<b>Audio cleanup on a zero budget — this week's picks</b>

<b>Audio cleanup on a zero budget — this week's picks</b>
Clipping mic, AC hum, room echo. You can fix most of it free:
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<a href="#">Audacity Noise Reduction</a> [free] — sample the room tone, profile it, subtract. Still the free standard.
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<a href="#">ReaFIR (in Reaper trial)</a> [plugin] via Cockos — subtractive EQ for constant hums and hiss.
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<a href="#">Adobe Enhance Speech</a> [free] via podcast.adobe.com — browser-based, one drag, genuinely transformative on bad audio.
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<a href="#">DeReverb Walkthrough</a> [tutorial] via Curtis Judd — when to use it and when it makes voices robotic.
Order matters: de-noise first, then de-reverb, then EQ. Reverse it and you bake in artifacts. Tools and guidance credited above.