Local area audio specialist?

[arib]

My dad recently came into posession of some old 78s of my grandfather singing. He'd like to have them transferred to a digital medium for posterity (and to make it easier for grandma to listen to).

He's tried doing it himself, without too much success. Does anyone know of any sort of resource that would be able to get the audio off of the old records, and clean it up so it's comprehensible?

Thanks, guys!

(cross-posted to b0st0n)

Comments

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

The turntables at my place aren't very competent at the moment. I have an old one that plays 78s back at my parents' house, but it doesn't have a proper 78 needle. It doesn't have line out (it has powered output to drive speakers, which would ruin the signal), so it's a bad choice.

Hmm...

[lizzibabe.livejournal.com]

I've seen turntables that contain digital recorders inside, but I don't know if you can get a 78 needle for one.

here's one.

[nightshade1972.livejournal.com]

http://www.dak.com/

[cellio]

When he tried doing it himself, what did he try?

We've been very happy with the $69 pre-amp we bought for digitizing our analog music. Depending on how many 78s he has, that might be cheaper than paying a pro, assuming he has or can borrow the turntable/needle. (Um, also assuming he has a computer... WavePad for PC is free and decent, or Amadeus Pro for the Mac is $40. Many people speak highly of Audacity, which is free.)

[(Anonymous)]

I've been using an Ion USB turntalbe which only has setting to play 33s and 45s. Then using Audacity on my computer to convert the 45 recording to 78rpm. The problem is a lot of background noise which makes it difficult to hear the recording. I was hoping a professional might be able to clean it up, but it's possible the background noise is on the records and not because of the equipment.