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Journal Article

Noncontact Surface Metrology for Preservation and Sound Recovery from Mechanical Sound Recordings

Authors: Boltryk, P. J.; McBride, J. W.; Hill, M.; Nascè, A. J.; Zhao, Z.; Maul, Christian

Journal of the Audio Engineering Society · Volume 56 · Issue 7/8 · pp. 545–559 · July 2008

Abstract

Decoding historic mechanical recordings using noncontact optical methods avoids further degradation that would be created with a stylus. Moreover, for recordings that have been damaged, contact methods do not work. The proposed method, which is based on surface metrology of engineering surfaces, measures the surface optically, while offline signal processing then recovers the audio information. The surface record, preserved as a high-resolution matrix grid, is retained indefinitely. Preliminary results indicate better noise and distortion performance compared to mechanical playback.

Details

Publication
Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
Volume
56
Issue
7/8
Pages
545–559
Publication date
July 6, 2008
Affiliation
School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK ; TaiCaan Technologies Ltd., Southampton, UK (See document for exact affiliation information.)
Type
Journal Article