Cedar DNS3000, Manual, Page: 14 / 44

CEDAR DNS3000 dialogue noise suppressor
10
Case studies and tutorials
The following case studies describe just three of the ways in which you can use the DNS3000.
You can apply the DNS3000 equally to recorded signals and to ‘live’ signals at the point of
recording or transmission.
Case 1: Suppressing traffic noise
The DNS3000 can suppress background noises such as road traffic, aircraft, air conditioning,
wind, rain, and many other common soundstage, location, and OB (remote) problems that
contaminate audio. If your signal exhibits any of these, you can suppress them as follows.
First, identify the frequency range(s) in which the noise lies.
You should be able to do this by listening to the problem. However, if this proves difficult, you
can use the following method. It is not important that you find the perfect settings at the first
attempt. In particular, you will be able to refine your Level and Band Gain settings once you
have found the correct range.
Begin as follows:
Select the correct channel(s)
Ensure that the DNS3000 is not in Bypass
Select Full Range

Set all six Band Gain controls to -24dB

Raise the Level control until the noise disappears
At this point you have determined an approximate setting for the Level. This is necessary for
determining the Range but it is likely that you will refine this later in the procedure.
When the Level is close to the ideal setting, you should see the Activity LEDs flicker in response
to the signal content.
Now continue as follows:

Raise the Band Gain controls to 0dB (no processing occurs)

Adjust the Band Gain controls to suppress the noise
You should always attempt to suppress the noise with the minimum of damage to the desired
signal.
In all likelihood, you will find that the leftmost Band Gain controls are pulled down significantly,
whereas the central and rightmost are close to 0dB. This tells you that the problem does not lie
in the upper frequencies, so you should use the Range Selector to select Low+Mid. Then repeat
the steps marked ‘

’.
If you now find that you are using all six faders in similar fashion, it is likely that the noise is
distributed across the entire Low+Mid range. However, if the suppression is still heavily biased
towards the left hand faders, you should now select the Low range alone and repeat the
procedure.