NoNoise screenshot, circa 2006
In 1984, Lucasfilm and Convergence Corp. formed The Droid Works, and under the leadership of Andy Moorer, showed its SoundDroid™ workstation at NAB in 1985. The product was years ahead of its time and too expensive for the typical studio. In 1986, former Droid Works execs Bob Doris, Jeffrey Borish and Mary Sauer left to found Sonic Solutions.
Some months later, Andy Moorer joined the Sonic team and the company debuted NoNoise®, a Macintosh-based system that applies proprietary DSP algorithms that eliminate broadband background noise, as well as AC hum, HVAC buzz, camera whine and other ambient noises. NoNoise could also reduce overload distortion, acoustical click/pops, transients caused by bad splices and channel breakup from wireless mics—without affecting the original source material. Sonic Solutions eventually expanded into 2-channel and multichannel workstation development and developed the first DVD premastering system.
