Sound Restoration

There are often times when audio needs more than simply the enhancements of mastering . An old analogue reel, for example, or an album of which only a few vinyl copies exist; Vintage material from 78's or even earlier formats.

We are superbly well-equipped to deal with such projects - we have the two most sophisticated restoration systems available - both Sonic Solutions No-Noise (with de-crackle & de-click) as well as CEDAR technology, both in it's rack-mounted form and within our SADiE editing systems.

Our full complement of vintage equipment for playback; 24-bit A to D converters for optimal transfer quality; mastering-calibre monitoring in every studio, and in particular the skills & experience of our engineers, have made us a respected and successful facility for restoration of audio projects of all kinds, from classic material by bands like The Small Faces through dictaphone messages for legal purposes, to delicate historic classical material.

We believe restoration requires great sensitivity on the part of the engineer - just because we can remove the hiss in a recording doesn't mean we should , for example - especially if the recording looses "life" or "air" as a result. Similarly, many restoration tools involve quite radical processing of the signal - de-click systems are a good example - and can at worst damage the original material. An intimate knowledge of our equipment and it's capabilities allows us to avoid the pitfalls of the process. An experienced engineer develops his own strategies and methods - tricks of the trade, if you like - which, along with an understanding of  the needs of the material, help achieve the best possible result.

We have been extremely successful at combining these skills with the mixing and re-mixing process when working on vintage material - recent examples include Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple - because of the unique range of skills SRT can offer, the mixing and mastering engineers can collaborate at every stage.

Gareth Williams , one of SRT's Senior Engineers, has built up an enviable reputation over the last few years for his work remastering back-catalogue material for specialist collector's labels; a very discerning market. "Is it difficult switching between working on new and vintage material?"

"Not really, in fact the variety is one of the things that makes the job so enjoyable - it keeps you fresh. And of course every recording is unique anyway, whether new or old. You have to make the same judgments, figure out how the producer wanted it to sound on the domestic systems of the time, and make it sound the same way on the midi and hi-fi systems of today. What makes back-catalogue so enjoyable to work on is that some of those recordings have such a great sound; a depth and realness to them that people find difficult to achieve these days."