THE PROCESS
Restoration:
The ‘true’ art of the audio restorer is to know how far to take the cleaning process. Applying insufficient restoration will result in an ineffective end result, as residual clicks, crackle and other surface noise will remain unnecessarily. On the other hand, excessive digital processing can lead to the introduction of unwanted artefacts which is unacceptable. The secret is to get the balance right.
This philosophy is particularly relevant when dealing with old or severely damaged recordings. In such cases it would be necessary to leave a certain amount of baseline noise in (such as a hint of groove noise on a 78) to ensure that the restored sound remains as true to the original recording as possible.
The analogue signal is fed to a CEDAR ADA analogue to digital converter, before using industry standard processing (CEDAR) technology to effectively reduce/remove the clicks, pops, crackle and hiss during transcription.
CEDAR ADA AND DUOs (Image used with permission)
|
|
;){kind=link}
Once the recording is saved to the PC, any further restoration (reduction/removal of background noise, hum etc) is achieved using Steinberg Wavelab Studio 6 software. Further enhancements to the recording can be made, including optimisation of the sound levels and improvements to the clarity and tonal quality, by making subtle equalisation (EQ) adjustments.
Recordings in poor condition:
Inevitably, some records and tapes will have suffered the ravages of time and may be in such a poor state that satisfactory restoration will be difficult, and at worst, may even be impossible. In rare cases where nothing worthwhile can be done, the source media will be returned to the customer with no charge other than the return postage.
That said, for records and tapes in below average to poor condition, we can apply manual restoration techniques which will undoubtedly produce a CD showing a distinct improvement over the original source. If such manual restoration is required, this will be discussed with the customer before any work is undertaken, and an estimate will be produced (work is charged at an hourly rate). The resulting CD will not deteriorate further, allowing your rare, unique and valuable recordings to be salvaged for posterity.
Life expectancy for CDs is expected to exceed 100 years, so these restorations will outlive all of us!
Acetate records, often produced in small private recording studios. were popular back in the 1950s. These discs were made by talented family members who wanted to capture their singing, verse recitals or instrument playing for posterity, long before the tape recorder became commonplace. Acetates are unique 'one-off' recordings, and are a real tangible link to our predecessors. As such it is important to get them restored and transferred to CD as soon as possible, to avoid losing this link with the past.
Please contact us to discuss your requirements before sending any media.
Transfer to CD:
Finally the restored signal is burned as a .wav file to CD-R using a dedicated CD-R burner at a slow writing speed (8x). Finally the resulting disc is given a QC check to ensure there are no errors in either sound quality or CD text details using a Tascam CD-RW 901SL CD burner.
TASCAM CD-RW 901SL
As standard service, individual tracks are separated to give full track skip/search functions. CD text is added for convenience and your disc is returned to you in a CD jewel case. The transfer cost also includes on-CD printing and a bespoke cover (front and back CD inserts) with full track listing, or scanned cover for LPs.
Extra CD copies:
If you require extra CD copies of non-copyright material (complete with jewel case and printed inserts), these can be supplied at a nominal fee of £5 per duplicated CD (double CDs cost £8 each and triple CDs cost £12 each). At Audio Restored, we retain files indefinitely in an archive, so extra CD copies can be requested at any time after the initial transfer job.
Alternative file formats (WMA, .mp3) can also be accommodated if preferred – please mention this when discussing your requirements.
