Master's Image, Sound Recording, Dubuque, IA

CALL US TODAY!

563-582-0700

RESTORATION SERVICES

Audio Restoration Services

Compact Discs — Dubuque, IA — Master's Image

We love reintroducing clients to their valuable vintage recordings by restoring & preserving them on CD.

Our studio offers 2 options to preserve your vintage recordings to CD. We can transfer LPs, 78s, 45s, cassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes directly to CD, thereby preserving the content and making it accessible once again. Or, before encoding the CD, we can restore the content by first routing it through various processes to significantly reduce noise and enhance the sound for added clarity and fidelity of sound.

Professional Restoration Tools

We use the same hardware platform for our restoration work when recording, mixing, and mastering, including Digital Audio Workstation, converters, and studio monitors. The audio quality and capabilities of the system are extraordinary. We knew you would want nothing less.

Option 1: Transfer to CD

Many vintage recordings are still decent sounding; moreover, the content is often fully recoverable for transfer to CD using our carefully preserved and well-maintained collection of old players. In effect, your recording gets a new lease on life and can reach your family for generations to come. (See Restrictions and Limitations). In most cases, this process will provide you with a CD-R disc that has 1 track for each media “side” transferred.

Option 2: Restore to CD

Beyond transferring, we can take things a step further and restore old recordings for significant noise reduction and sound enhancement (See Restrictions and Limitations). Restoring to CD includes all the features of “Transfer to CD,” plus a host of options, including:

  • Noise reduction: significant reduction in broadband noise, hiss, rumble, pops, click, crackle.
  • Reduction in some forms of distortion: this process can be very effective for monaural recordings, and newer tools are making it more effective for stereo recordings.
  • Sound enhancement: added richness, warmth, and clarity, making thin, scratchy voices easier to understand.
  • Compression: control dynamics, especially useful for speech tracks.
  • Track markers: placed at logical breaks in the program material, allowing you to navigate easily through the CD content.

Memorable Projects

One of the joys we have had repeatedly at Master’s Image is seeing the emotional reunion a client experiences upon the restoration of an old recording of a loved one whose voice or song has been unheard for many years. Memorable projects include:

  • A family’s custom Christmas greeting and well-wishes sent on a 78 to a GI overseas during World War II,
  • A shellac recording of a now-deceased husband’s vocal solo with a famous orchestra, inexplicably never unreleased by the label,
  • Home recordings to 1/4” tape parents made in the 1960s of their young children — and of themselves,
  • A 1970s cassette interview of a grandfather by his grandson for a school project concerning memories of World War II.

We have plenty of tissue on hand if needed for the reunion. And if you don’t need it, we might after you leave.

CD on a Gift Box — Dubuque, IA — Master's Image

Restoration Samples

Below are pairs of files in various sections to show you what our restoration tools are capable of in real-world examples. Not all recordings work equally well with every tool—which is why we have so many restoration tools at our disposal. Also, some recordings simply respond better in general than others. Results always vary — some better, some not as good. We can’t guarantee you results equivalent to the following, but we’ll get as close as our tools — and your budget — allow.

The original tracks in each pair are untouched, other than to carefully adjust the volume to the point where the program content levels in the before and after clips are very nearly the same. If there are any other changes, they will be noted. This will provide you the best comparison possible between clips, so you can more clearly hear an accurate comparison.

Live event, hum and noise.

The following sample pairs are from an Easter 2013 worship celebration sponsored by Hope Evangelical Free Church in Dubuque, IA. The audio track of the video recording contained an obnoxious near-steady state noise, which the assembled congregation was fortunate enough not to hear. Please note Master’s Image did not assist in the audio recording of this service. We did provide the cleanup detailing afterwards.

Hum Clip 1

Hum Clip 2

Hum Clip 3

Restrictions and Limitations

Old recordings are individuals. Before delving into copyright legalese, we need to clarify that the needs presented with old recordings can vary greatly, even between recordings stored on the same shelf in the same house for 40 years. Also — like different people taking the same medications — the way recordings respond to various tools can vary wildly. The restoration process can be lengthy.

Uncopyrighted Recordings

Where old recordings are not copyrighted, there are no restrictions on the number of copies that we can make. For example, a family recording can not only be transferred or restored to CD, but replicated for scores of descendants. The low cost of the replication, even with custom artwork, makes the project a surprisingly affordable gift.

Copyrighted Recordings

Where the original recording is copyrighted, the plot thickens and the same significant limitations crop up. The Fair Use clause of U.S. copyright law allows making one archival copy of a copyrighted recording for the owner's use.

  • You must be the owner of the original recording.
  • You must understand that only one archival copy can exist at a time.
  • You need to understand that whatever you do with the original recording has to likewise happen to the archival copy. Ownership of the original is, in effect, your permission under copyright law to own the archival copy. If the original is sold or given away, the archival copy goes with it or is destroyed.

You will need to sign a statement to the effect that you understand and intend to comply with these limitations before the transfer or restoration to CD can commence. With the above understandings, we can apply all of our restoration techniques to the copy, and the artwork of the original can be reproduced as well.

Share by: