This may be a case of audio engineer vs. archivist. First, these sound samples are extracted from a digital surface map of the media without contact (wowza)!!! What you're hearing is an image analysis of the actual media, not the media itself. In terms of preservation of the actual carrier, that's a beautiful thing. Again, this is from an archival standpoint. Second, even if you were to digitally convert these recordings in an *archival* setting, you would want the archival copy to be flat and unprocessed, so the hissing would be inherent. Other *listening* or *exhibition* copies would be altered. But, yes, IRENE is still in its early stages, which excites me.
-- Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century. - Dame Edna Everage