The Audio Remastering / Restoration Process - this should IMO be part of the process

In my opinion, listening to the work product through headphones should be a required step in the audio remastering and restoration process.

I say this because headphone listening makes defects like tape dropouts more noticeable. Since the invention of the Walkman some 35 years ago, listening to music through headphone has grown immensely in popularity.

Case in point (one of thousands) - at approximately 2:30 in the reissue of "Turn To Stone" on Electric Light Orchestra's "Out Of The Blue" album there are three small dropouts. These could have been easily corrected.

 

And you think these defects were not detected in the mastering suite?

 

I have no problems listening to anything on headphones really. Dropouts, hiss and things like that doesn't bother me one bit.

Fixing stuff like this almost require digital editing which could do more harm than good.

 

I do all of my mastering work using 80 ohm headphones. I then critically listen, first using 250 ohm amplified headphones, and second on my bi-amped Altec 604(e) system, identifying needed adjustments to EQ, levels, etc. After a few rounds of that, the master is ready.

 

How can an analog tape dropout be correctedor eliminated?

 

There are pro applications and consumer apps as well. I believe Pro Tools and Cedar have this ability. In the consumer market Izotope has RX.

It is similar to how you can use the Spot Healing tool in Photoshop to get rid of dust spots and scratches. It basically analyzes adjacent areas and replaces the damaged area with something similar.

In audio applications it is also sometimes possible to use audio information from the the opposite track of a stereo track to repair a dropout.

 

It should be noted that I am referring to music that is in a digital format. Is it not common to repair bad splices, etc? As I eluded in in one of my previous posts, you would not think twice of doing the exact same thing if it was a photograph. We marvel at motion pictures that have been lovingly restored. Yes, programs like Pro Tools have a less than stellar reputation because of heavy handed hacks, but I am sure there are people in the industry who use these programs judiciously and deliver excellent results. Sometimes the trick is to do things manually and sparingly.

I'm not going to respond to being called obsessive.

 

There is software that can repair tape dropouts, and a host of other analog problems, but you loose analog goodness. It is time intensive to do a good job also. For something like the Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl there is enough of a source material (demixing in this case) need and market sales to warrant such heavy handed solutions. But a fixing few dropouts going by here and there on a standard reissue is just not going to happen.

 

How about simply viewing the WAV files too, for signs of any clipped peaks?

 

DIY time? Sitting down and closely listening to something played LOUD is just as, or possibly even more important.

 

As a professional mastering engineer (and a headphone listener), I always correct and fix some issues, cause I can't stand it. There are so many things I can hear with headphones (clicks from bad edits, dropouts, unbalanced stereo images, different EQ on stereo channels due to tape deterioration or misaligned tape heads, dropouts, volume issues etc...). Sure, my mastering has to sound good in the first place (that's the most important thing, for sure), but all the issues were fixed by me to make sure that the customer has the chance to enjoy the stuff also with headphones.
As I am into audio restoration and mastering for a long time (and have to transfer vinyl and tape sources for remastering and rereleasing on some metal labels), I work very dedicated and accurate...and I think most mastering engineers should use headphones for their final check. There are so many bad examples out there...

 

I do plenty of mastering work and never use headphones to do it. They lie to you in too many ways to make them effective tools. If the monitors you're working with are good enough, headphones are not necessary. I will use multiple listening environs to test the results of what I've done but never headphones in that process.

Ed

 

Proper monitoring in a proper room eliminates the need for headphones for hearing minute detail. That's why they aren't needed or used.

As for fixing glitches and whatnot: it all depends on the philosophy of the mastering engineer, and the intended market. Many engineers do dump a tape into a DAW for restoration. As Hoffman says, audiophile engineers don't do this. I'm sure that they find other ways to deal with problems, and if they can't fix them without a DAW, they may not do the project at all.

If I did a project, I sure wouldn't be doing any audiophile work because i'd use a DAW for restoration....but I wouldn't use headphones!

 

To be honest, CEDAR isn't great. I also don't like my music scrubbed clean of all imperfections. I want to get the glaring stuff for sure but I'd never go near CEDAR or it's ilk. Along with taking out hiss, CEDAR also takes out the frequencies that give music space - leaving a somewhat cold and sterile result, no matter how sparingly it's used. Hiss doesn't have to be bad and I've never once tried to take it out.

Ed

 

It depends on the operator and its skill.

I do use noise removal with iZotope RX tools, and tweak with Audition. I am very careful not to change or add anything, but I won't shy away from fixing a glitch that isn't part of the recording. In most cases, I am familiar with the material, so I know what was there in the source's pristine condition. Clicks, pops, and other similar anomalies are done away with.

If it's something like the dropout in "Hot Fun In The Summertime", i'll leave it alone. I won't do a 09 Beatles remaster type fix.

If there is a glitch like in the single version of "Cut The Cake" by AWB, i'll fix it. (In fact, I did!)

If I get an early 80s album where the first two minutes of the first song on the album is louder than the rest, I will fix the levels. As an interesting aside, you know how the late engineer Gus Dudgeon liked to ride the gain and it is horribly noticeable? Well, I fixed The Kiki Dee Band's "I've Got The Music In Me" so that her voice is the same level throughout the song. I plan to do the same with some Elton John and Chris Rea tunes too.

 

To make some audio restoration work for a better result, it has nothing to do with being a non-audiophile engineer I think. I don't like glitches, clicks and dropouts and to make it sound as good as possible, I restore everything. That's my philosophy...and I am proud of it !!!

 

I'm kind of more speaking from someone who mostly works with 1/4 inch 1/2-track tape, not LP's. I do not use hiss removal at all. I suppose if I encountered a tape with a ridiculous noise floor, I might, but I haven't yet.

I also don't like the result of hiss reduction on anything on which I've heard it used. A particularly grievous example of this is the MCA CD of "Partners in Crime" by Rupert Holmes. Whoever the decision-maker was had all the space and air squashed out of the tunes. It's used so heavily that about 10 seconds of the end of the tune is lost because of the intensive hiss reduction usage.

'Course with LP's, I have no bones about all the corrective actions you mention and use them all often.

Ed

 

Heeeeeey, some of my favorite music is made up of glitches, clicks and dropouts.

 

Well, tape develops clicks and such. If it's tape, I usually don't mess with it either. Tapr hiss doesn't bother me.

I hate it when that happens! But, I wonder if, say, improper DBX decoding isn't a factor, some tapes were processed with DBX.

 

If noise reduction is used in a professional and careful way, it works fine I think. I have to restore / remaster recordings from old demo cassettes for example...they lost all the treble range through the years and I have to add it...so the hiss is very annoying sometimes. I use iZotope RX, create a noise print and use it very subtle (not all hiss must be removed, but reduced in a gentle way).

 

I recently purchased the 2496 version of "Turn To Stone" - the aforementioned dropouts are gone!