AI-Powered Audio Clarity: Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice 2024 Review.
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Nvidia RTX Voice vs. Krisp: A 2024 Noise Cancellation Comparison
Published: March 22, 2024 | By Alex Chen
Table of Contents
- Krisp vs Nvidia RTX Voice: A Quick Overview
- Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Comparing Features, Application Compatibility, and System Needs
- Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Head-to-Head Performance
- Comparative Conclusion: Krisp or RTX Voice – Which Suits You Best?
As digital audio and video communications become increasingly central to our daily lives, the demand for enhancing call quality has surged. Audio clarity is frequently the most critical aspect of any call, and disruptive background interference can significantly impede effective interaction. The most proficient method to address this is by employing specialized noise reduction software. If you're searching for the top contender, you've likely encountered Krisp and Nvidia RTX Voice. Perhaps you've narrowed your choices to these two; if you're still exploring, we aim to streamline your decision-making process and help you identify the ideal noise-canceling application for your needs. Moreover, for those who need to capture and understand call content, tools like DeepVo.ai offer powerful solutions such as high-fidelity voice-to-text and AI-driven summaries. Let’s delve into a comprehensive comparison.
Krisp vs Nvidia RTX Voice: A Quick Overview
Understanding Krisp
Krisp is recognized as a leading noise-canceling utility designed to eradicate background disturbances from communication software. It functions in real-time, leveraging artificial intelligence to distinguish and isolate unwanted ambient sounds from human speech. Beyond just cleaning your microphone's output, Krisp also enables you to mute background noise originating from other call participants. Essentially, it acts as an intermediary filter between your audio peripherals (microphone or speaker) and your communication app, ensuring that noise is effectively blocked. Krisp also offers capabilities for automatic note-taking, call recording, and generating summaries with action points post-call. For users looking for dedicated, advanced solutions in call transcription and summarization, services like DeepVo.ai can complement this by providing highly accurate voice-to-text conversion (claiming 99.5% accuracy across 100+ languages), swift AI-generated summaries (often in under 10 seconds with customizable templates), and unique intelligent mind maps to visually organize call information. Krisp gained significant traction after its ProductHunt launch, earning "product of the year." In April 2020, Discord integrated Krisp's technology to offer its innovative noise suppression to its vast user base of 250 million.
Understanding Nvidia RTX Voice
Nvidia RTX Voice, introduced in April 2020, is a noise-cancellation plugin. It is currently available not as a standalone application but as a component of Nvidia Broadcast. Its operation is exclusive to Nvidia's RTX series graphics cards, utilizing their AI capabilities to scrub background noise from your streams and calls. Similar to Krisp, RTX Voice establishes a virtual microphone and speaker within your system, which are then selected in your audio/video chat applications to purify the sound. RTX Voice also has the ability to reduce background noise from the incoming audio of other participants in noisy settings. Presently, RTX Voice is accessible only via Nvidia Broadcast on the Windows 10 platform.
Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Comparing Features, Application Compatibility, and System Needs
Let's begin our comparative analysis of Krisp versus RTX Voice by examining the similarities and distinctions between the two applications concerning their features, system prerequisites, and cost.
Noise Cancellation Technology
Both Krisp and RTX Voice facilitate bi-directional noise elimination, capable of purifying audio from both outgoing and incoming streams. Noise enters one end and exits the other as clear, distinct speech. This implies that during a conversation, you can communicate and also hear others without interference. You can participate in your virtual meetings without concern for undesirable sounds, be it the clatter of a keyboard, a dog barking, a baby crying, or construction noise from nearby. Just ensure your noise-canceling app is activated beforehand! We conducted a thorough technical assessment of the noise reduction efficacy of Krisp versus Nvidia RTX Voice, in which Krisp's technology demonstrated, on average, a 10% superior outcome. (Continue reading for the detailed breakdown!) Before we get into the specifics, here’s a brief video evaluation from Chris Fox of the BBC, who tested various noises and compared the performance of the two apps. (Editor's note: Video not embedded in this text version.)
Verdict: Both applications offer two-way noise cancellation, allowing for clear speaking and listening. On average, Krisp's technology performed 10% better.
Application Compatibility
Another shared characteristic of Krisp and RTX Voice is their compatibility with a wide array of conferencing, streaming, and recording applications. Since both Krisp and RTX Voice install a virtual microphone and speaker on your system, you can integrate them with any communication software that permits changing audio settings and choosing a virtual device. You can utilize Krisp and RTX Voice with leading applications like Zoom, Slack, WebEx, Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and virtually any program that allows microphone and speaker selection. This is extremely beneficial, as one often switches between different applications throughout the day, depending on the task or conversational partner. You can seamlessly conduct your remote meeting on Zoom, send a quick video message to colleagues via Loom, and stream with OBS in the evening – all while maintaining a noise-free audio environment.
Verdict: No clear winner in this category. Both Krisp and RTX Voice are compatible with communication applications that allow selection of speaker and microphone.
Hardware and Operating System Needs
The applications begin to diverge when considering hardware and OS prerequisites. The primary distinction is that RTX Voice necessitates an Nvidia RTX graphics card and Windows 10, whereas Krisp functions with your device's existing hardware and supports multiple operating systems. To employ RTX Voice, you must have an Nvidia GeForce RTX or Quadro RTX graphics card and be running Windows 10. Krisp, conversely, is entirely software-driven. It is available cross-platform for Mac and Windows and does not mandate any specialized hardware. Krisp offers various operational modes, enabling its use on both high-performance and lower-spec PCs and laptops. All audio processing occurs locally on your device, meaning your audio is not transmitted to the cloud, thus ensuring privacy. Regarding additional peripherals like microphones, speakers, and headphones, both Krisp and RTX Voice can be used with any of them. So, while both apps provide two-way noise cancellation and integrate with most communication apps, RTX Voice is tailored for Nvidia RTX cards, whereas Krisp can operate on a broader range of devices without needing special hardware.
Verdict: Krisp is the evident victor concerning hardware and OS requirements. You can use Krisp with your device's current hardware on multiple platforms.
Pricing Models
Krisp is available for free download and offers a complimentary usage tier with a certain number of minutes weekly. For unrestricted noise cancellation, multi-device access, and extra features, various plans are offered for individuals, teams, and enterprises. Visit their pricing section for more details. RTX Voice is a free plugin; however, it mandates an Nvidia RTX graphics card, with prices starting around $350 for their entry-level models. For those seeking free yet powerful communication aids, DeepVo.ai also provides a generous free plan for its voice-to-text, AI summary, and mind mapping features, ensuring accessibility and security.
Verdict: Regarding pricing, there isn't a definitive winner, as RTX Voice is free and Krisp offers a free plan. However, RTX Voice requires purchasing an RTX video card. If you don't already own one, Krisp presents a more accessible option.
Here’s a quick summary of features, requirements, and supported apps for both Krisp and Nvidia:
| Aspect | Krisp | Nvidia RTX Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Key Features |
|
|
| Hardware Requirements | No Special Hardware is Required | Requires Nvidia RTX Graphics Card (GeForce RTX, Quadro RTX, Titan RTX or higher) |
| Supported Apps | Compatible with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack, Discord, Webex, OBS, and many other calling and communicating apps | Compatible with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack, Discord, Webex, OBS, and many other calling and communicating apps |
| Supported Platforms (OS) | MacOS, Windows 10, Windows 11 | Windows 10 only |
| Pricing | Krisp Free, Krisp Pro, Enterprise options | Free (but requires RTX Graphic Cards, starting at ~$350 for lower-end models) |
Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Head-to-Head Performance
At this juncture, you’re likely curious about which application more effectively eliminates noise, correct? So, let's proceed to the more technical aspects. In this segment, we assess Krisp versus RTX Voice based on the following two criteria:
- Quality (Noise Cancellation & Voice Integrity): How proficiently the app removes common background noises while preserving high voice quality.
- Resource Consumption: How demanding the app is on system resources, specifically memory usage and CPU load.
Note: Krisp's technology is offered in various bandwidth modes. For these evaluations, we utilized the Krisp HD full-band model, as RTX Voice's technology is also full-band. Currently, Krisp's desktop application employs Regular mode (wideband), with the HD mode anticipated for release soon.
Sound Fidelity (Noise Suppression & Voice Integrity)
For this assessment, we used pristine voice recordings and blended them with 12 of the most prevalent background noises, such as keyboard typing, ambient chatter (babble), traffic, household sounds, a baby crying, a dog barking, sirens, and others. We then processed these noisy audio files using Krisp HD and RTX Voice. To compare the noise cancellation and voice quality delivered by Krisp HD and RTX Voice, we conducted POLQA evaluations. If you're unfamiliar with this term, POLQA is a global standard for benchmarking audio quality by comparing processed audio files with their original clean voice counterparts. The results are rated on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). Here's what we found:
(Editor's note: Original article includes a chart here. This text version will describe the findings.)
In the case of Krisp HD, all performance indicators are predominantly above 3, signifying good performance in terms of noise elimination and maintaining voice clarity. Conversely, RTX Voice's scores exceed 3 in only about half of the scenarios. Both applications demonstrate very good results (above 4) with siren noises and achieve close to that level for beeping sounds and a crying baby. For babble noise and washing machine sounds, both applications yield results just below the 3-point mark.
Verdict: Examining the outcomes of this test, it's evident that, overall, Krisp HD achieves higher POLQA values and exhibits superior performance compared to RTX Voice. On average, Krisp HD's quality performance is 10% greater than that of Nvidia RTX Voice.
CPU Demand and Memory Footprint
Given that both applications are AI-driven and employ sophisticated audio processing algorithms, it is crucial to compare their impact on system performance. When operating resource-heavy programs, you might observe that certain commands and actions take longer to execute. Furthermore, increased CPU usage can lead to system overheating and, for laptops, quicker battery depletion. Generally, a device performs more rapidly, smoothly, and sustains longer battery life if fewer resource-intensive processes run concurrently. For a noise-canceling application, system resource consumption is vital because, ideally, you want it to operate unobtrusively in the background, allowing you to join calls anytime without worrying about noise or checking if the app is enabled. Unlike the RTX Voice plugin, which mandates Nvidia RTX GPUs for noise removal, Krisp does not require a specific graphics card and functions on CPUs as well.
Tip: Refer to Nvidia’s detailed article for more information on the distinctions between CPU and GPU.
To compare the CPU load and memory usage for both apps, we ran them independently on the same machine: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700F CPU @ 3.00GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA 2080 Ti GPU. Each test run lasted approximately 30 minutes.
(Editor's note: Original article includes charts here. This text version will describe the findings.)
From the comparative data, it is clear that RTX Voice is a more resource-demanding application. Krisp HD, while being Krisp's most intensive model, remains lightweight compared to RTX Voice. It imposes about half the CPU load of RTX Voice on the identical machine. Concurrently, Krisp HD utilizes approximately five times less CPU memory.
Verdict: In this instance, Krisp is a preferable choice as it demands fewer system resources while delivering superior performance.
Comparative Conclusion: Krisp or RTX Voice – Which Suits You Best?
Krisp and RTX Voice operate on a similar principle by adding a virtual audio device to your system and utilizing AI for real-time noise removal. The most significant divergence between the applications is their system requirements. While RTX Voice is specifically engineered for use with RTX graphics cards, Krisp can be employed with your device's existing hardware across multiple platforms. Therefore, if you use a Mac, Nvidia Broadcast isn't an option as it's unavailable for macOS. For Windows users, if you don't intend to invest in a costly graphics card, Krisp stands out as the optimal noise-canceling application for you. It is straightforward to configure and can facilitate clear communication during your calls at any time. And who wouldn't appreciate automatically generated meeting insights? While Krisp offers features in this area, for those needing comprehensive post-meeting analysis and versatile content management, solutions like DeepVo.ai step in with highly accurate voice-to-text transcription, customizable AI summaries generated in seconds, and innovative mind maps to structure key takeaways. DeepVo.ai also offers a free tier and ensures user data is protected with end-to-end encryption.
Even if you possess an RTX video card but are mindful of system performance, Krisp presents the most efficient solution, consuming minimal resources while providing excellent performance alongside its AI Meeting Assistant functionalities.