/services · restoration
Audio restoration & enhancement
Restoration of recordings on tape, disc and digital media, removing what damages the listening experience while staying faithful to the original intended sound.
Salvaging 1/4" tapes, a damaged acetate disc from the 1940s, removing unwanted noise from a favourite vinyl record, recovering PCM masters from an F1-encoded Betamax tape, or a digital recording that needs noise reduction: every artifact is physically evaluated, handled with care and processed in fine detail while staying faithful to its original sound.
Restoration is not about making old recordings sound new. It is about removing what stands between the listener and the performance, and leaving everything else alone.
What we correct
- Speed, pitch, wow and flutter: including correction from a reference such as a mains-hum pilot tone, as in the Magnabelt project.
- Broadband noise and hiss from tape and early digital recordings.
- Clicks, crackle and pops from vinyl, shellac and acetate discs.
- Hum and buzz, including complex electrical noise such as stage-light dimmers: see the Mário Viegas tapes.
- Dropouts, thumps and creases from damaged or badly stored tape.
- Frequency-response errors from the original recording or playback system.
- Speech intelligibility for interviews, oral history and spoken-word recordings.
Our approach
Work starts from the best possible transfer, see tape transfer, because no processing can recover what a poor transfer loses. Restoration is then done on a copy, with the untouched transfer kept as the reference, and every decision is checked on a calibrated monitoring system.
For releases, restoration is followed by mastering for streaming, CD or vinyl. We have restored and mastered archival material for reissues by labels such as Tradisom, including Carlos Paredes, Luís Cília and Arthur Paredes.
Frequently asked questions
Can you restore a recording I've already digitised?
Yes, although results depend on the quality of that transfer. If you still have the original media, a new transfer is often the single biggest improvement.
Will restoration change the sound of the recording?
It should only remove what wasn't meant to be there. The goal is fidelity to the original intent, not a modern-sounding remake.
Do you restore vinyl records and 78s?
Yes: vinyl, shellac and lacquer/acetate discs, including damaged ones. Send a description of the discs and their condition.
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Tell us about your project
Describe the material or the music, the format, quantity and any deadline. You'll get a reply with how we'd approach it.