Killing CRT/Transformer whine in Premiere

[falter]

In addition to learning how to deal with moire, I've been trying to figure out how to kill CRT or transformer whine. My mid 40s ears can't hear it anymore, but it does annoy younger people who see my videos. At the advice of Trixster (thank you!) I got my hands on Spectroid for Android. I set it to linear mode, and then marked where 15.5ish khz is, which is where i understand CRT whine happens.

I had a number of suggestions for treating this - the simplest one to me was to use a low pass filter to kill anything above 8-9khz or so. Premiere has one of those.

So first, I played the suspect segment with Spectroid listening. And sure enough, I could see a rise in the right region as indicated by the photo. I was a bit confused by Spectroid's scale, because to my eye it should be going 10,000hz to 20000hz but it looks like it says 2000hz at the end. However putting a marker in between shows it is 15,000khz in between.

So then I applied the low pass filter to the segment. The 15khz bump was gone, everything else sounds normal to me.

Is it that simple?

 

[daver2]

I think the last zero from 20000 has been cut off.

I think you are using OBS aren't you?

OBS doesn't have an EQ filter by default, but I think you can add one via a VST plug-in. There are free ones available.

The EQ (Equaliser) will allow you to take out the nasty frequencies you don't want. Obviously, the frequency you want to get rid of is the frequency of the line oscillator of the monitor concerned.

Dave

 

[Plasma]

Pfft, CRT whine is part of the experience

 

[SomeGuy]

Kids can actually hear that sound on their darn smartphones? Which already make everything sound like it is trying to rape my ear?

 

[falter]

Kids can actually hear that sound on their darn smartphones? Which already make everything sound like it is trying to rape my ear?

Apparently... on my Youtube videos I get some really, really nasty comments about it. Like I intentionally tried to split their brains. The first time they brought it to my attention I thought I was going crazy, because i couldn't hear it.

 

[SomeGuy]

I'd bet some of that is just psychosomatic. The same people probably would think they are getting lead poisoning or an x-ray overdose just being near a CRT. Hell, I was in an argument once with someone who insisted that all beige cases MUST also have sharp edges. If I spray painted their new black case beige and cut the blue LEDs, they would probably inexplicably get cuts all over themselves.

 

[jafir]

Kids these days are just laying it on thick. The only other option is they are weak. When I was younger we would hear that sound as we walked into classroom and we’d know that we’d get to watch a movie in class that day. I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasant sound, but it’s not as painful as modern kids pretend it is.

 

[falter]

Yeah.. kids I find are not as tough as they were in my day. Several vintage tech youtubers have gotten called out over CRT whine. I'd love to hear what it sounds like, just once, just to gauge how annoying it really is.

 

[Plasma]

If you slow down the playback rate without pitch correction, you should be able to hear it eventually.

 

[stepleton]

I've enjoyed using spectrum analyser apps like Spectroid for Android while I've been operating systems with CRTs. I might not be able to hear the whine much these days, but I can surely see it!