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World Cup 2010 - Filtering the Annoying Vuvuzela Noise

Now we're one week into the World Cup and two things have really annoyed me:

  1. England's lack of a reliable goalkeeper (I'm an Englishman living in Texas)
  2. The constant drone of the vuvuzelas (those noisy trumpets that sound like a million angry bees)

I'm a terrible goalkeeper and I wasn't named in the English squad so I can't help with #1 on my list but I am an engineer and I can do something about #2.

Other websites have covered various attempts at filtering the vuvuzela noise but none have offered much in the way of a solution you can use at home.  My solution is an application (written with LabVIEW) that detects the fundamental frequency of the vuvuzelas (around 233Hz) and applies a notch filter to it and as many harmonics as you specify.  The end result is a significant reduction in the annoying background noise without too much interruption of the commentary and other audio.

Vuvuzela Filter.png

Hardware-wise you will need to insert your computer in the audio signal flow.  If your TV has an audio output, connect that to your sound card's line in, then connect your sound card output to however you want to listen to the game (speakers or headphones).  I stream the game to an old PC I have in the corner of my cube and I have the audio output to my laptop, which applies the filter and then outputs to my headphones (don't tell my boss).

hw setup.png

Download an installer that includes both the EXE and the Run-Time Engine (for Windows).  [Alternate download link]

A Mac .dmg is also attached for those of you rocking Mac OSX.  You'll have to install the Mac Run-Time Engine if you don't already have it (I haven't had a chance to test this build but it should work).

You can download the source code and edit it with LabVIEW 2009 (get an evaluation copy here).  If you already have the free LabVIEW 2009 Run-Time Engine you can download just the attached zip file which contains the exe.

Message 1 of 23
(21,071 Views)

Love it! That is Simon I remember..... supreme LabVIEW wizard!

- Craig Anderson

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Message 2 of 23
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Great Code Simon.

Can't the Channels use it before they transmit the audio to us????

Wish that England will win the 02 remaining games.

I'm also an England Fan

Mehdi

AE

Med Mehdi BOUZID
Field Sales Engineer (Tunisia & Algeria)
National Instruments Arabia Branch
www.ni.com\arabia
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Message 3 of 23
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Simon--

I am unable to download the installer, it takes me to an ftp side that I need a log in for.

ftp://ftp.natinst.com/outgoing/Vuvzela%20Filter%20Installer.zip

Am I approaching this incorrectly?

Thanks in advance for the great fix.

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Message 4 of 23
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Since the Windows package isn't working, I tried the approach of downloading the run-time engine and then using the attached executable. Unfortunately, the LabView 2009 Run-Time Engine fails to install. Windows Installer gives me error 1719. The funny thing is that I tried this installer on two other XP boxes, and they all give me that same error. I hope the Windows package includes a different installer.

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Message 5 of 23
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Hi Guys,

I guess that it will work if you install the Demo version of LabVIEW.

Cheers

Med Mehdi BOUZID
Field Sales Engineer (Tunisia & Algeria)
National Instruments Arabia Branch
www.ni.com\arabia
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Message 6 of 23
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Here our broadcast source is the internet, we don't have cable TV and OTA reception is not possible.  Is it possible to intercept sound from the browser and feed it through your filter?

Nitrof

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Message 7 of 23
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downloaded and installed. Vuvuzela filter loads, but then crashes and produces:

Error 4800 occurred at Sound Input Configure.vi->Vuvuzela Filter Main.vi

Possible reason(s):

LabVIEW:  (Hex 0x12C0) Selected Device is Invalid

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Message 8 of 23
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sorenfrey,

I'd expect to see that error if your primary sound card's input is not present or perhaps being used by another application.

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Message 9 of 23
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Nice! Well done.

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Message 10 of 23
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