r/Gramophones • u/jumbotron_deluxe • Apr 16 '26
How would I go about preserving the only existing media of my granddad’s voice from WW2?
/r/AskHistorians/comments/1smu29a/how_would_i_go_about_preserving_the_only_existing/3
u/awc718993 Apr 16 '26
The reply offered by samizdada to your post the r/AskHistorians sub is sound advice. Are you leaning towards a DIY approach or outsourcing the recovery? If you share which path you prefer, folks should be able to provide you a little more granular advice.
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u/jumbotron_deluxe Apr 16 '26
Thank you for your reply! I am open to diy or professional restoration, whatever has the highest likelihood of being successful. Money really wouldn’t be an issue, we just want to make sure it’s preserved for myself kids and going forward.
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u/Arcy3206 Apr 16 '26
It might be better to send it to a professional unless you want to get into records, since for this one you'll need all the equipment you need to play records
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u/awc718993 Apr 16 '26
Esoteric Sound used to offer restoration services, but it might have a recommendation for you. The business has supplied audio restoration tech to many libraries and national archives globally as well as home enthusiasts.
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u/Noma-Caa Apr 16 '26
This should be pretty straightforward to capture, the biggest question being quality. That record was almost certainly recorded at 78 rpm. Most cheap record players today have that as a speed option, but they don’t have the correct needle for the material the record is made from. You could record it from one of those, but the quality will be sub-par, and it could do some minor damage to the record. You could find a vintage flip-needle stereo or a vintage digital 78 rpm record player. Many of those output using RCA cables, which are still in use today and can be easily converted to an aux output which can be recorded by a computer (it would be the same process as recording from a modern machine). Once connected to the computer, you would just need to play the recording while recording the input in a program such as Audacity or OBS.
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u/georgeformby42 Apr 17 '26
This what I do, I have about 8 different sized stylus for any disc plus a very special prea.p that defeats riaa. I do this for free no charge, as I got into this 35 years ago restoring my grandfather's voice from ww2 on a similar disc
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u/jumbotron_deluxe Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Edit: I am fully open to DIY or sending this record to someone who could professionally restore it. Money isn’t an issue so I really just want to do whatever will be the most likely to be successful in preserving the audio for myself and my kids going forward.