Audio forensics as the field of forensic science relating to the acquisition, analysis, and evaluation of sound recordings that may ultimately be presented as admissible evidence in a court of law or some other official venue.
Audio forensic evidence may come from a criminal investigation by law enforcement or as part of an official inquiry into an accident, fraud, accusation of slander, or some other civil incident. Experts use different software in audio and video enhancement software to analyse the data. If you want to know more about video enhancement software via https://cognitech.com/cognitech-video-investigator-64/.
The primary aspects of audio forensics are establishing the authenticity of audio evidence, performing enhancement of audio recordings to improve speech intelligibility and the audibility of low-level sounds, and interpreting and documenting sonic evidence, such as identifying talkers, transcribing dialogue, and reconstructing crime or accident scenes and timelines.
Modern audio forensics makes extensive use of digital signal processing, with the former use of analogue filters now being obsolete. Techniques such as adaptive filtering and discrete Fourier transforms are used extensively.
Following are the processes used in digital audio recordings:
- Acquisition
- Analysis
One of the most common audio issues that experts address during an enhancement is noise and other extraneous ‘unwanted’ sounds. The noise floor is usually consistent throughout the recording and can be removed to varying degrees by using noise reduction software. The most complicated issues are the extraneous sounds that are not continuous.
These sounds could include anything from a plane flying overhead to someone whistling while people talk. These sounds are difficult to pinpoint with standard tools like noise reduction and equalization, but they can be identified using a spectrogram.
- Evaluation
If you have a video that you question or need help understanding, please give me a call for a pro bono conversation. I apply my forensic expertise to cases in the United States and many countries around the globe. Any and all formats of audio and video accepted. Retainer agreement available on request; travel expenses will be quoted in advance excluding meal expenses and flat rate time for travel instead of hourly.