---
title: "Understand noise and poor recordings · Sound Boost"
description: "Recognise when gain raises background noise and when a better source is needed instead of more settings."
url: https://soundboost.impulse-apps.de/en/guides/noise-and-poor-source-audio/
language: en
website: Sound Boost
publisher: Impulse Apps
---

Access and help

# Understand noise and poor recordings

Sound Boost amplifies and shapes browser audio. It is not an automatic noise removal or missing-detail restoration tool.

By Impulse Apps · Content reviewed on 7 October 2026

## Find the issue in original audio

Play the passage with Power off. Listen to pauses, quiet words and louder sections. Existing noise is raised together with wanted audio. A poor source therefore does not automatically mean the channel is faulty.

Do not confuse an optional EQ profile’s effect with restoration. It changes frequency proportions and may also reduce parts of speech or music.

## Compare a source deliberately

1. Compare original and processing near 100 percent.
2. Listen to a quiet passage and a spoken sentence.
3. Reduce high gain and check whether intelligibility remains.
4. Try another recording of the same source if available.

## Stop adjusting once the limit is clear

If key words remain unintelligible in the original, gain cannot invent lost information. Use a better recording, available captions or a transcript. Document the source issue instead of stacking more settings.

## Separate a source issue from a newly introduced defect

Describe the disturbance without guessing a cause: steady hiss during pauses, hum during speech or brief interruptions. Those sound different and need a concrete passage. Compare the same point with Power off instead of using another file as the original comparison. Explicitly note a disturbance already audible in the original. Then check whether higher gain merely exposes it more clearly or introduces another change.

An optional EQ trial requires existing Plus access and should be one explainable change. Keep a neutral baseline available. If a profile reduces noise but also weakens important speech sounds, it may not serve your purpose. A better recording is then the appropriate next step. Record that limit instead of describing the source as cleaned or restored.

## A worked example

An old recording hisses even with Power off. At 500 percent, speech and noise both become louder. At 200 percent the voice remains audible while noise is less unpleasant. Choose the lower setting or find a better recording; the larger value is not improved quality.

Add your observations. This template processes no files and sends no report.

### Check the result

### If something is wrong

**Observation and next step**

| Observation | Next step |
| --- | --- |
| Noise rises greatly | Reduce gain and compare wanted audio with pauses. |
| Words remain unintelligible | Use a better recording or text alternative. |
| Issue only with processing | Run the distortion workflow at a low level. |

## Common questions

**Does Sound Boost have a denoise button?**

No. The available controls are gain, protection and protected Plus mixer functions.

**Can EQ completely remove noise?**

EQ changes frequencies. It does not guarantee full noise removal and may also change wanted audio.

Browser activation and a Plus entitlement are separate requirements. Protected content and specialised players can have their own limitations.

[Help and contact](https://soundboost.impulse-apps.de/en/support/)

## Continue here

[Start and volume](https://soundboost.impulse-apps.de/en/guides/understand-quiet-speech/)

### Understand quiet speech in lectures and videos

Adjust quiet browser speech gradually and distinguish intelligibility, gain and optional Plus EQ.

**Read the guide**

[Access and help](https://soundboost.impulse-apps.de/en/guides/diagnose-distortion/)

### Diagnose distortion, crackling and harsh sound

Compare distorted browser sound with and without Sound Boost and inspect gain, EQ and output device separately.

**Read the guide**

[Start and volume](https://soundboost.impulse-apps.de/en/guides/output-protection/)

### Compressor, headroom and output protection

Understand Sound Boost’s shared output protection and why a limited peak does not mean a repaired source.

**Read the guide**