Remove Vinyl Clicks with FFmpeg adeclick

Digitizing vinyl records often introduces unwanted clicks, pops, and crackles caused by dust, scratches, or static electricity. This guide demonstrates how to use the powerful adeclick (Audio Declick) filter in FFmpeg to automatically detect and eliminate these impulse noises, restoring your analog recordings to clean digital audio without damaging the original fidelity.

To remove clicks with the default settings, run the following command in your terminal:

ffmpeg -i input.wav -af adeclick output.wav

While the default settings work well for general noise, vinyl recordings often require fine-tuning to prevent the filter from accidentally removing desirable high-frequency sounds, like drum hits or brass transients. The adeclick filter uses several key parameters to control this process:

  • wsize (Window Size): Sets the window size in milliseconds (range: 10 to 100, default: 55). A larger window detects longer clicks but requires more processing power. For vinyl, a window size between 30 and 60 is ideal.
  • threshold (Threshold): Controls the sensitivity of click detection (range: 1 to 100, default: 2). Lower values make the filter more sensitive, detecting more clicks but increasing the risk of false positives. For light vinyl crackle, try a value between 1.5 and 3.0.
  • overlap (Overlap): Defines the overlap between processing windows as a percentage (range: 50 to 95, default: 75). Higher overlap results in smoother interpolation at the cost of speed.
  • method (Method): Specifies the reconstruction method. The default is a (autoregression), which is highly effective for reconstructing the missing audio data behind the click.

Advanced Vinyl Optimization Command

For heavily degraded vinyl records, you can customize the parameters to target persistent crackles. This advanced command increases detection sensitivity and adjusts the window size for more precise processing:

ffmpeg -i input.wav -af "adeclick=wsize=45:threshold=1.8:overlap=80:method=a" output.wav

To find the perfect balance for your specific vinyl rip, process a short, 30-second sample of a quiet section first. Adjust the threshold upward if you notice a loss of high-end detail or "dulled" transients, and downward if click noises are still audible.