Nicholas Bergh

Nicholas Bergh has been working in the field of sound recording and restoration for nearly 30 years. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA where he specialized in the history of recording technology and sound archiving. During this time, he was also working as a sound restoration engineer and was fortunate to be mentored by engineers who worked in the earliest decades of optical sound, disc, and magnetic technologies.

In 2003, Nicholas started Endpoint Audio Labs in order to focus on improving the quality of sound transfers before restoration. Endpoint has become known for both unique transfer technologies as well as using historical research to inform transfer and restoration decisions.

Professional works
Nicholas has been chosen to preserve some of the most precious studio and public archive sound elements in the world. These range from some of the first sound recordings of the 1880s to blockbuster films such as TITANIC (1997). He has preserved hundreds of classic films including many severely deteriorating 70mm titles such as OKLAHOMA! (1995), MY FAIR LADY (1964), and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965). Important cultural projects include Native American wax cylinders, WWII Marine combat wire recordings, and the original lacquer discs of the Hindenburg crash. He also provides sound supervision and sound mixing to modern film documentaries that are using historical material. Nicholas collaborated with director Bernard MacMahon on the award-winning series AMERICAN EPIC (2017), which helped showcase the role of early sound technology in understanding early blues and country recordings.

In recent years, Nicholas has been helping other institutions improve preservation sound quality by developing a variety of unique archival audio equipment. This equipment is now being used at some of the most demanding archives around the world including the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

Memberships and Honors
Nicholas is a member of the Film Academy's Production and Technology Branch, and is active in both the Academy’s Digital Preservation initiatives, as well as the Sci-Tech Council Historical Subcommittee. He is also active in the archival technical committees of AES, ARSC, and IASA. Nicholas has presented a variety of papers on subjects including the birth of electrical recording, multi-track optical recording in film, the evolution of stereo sound in film, and the technical history of RCA/Victor studios.