A free tool that lifts the dust off old recordings. Clicks, crackle, hiss, hum — all gone. The music underneath stays right where it was.
For years, anyone restoring old 78s leaned on one piece of software — ClickRepair, written by a single mathematician named Brian Davies, and quietly loved by the whole record-collecting community.
ClickRepair is no longer around, and nothing free really took its place. PD Cleaner is here to fill that gap, built for exactly this: public-domain recordings from before 1926, the crackle and hiss of discs cut back when the world was still learning how to record sound at all.
It's free and open source, and it stands on the shoulders of ClickRepair. Thank you, Brian.
Broadway Dance Orchestra · Edison · a Walter Donaldson song · transfer from the Great 78 Project
A real shellac transfer. Press play, then drag the line across to fade between the original and what PD Cleaner does to it.
Drop in a file and it listens. It works out the era, the noise, the clicks. Then you ride the Clean dial until it sounds right. No reading required. The depth is all in there if you want it, but you never have to touch it.
Each era was recorded differently, so each gets its own voicing: the right bandwidth, the right tone. Or flatten it to a faithful, uncoloured transfer in one move.
Watch the noise peel away in real time on a glowing analyzer: curve, waterfall, or both. See exactly what you're hearing.
Solo just the clicks, just the crackle, or just the noise it's taking out, so you trust every decision.
Point it at a stack of records and walk away. One preset, the whole collection, with archival output. (Standalone only.)
WAV, FLAC, AIFF, Ogg, MP3 and Opus all built in. AAC and more via a free optional add-on. Full 24-bit archival exports that never overwrite your original.
Drop a file straight onto it; drag the restored take back into Explorer or your DAW timeline. No save-dialog dance.
The same instrument as a VST3 insert in your DAW or a standalone you can open on its own. Identical, either way.
Windows, 64-bit. No account, no trial, no catch. It's released under the AGPLv3, with the source right there if you're curious. Not sure which to grab? The installer is the easy choice.
The app and the VST3 plugin, dropped into the right places for you. Start-menu shortcut and a clean uninstaller. Best for most people.
Download installerNo installation. One file, just run it. The standalone app on its own. Great for a USB stick or a locked-down PC.
Download portableJust the plugin, zipped. For DAW users who'd rather drop the .vst3 into their plugins folder by hand.
Download VST3Unsigned build, so on the first run Windows may warn "unknown publisher"; just click More info → Run anyway. · View the source on GitHub
Made by one person who likes old records.
Questions, bugs or ideas? Come say hi on Discord.