Cathar vs Denoise

Cathar is a free audio restoration toolkit for Linux and macOS, with tools to clean, enhance, and level recordings. It accepts WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, and M4A files, along with audio tracks inside MP4 and MKV video, and writes WAV, FLAC, or AIFF according to the output filename extension. Restoration options include denoising, de-humming, de-winding, de-clicking, de-clipping, de-reverberation, spectral repair, de-plosive processing, and rustle removal. Enhancement tools handle de-essing, breath removal, voice isolation, and bandwidth extension; loudness and peak normalization prepare delivery levels. The Rust toolkit uses inspectable and tunable DSP stages. Effects can run through the Rust crate or as command-line steps in a media pipeline. An optional machine-learning feature adds a deterministic GRU denoiser with safetensors weights. Optional terminal tools provide an audio player and spectrogram viewer. Cathar is licensed under Apache 2.0 or MIT, and its latest listed release is v0.8.0; the project describes itself as pre-1.0.

Denoise is an audio cleanup app for Android and iOS that uses an on-device neural network to reduce wind, traffic, hiss, hum, and crowd noise in voice memos, interviews, and videos. Processing runs locally, including in airplane mode, and a one-minute clip typically takes 5–10 seconds. Users can import recordings from Voice Memos, Photos, Files, or an app share sheet; supported inputs include MP4, M4A, MP3, and WAV. The free plan lets users import, process, and hear a before-and-after preview, but saving and export require Pro. Pro can export M4A, MP3, or WAV, replace audio inside a video, restore detail in clipped, muffled, or distant recordings, and separate vocals from instrumental tracks on-device. Audio tools include a 5-band EQ with presets and automatic LUFS normalization. There is no file-length limit, including for recordings up to a three-hour lecture. Routes Software says recordings are neither uploaded nor stored, and the app has no user accounts. Google Firebase collects anonymous usage analytics and crash and diagnostic reports. Pro costs $2.99 a month or $14.99, paid once for lifetime access.