How Do I Enhance Dialogue and Clean Up Ambient Noise When Boosting Gain - RX 11

garioch7

I am an Izotope RX 11 Standard "newbie," having purchased it just this week. As an unpaid volunteer, I was asked to "enhance" a 1989 portable cassette recording that was converted to a CD in 1994. I am an AV hobbyist, mostly doing video projects for many years. I have Cybelink Audio Director 6 (2014), but it was totally unequal to the task I am facing. It had always been equal to the very simple audio enhancement tasks I formerly encountered.

The CD is a recording of the funeral of a prominent parishioner, destined for the Diocesan Archives after I have done what I can to improve it. The portable cassette recorder was left on a pew in the Choir Loft of a large old Church during the Funeral to record the ceremony. All of the organ music is understandably quite audible, but the speaker system in the Church left a lot to be desired. The result is that the voices of the priests and Lectors on the altar cannot be heard in the present state of the recording without boosting those audio dialogue portions.

Boosting the dialogue portions of the audio when the organ and Choir are silent results in an annoying low rumble and lots of ambient noise.

I am reading the Help files. I have no formal training in sound engineering. I concede that I am overwhelmed by the various tools at my disposal and unsure of which one, or how many, I should use and how to enhance this recording so that the altar dialogue is audible with a minimum of rumble and unwanted ambient noise.

As a participant in many computer security Forums since 2013, another hobby in retirement, I help the Forum posters with their issues, as and when I can. It occurred to me that I should reach out here to the pros for suggestions and guidance as to how to best proceed rather than stumble around like the newbie I am to Izotope RX 11 Standard.

My sole aim is to provide the best copy of what is presently an audio mess to the Diocesan Archives. They are particularly interested in hearing the entire Funeral, not just the organ music and Choir.

Thank you all, who take time to read this first post of mine and offer to assist me with suggestions and guidance.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil