All of us have collections of music on cassette tape, vinyl or that recorded under less than ideal circumstances. It is music that we hang on to because it has special meaning or is too good to trash but doesn't satisfy our current standards of audio quality. There are a number of software products on the market that provide the tools to remove the pops, clicks, noise and even the room ambiance and to expand the the dynamic range and improve the frequency content of the sound. Much of the work is done in semi-automatic fashion using presets. Today's powerful processors and real time audio analysis software make near miraculous transformations possible starting with the poorest of source materials. What was once the domain of professional sound engineers and archivist and reserved for material of great historical significance or mass commercial appeal, is now available to users at all levels. Precious memories and personal gems of audio content can be massaged and processed to new levels of audio fidelity and cleaned of annoying noise and recording artifacts. Cassette tapes with wow and flutter, tape hiss and motor rumble, and that are badly compressed due to the limitations of tape technology can be enhanced to near CD quality.

Mix Magazine, the premier publication of the professional audio and recording industries has produced a review of more than a dozen top offerings from well known and upstart software companies that make the job of restoring and reviving audio recordings a clean and relatively easy process. This article is worth a look by anyone that ever contemplated restoring there own recordings or those that might be interested in adding audio restoration services to their business profile. Many of these products can be a valuable addition to studios of all sizes, offering the ability to save a particularly inspired take that may otherwise have to be redone due to a minor audio event like a piano bench squeak during a final note decay. Prices and capabilities run a wide range and at least one offering can be rented starting at $15 to $20 dollars a week using a time limited download.

For those that are unfamiliar with sound restoration software or the process or possibilities of sound restoration, you can look at Electronic Musician Online's guide to getting the most out of audio restoration software. This tutorial gives detailed description of the process and types of problems that can be fixed using this new and growing class of software tools. Even if you have never considered it in the past a quick read of this article could inspire you to take the plunge and to turn some of your own personal gems that may be a less than satisfying audio experience into a performance more suitable to the memories they evoke.