Summary of the Audio Restoration Process:

• Decide on the scope of the project. For example--
  • Will this job be a "copy only" or a "full restoration" project?
  • Will the source material be 33-1/3 rpm LP's, 45 rpm records, 78 rpm records or audiotapes?
  • Normally, one CD will be produced for each LP. However, if two related LP's will fit on one CD and you instruct us to do so, we will put them both on one CD.
  • For 45's and/or 78's, should we fit as many records onto a CD as possible or should the CD's match groups of records?
    
    
• Find out what your project will cost. The simplest and most accurate way to do this is for you to send e-mail to sales@rivercityimageworks.com, describing your project, and we will send you a detailed quotation. Follow this link to view current prices.
  
  
• Decide how you will pay. We recommend that you pay by PayPal or by certified check or money order. (If you decide to pay by personal check, please realize that waiting for your personal check to clear will delay your order significantly.) And if you currently do not have a PayPal account but would like to consider opening one, you can click on the following icon for information:

• Pack your precious records carefully and send to:

Audio Department
River City Image Works
237 11th Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601-4141

• After your job is completed, River City Image Works will pack and ship the completed job to you.

Some Common Questions & Answers:

Is it legal to copy my old recordings?

I've heard that some DVD players do not play audio CD-R's. Is this true?

If I choose to have my records restored, will every single audio defect be eliminated and/or corrected?

Are there certain types of recordings that are not suitable for processing by River City Image Works?

How does River City Image Works handle international orders?

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Is it legal to copy my old recordings?

Yes, as long as (1) you own the original recording, (2) the copy is not for commercial use, and (3) only one copy is being made for you. (It is of course also legal for you to make as many copies as you like of material for which you are the copyright owner or for material in the public domain.)

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If I choose to have my records restored, will every single audio defect be eliminated and/or corrected?

No. Although the vast majority of unwanted noises will be removed, certain defects cannot be removed without substantially degrading the sound of the music. Judgment calls must always be made. Restoring music is an artistic, as well as a technical, process. An "absolutely clean" but "lifeless" recording usually sounds inferior to a "lively" recording with some surface defects. However, we understand that you probably don't want to struggle to listen to your treasured recording through a heavy veil of spurious sounds! Additionally, we can utilize electronic controls and filters to "liven up" the resulting product through the enhancement or attenuation of certain frequencies and the control of reverberation.

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Are there certain types of recordings that are not suitable for processing by River City Image Works?

Records that are unplayable due to cracks, chips, or warping should not be sent. Similarly, records with off-center holes will result in transfers/restorations with varying pitch each revolution. While this may be acceptable for the spoken word, this usually proves unsuitable for music.

Scratches can sometimes cause the phonograph needle to either skip forward or to be trapped into playing the same section again and again. In the first case, we cannot readily detect or correct the situation; in the latter case, we can usually ease the needle into the next groove, but a listener would most certainly detect the event. If this is unacceptable to you, do not send records with skips.

Finally, we utilize software to aid in detecting pauses between individual music tracks; it works by searching for relatively silent spaces in a continuous recording. Our operators must often override these settings to detect gaps between pieces in recordings of operas and "live" recordings. It is unlikely that our "cuts" would agree identically with the timings published on the original record jacket. If this is an issue for you, please do not submit records of this type.

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