Smolian Sound Studios

Information may not be reliable

I copy cardboard discs, dictation belts, wire reels, poorly-made tapes, broken cassettes, etc, and put the restored sound onto CDs and cassettes.
Services include choosing and implementing the restoration techniques most appropriate to recovering the basic sound of your originals. Additional work may include assembling fragments created by repairing repeating and skipped grooves, bad tape splices, etc., into an uninterrupted program and removing prominent remaining clicks and pops by human editing. Digital systems in use include those made by Cedar, Smaartlive, Sound Forge, Waves and Wavelab. I often get surprisingly fine results, considering the original recording equipment's limitations and the effects of the passage of time and casual storage. My objective is to balance recovering the distinctive audio picture of those on the record with the suppression of undesirable background noise.
A reasonable number of your old recordings can be sent here for a free, no obligation estimate; check with me first. After inspecting your items, I'll let you know what problems I expect and what the charges will probably be. Some difficulties disclose themselves only late in the process. If additional studio time becomes significant, we discuss the costs and benefits of investing further time before continuing.
I make all CD copies on white inkjet printible gold CDs manufactured by Mitsui or other reliable original products. Though a gold reflective layer offers a lifespan much greater than the common aluminum and silver discs which can oxidize and become non-reflective over time. it's the latter group that is on the shelves in the mass-market office supply and computer electronics chains.
I'm Steve Smolian, performing sonic restoration magic for over 40 years, operating Smolian Sound Studios in Frederick, MD. I welcome work in any quantity, from a family with a few home recordings to projects from large archives.