Yes, McG. Even the most pristine of shellac 78s has plenty of hiss -- it's due to the structure of the material. Its an astonishing fact, that I only discovered in the last couple of years, that the run-in groove was intended to wear down the steel needle to a "neck-and-shouders" profile suitable for playing the recorded length of the groove. This was made possible by embedding hard particles in a soft matrix. Once the soft smooth surface has worn away, you have introduced a white noise to the signal.

But once the disc is out of the sleeve, the rice crispies begin to appear. Any knock or bump while it's playing can cause the needle to jump -- and remember the soundbox and arm weigh several ounces, and the pressure on the needle's point is way up in the cwts/in²: more than enough to do damage.

I have to supress the hiss as far as is practical: too much, and a sort of burbling appears. I also have to remove the clicks and pops. I could do it by hand, but it would take forever just to do one side; although I may do a minute or so to see how good I can get it. Maybe when I retire...? Meanwhile, I'll keep the dirty recordings for when the software improves.

If anyone's interested, I can do occasional updates on my progress, and pass on any clever tricks I may think of.

Steve