Audio Restoration FAQ: Your Most Common Questions Answered
Whether you're considering professional audio restoration for the first time or looking for clarity on what's achievable, here are honest answers to the questions we hear most often.
What is audio restoration?
Audio restoration is the process of improving the quality of audio recordings by removing or reducing noise, repairing damage, improving clarity, and correcting technical problems. It encompasses everything from removing background noise in a podcast recording to recovering speech from severely degraded historical tapes.
Modern audio restoration combines specialized software (primarily iZotope RX, the industry standard) with engineering expertise to achieve results that automated tools alone cannot.
What types of audio problems can be fixed?
Commonly fixed:
- Background noise (HVAC, traffic, ambient room noise)
- Tape hiss and analog recording noise
- Electrical hum and buzz (50/60 Hz interference)
- Clicks and pops (vinyl surface noise, digital artifacts)
- Muffled or unclear audio
- Echo and room reverb
- Clipping and distortion (mild to moderate)
- Wind noise in outdoor recordings
- Low volume / quiet recordings
- Inconsistent levels between speakers
Partially improvable:
- Heavy background voices or crowd noise
- Severe room reverb
- Moderate-to-heavy clipping
- Complex multiple-noise-type problems
Not fixable:
- Speech completely buried under noise louder than the voice
- Severely clipped audio where waveform is entirely flat for extended periods
- Missing audio (blank sections that recorded nothing)
- Content that was simply never captured
See our detailed article on what audio problems can and can't be fixed for comprehensive guidance.
How much does audio restoration cost?
Pricing varies based on complexity and length:
- Simple noise reduction on a podcast episode: $30-80
- Complex restoration of a severely damaged recording: $80-200+
- Large archive projects: Priced per project based on scope
WefixSound offers a free 60-second restoration sample before any payment is required. You pay only after seeing the results on your specific recording.
How long does audio restoration take?
At WefixSound:
- Free 60-second sample: Within 24 hours
- Standard projects (under 30 minutes): 24-48 hours
- Longer projects: 48-72 hours
See our turnaround time guide for more detail.
What audio format should I send?
Send the highest quality format you have:
- Best: WAV or AIFF (uncompressed)
- Good: FLAC (lossless compressed)
- Acceptable: MP3 at 256+ kbps, AAC at 256+ kbps
Most importantly: send your original file. Don't convert to a lower quality format, and don't pre-process with noise reduction before sending.
See our complete audio format guide for restoration.
Will the restored audio sound completely clean and perfect?
Honest answer: results depend on the source. Most recordings with moderate noise problems can be restored to clearly professional, clean-sounding quality. Severely damaged recordings improve significantly but may retain some character of the original.
What we guarantee: the free sample shows you exactly what's achievable from your specific recording. There are no surprises — you hear the result before paying.
Can you restore very old recordings (cassettes, vinyl, reel-to-reel)?
Yes. Old analog format restoration is one of the most rewarding types of work. Vinyl surface noise, cassette tape hiss, and reel-to-reel degradation all respond well to professional processing.
Physical transfer quality matters — the better the playback equipment when the tape or record is digitized, the better the restoration result can be.
Can you improve phone recording quality?
Yes. Phone recordings have limited frequency bandwidth (typically 300 Hz - 3400 Hz for cell phone voice calls), compression artifacts, and often significant background noise. Professional restoration improves clarity and reduces noise within the bandwidth limitations of the original transmission.
Phone recordings can't become full-bandwidth audio — the high frequencies simply weren't transmitted. But intelligibility can be significantly improved.
Can you recover audio from a damaged or corrupted file?
File corruption is different from audio quality problems — it depends on the nature of the damage:
- Partial file corruption (damage to part of the file): Sometimes partial recovery is possible, depending on what was corrupted
- Codec corruption (playback problems but data intact): Often resolvable
- Complete file system damage: File recovery tools (outside audio restoration's scope) are needed first
- Physically damaged storage media: Data recovery specialists before audio restoration
Contact us to describe your specific situation and we'll advise on what's possible.
Is the free sample actually free? What are the terms?
WefixSound's free sample is genuinely free — no payment required to receive it. We process the first 60 seconds of your audio (or the most challenging section you specify) and deliver it within 24 hours.
If you're satisfied with the quality and want the full recording restored, you pay for the full project at that point. If the results don't meet your needs, there's no charge.
What types of clients do you work with regularly?
- Podcasters needing episode cleanup
- YouTube creators with location audio problems
- Corporate clients with meeting and webinar recordings
- Legal professionals with deposition and interview recordings
- Families preserving old home recordings
- Musicians with demo tape restoration needs
- Journalists and documentary makers with archival audio
- Churches and organizations with sermon archive restoration
- Oral history projects and academic archives
Do you sign NDAs or confidentiality agreements?
Yes. For legal, corporate, and sensitive personal recordings, we work under standard confidentiality terms. Contact us to discuss specific requirements.
What happens to my audio files after restoration?
Files are securely stored during the project and deleted after delivery per our privacy policy. We don't retain client audio for any purpose after the project is complete.
Can you restore audio that's already been compressed with noise reduction software?
Yes, but results are more limited. If previous noise reduction has already introduced processing artifacts (watery voices, metallic consonants), those artifacts are now part of the source material. Professional restoration can sometimes reduce these artifacts, but it's working against the effects of previous processing.
This is why we recommend sending the original unprocessed file rather than a pre-processed version. See our preparation guide.
Do you offer bulk pricing for multiple recordings?
Yes. Podcast producers, content creators, and organizations with multiple recordings can discuss volume pricing. Regular clients receive consistent prioritized turnaround.
Contact WefixSound to discuss your specific volume needs.
What software do you use?
Primarily iZotope RX Advanced (the professional industry standard), combined with manual spectral editing and other professional tools as needed for specific problems. The exact processing chain is tailored to each recording's specific issues.
Related Articles
- Audio Restoration Service: What to Expect
- Is Professional Audio Restoration Worth It?
- What Audio Problems Can and Can't Be Fixed
Have a question not answered here? Submit your recording to WefixSound — our free 60-second sample is the fastest way to get a concrete answer for your specific audio.