Aulio Studio vs PD Cleaner

Aulio Studio is a paid Mac app for cleaning audio and video recordings. It removes background noise, filler words, stutters, long silences, and room echo. Live A/B preview and an adjustable noise-reduction control let you compare and set processing before applying it. The app transcribes audio, allowing selected transcript text to export its matching clip, and the maker says transcription and filler removal support 99 languages. Effects include reverb, echo, warmth, loudness targets, and sound style profiles. It processes MP4 and MOV video and exports MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, and AIFF. Batch jobs can share settings and remain in history. Processing runs on the Mac, while anonymous diagnostics and analytics may be sent to the maker and Google Firebase. macOS 14 or later is required. Pricing starts at $9.99 a month, with a full-access 10-day trial and no free plan.

PD Cleaner is a free Windows app for reducing clicks, crackle, hiss, and hum in old recordings, particularly public-domain recordings made before 1926. Drop in a file and it analyzes its era, noise, and clicks; a Clean dial lets you adjust the cleaning. Its voicings cover cylinders, acoustic 78s, and early electric recordings, alongside an uncoloured transfer option. A live before-and-after spectrum analyzer can show a curve, waterfall, or both, and users can solo noise being removed. The app works as a VST3 insert in a DAW or as a standalone program. Folder-based batch processing with one preset is limited to the standalone version. Built-in formats are WAV, FLAC, AIFF, Ogg, MP3, and Opus; a free optional add-on provides AAC and more. It supports 24-bit archival exports and says it does not overwrite the original file. The maker describes it as offline software. The Windows release is open source under AGPLv3, and its build may show an unknown publisher warning when first run.