One version of Vegas did offer Soundforge Studio free. That is how I got mine, but I can't remember the details.

You could try the ReaFIR VST plugin, which is <...snip...>

C'mon.. it's really called ReaFIR?

I totally can visualize the moment the developers decided to name that one... LOL

You could try the ReaFIR VST plugin, which is part of the free ReaPlugs suite. There are some instructions here. Apparently it's the "subtract" mode you need to use. If you try it, please let us know how it goes.

OK -- trying the ReaFIR plug-in in Subtract mode, and so far it's working as good as any others, with some fantastic spectral analysis which is .. well.. just fun to watch :-)

1. Once setting to "subtract mode", you check the "Automatically build noise profile" combobox
2. You play a sample of the noise, and dynamically you both watch the profile it builds and hear as the noise is removed
3. Uncheck the "build noise profile box"

Once that's done, you can copy/paste that FX onto any audio event with the same noise profile.

As the tip on the bottom of the dialog says, holding the CTRL key and dragging up-down allows the entire spectral reduction to be lowered or raised, increasing/reducing the strength of the effect (minimizing or increasing the digital artifacts to your taste).

So far, so good! Thanks for the tip Nick!

One version of Vegas did offer Soundforge Studio free.

Vegas Pro 12 Suite included SoundForge 11 ... that was back in circa October 2013.

Keep in mind that some time ago, Magix flagged a Windows release of SF12 some time in late 2017 or early 2018.

I got Sound Forge as part of one of the Vegas Pro suites back in the Sony Days. It integrated pretty well with Vegas. Its default mode is as a destructive editor so you need to be careful to tell Vegas that you want to create and work on a copy of the original sound file. That version is 32 bit, with Magix promising a 64 bit sometime this year. I believe a 64 bit version of the cut-down product is already available and may be available as a free trial. Sound Forge has served me well for tasks such as cutting down hiss, rumble and unwanted air conditioners etc. I expect to be upgrading/purchasing when the 64 bit version becomes available

@Video_flaneur -- how could the VST (audio effect plug-in) be destructive, when it's just applied real-time (or so I thought) to the event that it's added to? This is different than editing the audio event (or a copy of) and then returning back to Vegas. What workflow are you using?

Regarding inclusion with Vegas in an older version... that's what I've heard ;-) I own lots of older versions, but aren't going to go installing them to figure out which one has that noise-reduction license. :-/

Do you recall which one it came with?

how could the VST (audio effect plug-in) be destructive

With Sound Forge, you can add effects, cut, paste, edit etc, and if you don't like the result, you can go back via the Undo selection or CTRL-Z. However, if you close SF or close the track within SF, and then re-open it later, there is no ability whatsoever to go back through the edit history that occurred when the track was previously open in SF. Once you close the track within SF, the changes made become permanent - hence the term "destructive". This is why it's essential to keep a pristine copy of the original track just in case.

Sound Forge is considerably different to iZotope's RX6 (and earlier versions) in that you can save an.rxdoc file from within RX6 that holds a history of the changes to the original track so that you can go through the edit history at a later time (i.e. "non-destructive").

Assuming that Sound Forge is selected as the audio editor in Vegas Pro, right-clicking an audio event on VP's timeline provides 2 selections: "Open in Sound Forge" and "Open Copy in Sound Forge". Selecting the latter creates a copy of the original audio track which is what is then edited in SF, thus keeping the original track unchanged. Also, VP will automatically replace the original track on the timeline with the copy.