Distortion and clipping in audio, automatic detection and metering

Kendrick, P; Jackson, IR; Li, FF; Cox, TJ; Fazenda, BM

Abstract

For field recordings and user generated content recorded on phones, tablets and other mobile devices, nonlinear distortions caused by clipping and limiting at pre-amplification stages and dynamic range control (DRC), are common causes of poor audio quality. This repository contains a database of raw perceptual response data from experiments carried out to quantify the level of degradation to quality when music and soundscapes are corrupted with amplitude distortions. Also available is a program which analyses an audio file and detects clipping type distortions with no reference to the clean audio. The algorithm produces a perceptually weighted value of the level of distortion in an audio file. The algorithm is available as a C++ program (requires compiling using a C++ compiler) and runs as a command line executable which analyses a wavfile and provides information as regards the level, location and effect on quality of any distortion that may be present.

• Deposit Date: Jul 20, 2015
• Type of Data: Software (source code) : Subjective responses (Excel files/ Matlab files)
• Additional Information: Funders : Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Grant Number: EP/J013013/1