Typically, denoisers are the kind of software that makes you want a faster CPU. The fan will run a lot on a laptop.
I have not found a good, free (or open source) de-noiser, even though Audacity has some
noise removal capability. There are several good shareware programs though.
Notes:
The free version is useable but is limited in ripping speed and won't let you burn a CD.
A few other features are also disabled.
However, the registration is inexpensive and well worth paying for in speed and features.
It has replaced a number of distinct players on my computer. I use it to play all audio files and most video files
(.avi, DVDs and such.) It works very well except for some problems playing wmv files.
The best of all, it loads and starts playing VERY fast.
KO4BB's Audio Page
Audio related programs I tried and like, and other audio related info.
1) Music Compression in modern recordings
2) High quality digital CD ripper (Audio CD to .wav)
Free, the best ripper (makes useable copies even from damaged disks). It copies to .wav files only.
You will need LAME to make MP3's (or Ogg Vorbis to make OGG's).
3) Best Audio Player
The ASIO Sound System goes around the Windows Kernel Audio Mixer (which apparently does mess with
the sound data, by resampling it without your permission or knowledge) and drives the sound hardware
directly as it was intended, which results in amazingly improved sound on my system.
4) LP to .wav recorder
5) De-noisers
Used to clean up old LPs or tape recordings from hiss, scratches, rumble and other noises.
Great shareware, moderately priced, you must try it.
Simple, effective, not very expensive
(reduced functionality but useable after trial period)
Full featured, lots of tweaks, more expensive
(not useable after trial period)
6) MP3 encoders and format converters
The best mp3 encoder, and it's free. Go to Encoders -> Windows and download LAME 3.92. Works from .wav files only.
A free GUI front end for Lame (don't even think of using Lame without this)
I believe the latest version recognizes ExactAudioCopy and Lame so you can directly copy and
mp3 encode CD's from RazorLame. When I did that at home the first time, I ended up with a whole
bunch of blank mp3's (something to do with the setup).
A collection of tools, including a nice format converter that goes directly from OGG to MP3 for instance or the reverse
(not free, but reasonably priced for home use).
7) OGG encoder/decoder
Ogg Vorbis is a new open-source encoding format not encumbered by patents and supported by a growing
number of music players, such as the popular WinAmp.
It is still in development, but it is already a high performance format. It sounds great (make up your
own opinion by comparing at
http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/listen.html.
The current encoder for Windows is Oggdrop.
There are also versions for Unix/Linux and the Mac.
8) Best all-in-one ripping/playing program (MP3 only)
Includes ripping, mp3 conversion to and from .WAV, CD Audio and line/microphone input, CD writing,
playlist editor, label printer, CDDB lookup (finds artist name and song titles from the internet
automatically when you insert an Audio CD), and more.
9) Best all-around multimedia player (audio AND video)
A free (open source) multimedia player/converter. It pays not only audio files in most known formats, but also
video files and streams. It is also a video stream server (to send videos over your lan)
10) Audio Editing
Audacity is a free audio editor. You can record sounds, play sounds, import, export and convert WAV, AIFF,
MP3 and OGG files, and more.
Use it to edit your sounds using Cut, Copy and Paste
(with unlimited Undo), mix tracks together, or apply effects to your recordings. It also has a
built-in amplitude envelope editor, a customizable spectrogram mode and a frequency analysis
window for audio analysis applications. Built-in effects include Bass Boost, Wahwah, and Noise
Removal, and it also supports VST plug-in effects.
A great, shareware MP3 cutter/splitter/joiner/format converter/ID3 tag editor. A lot of useful information about MP3 file format also on the web site.
11) Digital Audio technical articles:
12) General information on transfering LPs to MP3s or OGGs
13) More info than you probably ever wanted on sound cards
14) What the proposed Intel/Microsoft TCPA/Palladium
technology means to computer privacy and your right to rip and encode your own CD's.
15) Interesting paper on Digital Rights Management.