Thread: recording your old vinyls

I was going to delete the dupes, but I don't think I will Nn... Nn... Nn... now




Having just bought myself the 30 gb Toshiba player, I too, am very interested in 'backing up' my cassettes and LPs as well.

Just out of interest, earlier this week in the junk mail, I saw a record player that included a cd/dvd burner in the unit, about $350.


cheers
Wendy

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

No I think the record is scratched.

ROFLMAO. Very appropiate.

Originally Posted by rufflyrustic

Just out of interest, earlier this week in the junk mail, I saw a record player that included a cd/dvd burner in the unit, about $350.

Yes Wendy I have just been to Kmart looking for one like Gra has with no luck. Tandy did have two. First one a TEAK for $500 and a smaller BUSH brand $250.00 a new item.

I think the smaller one may be better as far as having Usb and other connectivity to your computer so you can edit. But if you have that why do you need the built in CD burner?

I think I would rather get a good quality turntable and work straight to the computer.

The "Project Debut 111" turntables are the go. Complete with Ortofon cartrige they are around $350 but for an extra few hundred the same turntable has an electronic speed dial and built in phono stage so you can plug it straight into your computer or DVD recorder and it will also play 78`s using a different stylus.

Or look in the trading post for a second hand Rega 2 or 3 even the NAD 533 is based on the Rega 2 is a cracker of a turntable.

But spend as much as you can afford on the cartrige.

And a good scrub of your vinyl in the sink with some luke warm water and dishwashing detergent also works wonders, and if you want to get carried away build a little vacuum cleaner.

Nothing beats the magic of analogue

Mine are all done used SoundForge ver 4.5 excelent easy to use http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/...orgefamily.asp got to upgrade one day

and Soundlabs http://www.soundlabs.com/ this is or was top line studio stuff when I used it 3-4 years ago still have it thanks to mate in industry.
The Ultimate is Wavelab http://www.steinberg.net/24_1.html EDITED forgot this
Helped set up his home studio system and then teach him how to use the software he is older and not computer literate but been in the industry since he was 17.

Mostly done to CD as CDB and greated albums of MP3's for car, but have it all backed up on a DVD or two.

Biggest thing you'll need is patience and decent RCA cabes etc and clean needle.
MP3 is compressed and you can if recording straight to this format loose quality.
I recorded into wav there are other formats better for transfer to CDB.

Any questions gladly help

Originally Posted by wheelinround

.

Any questions gladly help

Um OK... what is CDB?

Thanks for the head up re turntables Lig, I was wandering about that. As I don't really want to have a turntable in the lounge room - having to flip a record is about as appealing as changing TV channels without a remote - I dont want to go through the whole process only to have cr&ppy sounding recordings so I want to spend a bit but not too much.

I just remember what it was like in the 70's "My turntable has a floating ceramic head mounted on a titanium arm and the diamond needle is hand polished in a tiny provence near Montenegro etc etc.

Guess I can always sell it on Epay once I'm finished

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Um OK... what is CDB?
CDB is just the format that CD's are recorded as quality of Hz etc

I just remember what it was like in the 70's "My turntable has a floating ceramic head mounted on a titanium arm and the diamond needle is hand polished in a tiny provence near Montenegro etc etc.

Guess I can always sell it on Epay once I'm finished

Sounds like you had quality TT BT mate had one similar gave it to some woman as a lazy susan for dinning table.
Tricky Diky has a couple of good TT also one is Ministry Of Sound about $150.

The best program that I have found for recording tape or vinyl to cd was one I bought from Hardly Normal a couple of years ago.
They do have a website somewhere, the program that I use is called Magix Audio Cleaning Lab.
It has a preset for removing crackle from vinyl, that you can adjust the sensitivity on, and you can even record the 'hiss' between the songs, and take that exact noise out from the whole record.

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Sounds like you had quality TT BT mate had one similar gave it to some woman as a lazy susan for dinning table.
Tricky Diky has a couple of good TT also one is Ministry Of Sound about $150.

Yes I bought it cheap off a junky (my boss at the time) who had just gotten busted and had to leave in a hurry. It served me very well but eventually I could no longer get needles for it so it became landfill.

Tam, I wonder if there is any software for making someone like Joanna Newsom sound good? ..Nah technology isn't that advanced

Got to thinking and thought I'd put some hassles I have had not just with my Creative sound Card setup but also with mates Studio system.
Mind you we all have been able to do this since Windows 3.1
http://www.pcabusers.net/vinyllp/vinyllp.htm

It doesn't matter how god your record player is it can still have rumble transfer from the player to the recording.

Sound Cards play a big part of course the best quality can result in the best recording but not always. Quality can be attributed to Bit Rate of your soundcard, speed of your computers processor and memory. These dictate if you can or have to record ONE Track at a time or the WHOLE album and then edit split etc.

Many sound cards have just one input RCA or mini jack for the mic and thats how you have to record which means your recording "What You Hear" which means it can pick up any sounds such as windos ding's etc, static, rumble, pop's, click's, two way radio, mobile phone spalter. These I have had trouble with on mates system also.

Cables quality is the next thing but with cables if they are even top line they too can have their defects due to fine strands and if using Optic Fibre to transfer the slightest break can render distortion.

Those recording anything prior Stereo its all Mono and can be recorded either mono or stereo or converted later depending on software.
Most players these days have stereo RCA plugs you may need a conversion plug to single RCA or to mini jack to attach to sound card.

I have the old Creative with front mount additional plug in's all stereo.
Found this it may help answer some questions http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm

Happy recording you'll be surprised at the time it takes and hours you'll enjoy with those old Vynals.

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Happy recording you'll be surprised at the time it takes and hours you'll enjoy with those old Vynals.

Somehow I don't think I'm going to be pleasantly surprised by the time it will take.

I am however looking forward to hearing them again it must be getting close to 10 years. I'm lucky that when I built my office that I had miles of soundproofing that I packed (stuffed) into the walls and ceiling so I can turn up the volumn and enjoy myself without scareing the neighbours

Sorry but :

The dynamic range on an LP is about 45db and on a CD around 100 db

Noise level on a LP is about -46db and -100db on an LP

Frequency response is about 45hz to 20khz on a LP and 10hz - 45khz on a CD

That warm sound on a LP is the lack of upper end harmonics.

CDs need a better quality amp due to the greater dynamic range otherwise distortion will occur on the higher transients.

Sorry, yes dynamic range was the wrong term. On paper, CD's should sound better, shouldn't they? Wonder why they don't.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make was that there is a noticeable difference in sound between an LP and an MP3. When I first started listening to MP3s on my PC instead of CDs, I hated it. The high end sounds very tinny to me. So I reckon recording straight to MP3 for posterity is not the best approach.

SilentC
Agree 100%. MP3 is a lossy compression system like JPG is for pix.

CD sound sounds lower quality than records in most cases due to the poor response of the amplifier.

For a record a dynamic range of 40db with low distortion is all that is required.

For a CD you need 100db which means the amp is going to cost a LOT more for good results.
Problem is that the amps supplied do not have the dynamic capability of the CD so distortion occurs on the higher transients.
This sounds harsh and tinny to the ear.

ie Blame the amp not the CD.