In 1983 the British Library National Sound Archive agreed to fund a research project that would lead to the creation of the earliest PC-based audio restoration systems. Two years later, following a brief collaboration with Neve Electronics (which led directly to the earliest Neve DSP mixing desks), the Archive approached the Engineering Department at Cambridge University, offering to fund a Doctorate research project in digital audio restoration. It was the ground-breaking work in this project that, in 1987, led to the announcement of the prototype CEDAR computer. Because of the Archive's involvement this system incorporated a set of algorithms that were most suitable for restoring damaged recordings stored on decaying media such as wax, shellac, and celluloid.
The prototype was demonstrated successfully at the 1987 European AES Convention, but it was a feature on the BBC TV's "Tomorrow's World" programme that generated the greatest interest and helped to secure funding for the development of a commercially viable system.
Almost from the outset, all CEDAR processes operated in real time, providing huge advantages over methods that required the loading of hard disks followed by off-line processing. One of these advantages was the ability to 'ride' the controls, adapting the processes for varying noises within the recording... clearly impossible in an off-line process. This made CEDAR uniquely suitable for restoring tapes and soundtracks as well as 78s and cylinders.
In June 1990, the first commercial CEDAR Systems incorporated dual floating-point AT&T DSPs hosted within a conventional PC. These were used to clean up thousands of old recordings for release on CD, plus many vintage movies and TV series for broadcast. Soon adopted by broadcasters, national libraries, and archives, the early 16-bit CEDAR-2 System then spawned a range of 24-bit dedicated hardware processors and the 20-bit CEDAR-20 Production System.
The DC-1 Declicker (November 1992) and the CR-1 Decrackler (July 1993) were the first of our rackmount units (retrospectively named "Series 1" modules) but these were superseded in 1994 by SERIES 2, a range that included the AZ-1 Azimuth Corrector (February 1994), the latest incarnations of the DC-1 and CR-1 (August 1994), plus the DH-2 De-hisser (October 1994).
In May 1996 we introduced CEDAR for Windows, a PC-based restoration system that allowed users to cascade up to eight real-time processes within a single PC, or process up to sixteen tracks simultaneously. Nothing like this had ever been seen before, and CEDAR for Windows proved to be a major success, with users in all fields of professional audio.
A Macintosh equivalent appeared in September of that year, and the original CEDAR for Pro Tools (which was eventually discontinued in 2001) offered similar facilities with identical audio capabilities.
Later that year, CEDAR announced its first OEM Agreement with a Digital Audio Workstation manufacturer. Developed by CEDAR and Studio Audio and Video, SADiE DeNoise became the first CEDAR process to run on another company's hardware.
The next leap forward appeared in September 1997 when we launched Series X. This is a cost-effective range of rackmount units that embodies our most frequently used algorithms in compact 1U rackmount units, each with a user-interface of unrivalled elegance and simplicity. Although designed for heavy studio use, these units are equally at home in a domestic environment.
The company concentrated on fundamental audio research throughout 1998, and developed a number of algorithms that would (and will) lead to new and better products in 1999 and afterwards. However, the first of these appeared right at the end of the year when, in December 1998, we launched declick for SADiE. This revolutionary product was probably the world's first audio restoration system to offer no controls to the end-user... all processing decisions being made by the algorithm itself.
In March 1999, we released CEDAR for Windows 2, a much more powerful range of PC-based audio restoration products. With all the advantages of the original, this incorporated the latest algorithms, refined user interfaces, and more software processes than the earlier CEDAR for Windows system.
At the same time, we also released Series X+. A further development of the Series X range, these add Debuzzing and Azimuth Correction to our most popular range of products.
Then, in July 1999, Soundscape Digital Technology announced the availability of CEDAR Declick for its SSHDR-1 and R.Ed systems. This development - although now discontinued - offered world-class audio restoration to Soundscape's users and, at the same time, placed the CEDAR name in front of a new audience of audio engineers in smaller, and project studios. Further collaborations with AMS Neve and Merging Technologies soon followed.
Removing thumps has been a holy grail for the industry but, until September 1999, it has been extremely difficult (if not impossible) to do so. CEDAR dethump remedied this. Capable of removing thumps of up to 50,000 samples, it is yet another demonstration of CEDAR's ability to remain at the very forefront of audio technology.
Not all CEDAR processes are designed to restore vintage or damaged recordings. The DNS1000 (launched in September 2000) was a prime example of this, and is still used for reducing background noise in live and studio recordings. Particularly suitable for post and dubbing, the DNS1000 (discontinued in December 2007) also found favour in forensic audio applications.
CEDAR's next OEM product was among its most innovative. CEDAR Retouch (patent applied for) offers yet another huge leap forward in processing technology, allowing users to identify and manipulate sounds as varied as coughs, record scuffs, squeaky chairs, page turns, the creak of a piano pedal and even a car horn. Now in its fourth generation, its capabilities have been dramatically extended since it was announced in 2002, and it has become a standard tool in all manner of audio processing environments.
Whether you work in the audio industries, with film or video, or in forensic audio, CEDAR is the first name in audio restoration.
Note: Current CEDAR products not mentioned in this history include the flagship CEDAR Cambridge and CEDAR Cambridge Server systems, the DNS1500, the DNS2000 and DNS3000 dialogue noise suppressors, the CEDAR Duo restoration rackmounts, the CEDAR Tools suite of processes for Pro Tools, and the CEDAR ADA analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converter.