MP3 Samples

Before looking at what can be done with Wave Repair, it's instructive first to examine the value of cleaning LPs properly before recording them. Here is an extract recorded from an LP that I bought for 50p (about $1) at a record fair: first as it came out of the sleeve, and then after being cleaned with a vacuum record cleaning machine (a Moth Mark II). It demonstrates that a decent clean removes a fair amount of surface noise to start with. Note that I have deliberately chosen an inter-track gap so that the surface noise is at its most audible:

• Before Cleaning
• After Cleaning

The following extract is another part of the same LP. It includes the very end of one track, the inter-track gap, and the beginning of the following track. The four samples here are intended to show the progress made with each restoration step:

• As initially recorded (after the LP was cleaned)
• Next stage: after decrackling
• Next stage: after declicking
• Final result: after reduction of broadband noise

Finally, here are a few extracts from transfers made from my own LPs (which started out in rather better shape than the one above bought for 50p!). I have chosen tracks which start quietly so that you have a good chance to hear the residual surface noise. They give a general flavour of the sort of results you can achieve when the source LP isn't too badly beaten up. (These extracts are just the beginnings of the tracks):

• "Persona Grata" from the album "Secret Secrets" by Joan Armatrading
• "Childrens' Concerto" from the album "Music for Piano and Drums" by Patrick Moraz/Bill Bruford
• "Birds of a Feather" from the album "Out at Night" by The Guest Stars