and changed throughout the mastering process?
 

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #1 –
I'm at work and i can't listen to the file...

Quote
My first question: how on earth does this even happen?
Probably related to some analog processing where the analog output came from the computer.  Maybe it's part of that "warm analog sound!"    This shouldn't be possible "in the box".   

But, there's no excuse for having a faulty set-up where the Windows sounds are not blocked/isolated from the audio being processed and there's no excuse for it being released.

Quote
Having the raw .WAVs of the error sounds, is there some magical way of creating a 'mask' and applying it onto the portion of music containing the blip, rendering it inaudible?
Subtraction can work perfectly if you have an exact digital copy that's time-aligned down to the digital example.   

If the copy is EQ'd, or compressed, re-sampled, or the level has changed, it's not so simple but you may still be able to partially cancel the sound.  It would be a tedious experiment.  Getting the exact (or close) level would be difficult since (I assume it's mixed with other sounds).    Exact time-alignment would also be particularly difficult for the same reason.


A couple of examples of what works and what doesn't work - If I make a file of myself speaking or singing and I mix it with an existing music file, I can later mix-in an inverted copy of my voice and it will cancel the previous mix.  (That assumes I mix-in the inverted track at exactly the same level, an it assumes there is no clipping caused by the original mix.    It will still work if it's clipped, but clipping can't be reversed so the result won't exactly match the original.)

However, if I record myself saying "Hello", then record myself saying "hello" again, subtraction sounds exactly like addition (normal mixing) because at the sample (or waveform) level, there is no correlation or similarity.  (If invert the original recording and mix, I'll get dead silence.)

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #2 –
Listened to both samples with Sennheiser HD-25s and the matching error sound effects and couldn't hear them in the recording at all.

Maybe a recording of the music playing through your audio out would better capture what you're hearing on the system.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Coreda on
Listened to both samples with Sennheiser HD-25s and the matching error sound effects and couldn't hear them in the recording at all.

Maybe a recording of the music playing through your audio out would better capture what you're hearing on the system.


Yeah, I don't hear them either.

OP, can you tell us at which sample count in your uploads these sounds happen?

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #4 –
Quote from: KozmoNaut on
Quote from: Coreda on
Listened to both samples with Sennheiser HD-25s and the matching error sound effects and couldn't hear them in the recording at all.

Maybe a recording of the music playing through your audio out would better capture what you're hearing on the system.


Yeah, I don't hear them either.

OP, can you tell us at which sample count in your uploads these sounds happen?


In the first clip, it happens at samples 155700 through 178700. It doesn't overwhelm the music but it's definitely audible if you listen for it.

Second clip, samples 130000 to 150000. I can't not hear it.

I uploaded the second sample recorded through loopback, so you're hearing what I'm hearing.
https://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php...st&p=908330

As for 'repairing' the files, pretty much what I suspected, since the sounds are definitely not intact from the original WAVs. I've gotten used to them in the same way one gets used to a pop or a crackle on an LP, but would still be great if they could somehow be corrected.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #5 –
Nope, still cannot hear it, sorry.

E: Beyerdynamic DT-880 and MMX2 headphones, Adam A5X monitors.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #6 –
Me neither, on Genelec Monitors.
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Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #7 –
Can't hear it too (at work, on aging Shure E2c earphones).

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #8 –
Now I'm actually kinda worried. How can it be that I'm the only one who can hear what I feel to be blatantly obvious error sounds amid the music? Am I going crazy?
I've listened with shitty earbuds, a pair of ATH-M40x, a gaming headset and laptop speakers, using both onboard sound and a USB DAC, with and without EQ, and every time without fault I hear the intruding sounds at those precise spots. I was convinced the problem lay within the audio...

Thanks for the input, but now I'm left with more questions than answers.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #9 –
I hear it too, heard the first time but only on the Skulls sample, right after the 3rd second but I didn't say anything because I don't really care, they have their engineers to check these issues?

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #10 –
I also tried listening to the samples with my Sennheiser HD-280 headphones and weren't able to hear the Windows sounds.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #11 –
I listened again right at the specific samples, and honestly I think it's just part of the music that happens to maybe sound a little like those Windows sounds. The pitch etc. doesn't sound the same to me, though.

Windows error blips in audio masterings

Reply #12 –
I hear what is allegedly heard as well.

I also see heads and faces in clouds too, but that doesn't mean they're really there. This is just how the brain works.