top of page

FORENSIC AUDIO ANALYSIS

Unlike other forms of forensic evidence, audio recordings can provide a story and investigators can hear what occurred. These sources of recorded audio that can help in an investigation have increased exponentially. Audio recorders can be found in businesses, police vehicles, and of course, on cell phones.

​

For large-scale events or crimes, the sheer amount of recorded audio evidence can be enormous, and for many crimes, high-quality audio recordings are often not available. 

This is where audio forensics can help. Forensic experts have techniques to enhance recordings, bring out details and give a clearer picture of what happened making an audio recording cleaner. This, in turn, helps investigators, lawyers or jurors to better perform their duties.

​

Audio evidence can be found in more places and from more diverse sources than ever before. Audio evidence may be available from 911 calls, answering machines, voicemail recordings, video cameras, cell phones, and computer files.

​

Audio forensics is a detailed examination of audio files for legal purposes. Audio forensic experts examine the recording in a forensic lab to determine its authenticity. The exam typically involves checking completeness, improving speech clarity, transcribing dialogue, comparing voices, and reconstructing timelines of events.

square webpage66.png

FORENSIC AUDIO AUTHENTICATION AND ANALYSIS

Once the evidence is collected, the audio forensics expert will inspect the recording to determine its authenticity. In this digital age of advanced editing software, it's easy to manipulate an audio file, making it fake. The expert will examine the recording using SWGDE best practices to determine if an audio file has integrity.

Audio files can also be enhanced to remove unwanted background noise so dialog can be heard more clearly. Various filters are applied to the recording to achieve this, such as:

FREQUENCY EQUALIZATION

Equalizers cut or boost specific frequency bands. The frequency bands that contain most of the speech content (600-3000 hertz) can be isolated or amplified to make speech more intelligible. If there are strong background noises, a spectrum analyzer can be used to identify its frequency and reduce the noise with the equalizer.

COMPRESSION

If the speech or sounds on the recording are weak, the signal can be compressed to reduce the dynamic range and emphasize softer sounds.

SPECIFIC FILTERS

We have a licensed arsenal of application-specific forensic software tools like De-Reverb, De-Wind De-Hum, and De-Crackle.

Audio files that have been examined and clarified by an audio forensic expert can be used in court as evidence. The audio forensic scientist can serve as an expert witness and provide reports and testimony regarding the results of their investigation. The information they provide includes everything from their methodology to impartial opinions on the results obtained.

Meet Our Forensic Audio Analyst

Finales-17.jpg

Lyanne Flores

Forensic Audio Analyst & Office Coordinator

Lyanne is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Advertising, specializing in Production Design. Additionally, she is completing a course for a diploma as an Expert in Forensic Acoustics and Phonetics from the Ilustre Colegio Nacional de Peritos in Puebla, Mexico.

​

Lyanne's expertise extends beyond her background in advertising. She has a proven track record in the scientific analysis of audio recordings, where her skills have been applied to a diverse range of cases, from criminal investigations to civil litigation. Her dedication to maintaining the highest standards of precision, accuracy, and attention to detail is evident in her work.

​

Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and a commitment to excellence, Lyanne takes pride in delivering results that not only meet but exceed expectations, ensuring that her analyses are not only reliable but also legally defensible.

​

Her proficiency in forensic acoustics and phonetics has led her to work on notable cases: 

​​

  • Provided expert judgment for an attorney who's client was found guilty of murder. Her rebuttal analysis concluded in the presentation of evidence before the Appellate Court of Puerto Rico. In this analyst she certified that the dialogues during the courts hearings were irrecoverable.

  • Successfully removed voice filters to restore the original voice for a client who was been threaten in social media for comparisons with sample recordings of a suspect.

  • She took a project involving the cleaning of audio files to recover and transcribe dialogues accurately for a client who was been accused of of verbally assaulting an ex-partner.

bottom of page