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Topic: Restoration from tape or vinyl (Read 2730 times) previous topic - next topic
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Restoration from tape or vinyl

For the last year or so I have been working on restoring radio plays from tape. This went quite well with the usual audio restoration tools.

Unknown to me until today, some of those plays seem to have been released on vynil asd well. I am not quite sure about the specific properties of each media, so I wonder if it might be worth to get my hands on those records to replace the restored tape recordings? 

Restoration from tape or vinyl

Reply #1 –
This one is right up my alley! In general, I prefer to do a clean vinyl transfer on my own equipment, since I can (as necessary) perform multiple passes to achieve the best selection for each segment, or in ocassional cases do a complete wet transfer. (Playing a record "wet" is a process in which a small amount of water is dripped ahead of the needle, and this pushes dust/grime/dirt away as the record is spinning. While this can arguably produce superb results, it also has a few drawbacks and should only be attempted if you are certain you know what you are doing.)

  But for audio plays you might want to also consider a few other factors:

  Are the vinyl issues as complete as your taped performances? In many instances of such releases in the fifties and sixties, radio programs on vinyl were severely edited to conform to a roughly acceptable 15-20 minute limitation per side. While the removed material was often deemed superfluous, it nevertheless resulted in a less-than-complete archive of the program.

  What is the current level of hiss/background noise on your current tape transfers (... assuming that these are true tape generations, and not merely tape transfers of the vinyl you mentioned)? If acceptable, do you personally feel a fresh transfer is necessary? Remember that although a tape transfer will usually result in consistent results throughout, and therefore is much easier to clean up in an all-in-one-pass type restoration, vinyl transfer requires much more attention to detail since you wish to ensure no obtrusive surface noise has crept in.

  Lastly, although it may be relatively easy to acquire a "complete" collection of the taped programs, you may be facing a much more difficult task in trying to piece together a collection of such vinyl releases... and I assume their scarcity because you say you were unaware of them yourself, until today.

  Hope some of this is helpful... 

    - M.

Restoration from tape or vinyl

Reply #2 –
Quote
although a tape transfer will usually result in consistent results throughout, and therefore is much easier to clean up in an all-in-one-pass type restoration, vinyl transfer requires much more attention to detail since you wish to ensure no obtrusive surface noise has crept in.
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This is the main point.  A lot depends on the condition of the vinyl itself.  If in excellent condition, vinyl will almost always be a superior recording to tape, assuming you are dealing with the same recording.  Vinyl was the archive material of choice until the digital revolution, even for major studio masters.  But if the vinyl recording has a large quantity of transient events, such as pops or crackle, you may prefer dealing solely with the tape hiss, which is a piece of cake with good software.

Unfortunately, the only way I know of to be certain of the quality of used vinyl is to listen (with phones).  The eyes can easily deceive you in this regard - both ways.

Restoration from tape or vinyl

Reply #3 –
This depends all on the quality of both. Vinyl can range from mono muffled and cracling sound to very close to CD, with smooth background noise audible only in silences, and a tiny bit of wow.
Radio tapes can range from old cassettes recorded with a mic in front of an AM radio speaker, to dolby C metal tapes recorded on close FM stations, with no audible bakcground noise (barely with headphones), but low dynamics because of FM broadcasting.