Scratched records fix?

[raindance]

Replace them with CDs.

 

[dennis h]

edsstuff.org - edsstuff Resources and Information.

edsstuff.org is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, edsstuff.org has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!

daveyw.edsstuff.org

above also has a u-tube video

 

[Thomas_A]

Replace them with CDs.

That or streaming. But the thread is not about medium choice but to debunk repair methods. And perhaps finding proof of something that could work.

 

[Thomas_A]

edsstuff.org - edsstuff Resources and Information.

edsstuff.org is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, edsstuff.org has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!

daveyw.edsstuff.org

above also has a u-tube video

The cactus spine method. I actually tried that now. Can remove some grooves but grooves are till too narrow to dig into it.

 

[DVDdoug]

I've never tried repairing a record... I replaced one once, back in the vinyl days. (I haven't "played records" for decades but occasionally I'll digitize one that's not available digitally.)

Is the record skipping? If so, more tracking force and/or adjusting the anti-skating might help. (When I was a kid we'd put a penny or a dime on the tonearm/headshell, but I'm NOT recommending that! And that was with a ceramic cartridge which could handle more tracking force than a magnetic cartridge.)

Are you wanting to make it playable directly, or are you digitizing it?

There is specialized software for cleaning-up clicks & pops on digital copies. Audacity has a few built-in "effects". I've had I've had Wave Repair ($30 USD) for a long time. It does an audibly perfect repair on most (but not all) clicks & pops. The downside is that it's manual and you have to find & repair the clicks one at a time and it can take me most of a weekend to fix-up an album. The upside is that it only "touches" the audio where you identify a defect. Wave Corrector is FREE and fully automatic. (I don't have much experience with it.) Izotope RX is a popular professional tool for all kinds of audio fix-up. (I don't own it.) The developer of Wave Repair has a webpage with more software suggestions/alternatives (probably some obsolete) and he's got TONS of other information about digitizing vinyl.

 

[Thomas_A]

As mentioned I use both Click Repair and its real-time app through my Mac Mini. Works fine to remove pops and ticks. I use streaming and my ripped CDs of well. I rip som vinyl now and then but I don’t want to go through the work load to do all of them. The ”repair” methods needs some back-up with data. There are claims and debunks and some videos. But nothing really conclusive.

 

[OldHvyMec]

I have tried a lot of things and if a record can be repair by cleaning or de-clogging a grove or two, fine if not an hour is a lot of time to
spend on an LP. Simple fact, bad surface damage and dirty records are the number one reason a stylus wears out. I may not use 5K carts
to often but to repair some of them, is down right expensive.

It's akin to driving an old Panteria I had, with bald tires. The damage that can happen doing things like that can ruin a car or cart, to what end?
To save a record? Unless it was my mother singing into the can in the 30s, get a cleaner press or if you're lucky find a saw tooth that was directly cut
and truly one of a kind. (maybe 10-15 at the most anyways.)

I call it trying to make chicken soup out of chicken $hit.

Regards

 

[levimax]

This is the only physical fix I know of that has a chance of working:

The old CoolEdit program (now sold as Adobe Audition) has excellent dehiss, denoise and declick functions for fixing recordings from damaged records.

Wood glue is hard to work with and easy to ruin things, PVA works a lot better and easier and if for whatever reason the "peal" does not go well it can be cleaned up with water. If you use wood glue and the "peal" fails you have a mess on your hands and most likely a ruined record. Neither wood glue nor PVA fix scratches.

 

[AnalogSteph]

I thought that wood glue is PVA...?

 

[Snoopy]

Replace them with CDs.

That might often enough not be option for various reasons, like there is no CD, the LP has a master or bonus tracks that are not on CD. Or sometimes simply availability if the CD is a crazy expensive OOP import.

For me these where the reasons to get a Turntable. But at the same time I don’t understand people that buy LPs with 192khz masters as source. Same stuff that is on multiple streaming platforms and other digital media.

 

[raif71]

Replace them with CDs.

How to fix a scratched CD or DVD.

Scratched CDs and DVDs are a common problem for many people. The severity of the scratch will determine if the disc can be fixed and the best method for doing so.

www.linkedin.com

... and if a CD is scratched, fix as above

 

[Tryphon]

This is the only physical fix I know of that has a chance of working:

The old CoolEdit program (now sold as Adobe Audition) has excellent dehiss, denoise and declick functions for fixing recordings from damaged records.

Cool Edit was a great software, I still prefer it to newer ones as its limitation to two channels doesn't bother me.
BTW 20 years after, with the recent progress in generative IA, I think something great could be done for declicking damaged records (or other audio repair). Don't know if such a thing exists.

 

[restorer-john]

Cool Edit was a great software, I still prefer it to newer ones as its limitation to two channels doesn't bother me.
BTW 20 years after, with the recent progress in generative IA, I think something great could be done for declicking damaged records (or other audio repair). Don't know if such a thing exists.

Get yourself a vintage Marantz SX-72. Does scratch and click suppression in real time digitally with DSP.