--- Graham Newton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I have the CEDAR Cambridge system which is their > flagship system and use its > processes on a daily basis. Unless you are doing > noise reduction processing > almost daily and have a lot of experience with it, > there are many very subtle > aspects that you will completely miss. This brings up questions I have had about CEDAR assuming that I would ever be able to cough up enough money to acquire one. I am most emphatically NOT an audio engineer or even an audiophile. I present vintage recordings on my Internet radio station and elsewhere on the Internet so I have a need to be able to get them to sound as good as I can. And many of my records are in very much less than E condition. Beyond the limitations of my technical skills and my knowledge of audio in general from a highly technical standpoint, another huge limitation I have is time. Even if I had the skills and desire, I simply do not have the free time to lavish large amounts of attention in order to make a single given recording sound its absolute possible best. For me, the trade off between quality and quantity is a big factor. Plus I am not selling my stuff for CD reissues and such - I basically give it away for free. That's my context. So here are my questions about CEDAR. My understanding is the Duo operates in "real time." Does that mean I could actually use it in a "live" setting and use it to spin 78 rpms on a radio broadcast and get decent results? What sort of learning curve is there for an intelligent novice to be able to get merely satisfactory or better results? If the same novice had Cambridge, could he get decent results - or does its expanded capabilities actually work to his disadvantage? My guess is Cambridge would not be able to be used for live broadcasts - is that correct? Finally, I would be very interested if someone who had knowledge with CEDAR and who has a spare moment to do so could listen to the following 128 kpbs mp3s of records in various conditions processed using my current equipment and let me know to what degree I could get better results from CEDAR so I have an idea whether or not it would be worth such a large investment. What I am currently using is a combination of KAB's Souvenir VSP real time audio restoration for my transfers plus a very light application of noise reduction with DCart 6. (My results with DCart alone without the Souvenir VSP have been on balance pretty horrid). All of the recordings here were transferred with a 3.3 TE styli. Here is what I just won on the most recent Nauck auction. The record is listed in E minus condition - but since it has some silent and quite passages, there is still some surface noise to it. I am sure someone who is skilled with CEDAR could get better results with the very small amount of noise that remains - but could someone such as myself? To me, the results sound good - but then again my ear is not especially tranined. The amount of time I spent on this one was approximiately two minutes over what it took to transfer the recording. http://www.radiodismuke.com/arsclist/dismukeone.mp3 (Marek Weber Orch - Potpourri of Popular Songs from UFA Films Part 1) Here is another recording in approximately E condition but which does not have any really quite passages and thus much less surface noise - and I probably could have gotten away with using heavier noise reduction than I did on it. Again, I perhaps spent two minutes on this beyond the time it took to transfer. Would CEDAR be able to give me improvement enough to justify the cost? http://www.radiodismuke.com/arsclist/dismuketwo.mp3 (Johnny Hamp Orch - I Can't Write The Words) Here is a record that is in merely average condition and was fairly noisy. I have no doubt that a pro on CEDAR oould get much better results. But could a novice such as myself? Again, I spent perhaps two minutes on this beyond the time it took to transfer. Could I get away with the same time investment with CEDAR - and, if so, for how much improvement: http://www.radiodismuke.com/arsclist/dismukethree.mp3 (Lou Gold Orch - Smile While The Clouds Are Gray" Finally, here is a record that was in almost trashed out condition - and I had to spend perhaps 15 or 20 minutes struggling to get it to sound to the degree as I managed to get it. Could CEDAR have worked some sort of miracle on a record such as this - and could a novice such as myself have a chance of getting better results with a similar or smaller time investment? http://www.radiodismuke.com/arsclist/dismukefour.mp3 (Fred Gardner's Texas University Serenaders - Loveless Love) The Souvenir VSP and the software combined cost me well under $1,000 - so cost difference is definitely a factor that must be weighed.