LP to CD

[Guest]

>>> turntable: as good as you can get. <<<

Amen to that - in computer terminology: put bullsh*t in, get bullsh*t out. It is always very important to obtain as clean as possible a signal from your vinyl set-up. Next in importance is obtaining a quality sound-card - I work with desktops so I don't know what's available for laptops but try to find one that samples in 20 or 24 bit word lengths (CD is 16 bit and 16 bit will do at a pinch but is not very good for editing purposes)

>>> As for software, I use CoolEdit (now Adobe Audition) <<<

I also use Cooledit to record and edit my files - and I have over the years written many handy litttle scripts for certain tricks and common procedures - mail me if interested.

>>> I'd advice you to not overdo the editing. Some loud clicks and pops that are messing with the enjoyment of the music you can remove manually and be happy. Automised declicking will in 99% of the cases be detrimental to your music signal. <<<

Also amen to that - I'm glad somebody else out there realizes this. It is of PARAMOUNT importance not to overdo the noise reduction and/or declicking. Try declicking a trombone note and see where you get!! I do this for a living and have to face a public and industry fed up with over processed vinyl transfers. I have to fight my corner to make them believe it's still possible to get 'musical' results from an old piece of vinyl. My philosophy is: If it ain't meant to be there, try to get rid of it but NEVER at the expense of what is supposed to be there. Hence automatic declicking is only ever used in hand selected portions of a waveform. Noise reduction or hiss removal is normally an absolute no-no because so much of the ambience lives in the hiss. There simply is NO automatic system available that has no effect on the 'music' and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

In my opinion clicks are more important - they really shouldn't be there and big ones have the ability to totally sidetrack your mind and ruin the 'mood' of a quiet or intricate passage of music - scratch that, all kinds of music are affected. One of the best things I have come up with is a system of locating and treating individual clicks at a speed high enough to enable me to manually declick a tune without growing a beard in the meantime. It's way too complicated to explain here but mail me and I'll probably post a link to some kind of instructions. Basically I am a click removal / suppression expert and anyone who wants to know how it's done is welcome to ask. colin@pushband.com or see_why_audio@yahoo.co.uk

PS I am going to try to start a thread on transferring vinyl to DVD-Audio in order to make your own High Definition DVD-Audio discs. I do this myself and let me tell you, the results are truly mind-blowing. Believe it or not it is also affordable.

[couw]

Welcome SeeWhy. I have recently been using this interesting method to speed up the process of getting rid of crackles. Thus far I have not encountered any detrimental effects like those you describe for trombone (or trumpet) parts. Maybe it's worthwhile to give it a try as well ?

[Geoff]

I use my "iRiver" mp3 player in conjunction with the "rec out" of my amplifier.

The "iRiver" directly encodes to mp3 at up to 320kbs, so while there is some quality loss, it's save the bother of converting your audio to mp3 (if you want to listen to your LPs on your mp3 player). Also some sound cards on computer drives (especially cheap integrated ones) are prone to background computer noises. The "iRiver" moves all background noise to produce a very clear sound. The only disadvantage is that you can't record to .wav, so if you are an audiophile and can't stand the sound of even high bit-rate mp3s it may not be the best option for you.

It works well for me at least! One of the many reasons why I prefer iRivers over iPods.

[Geoff]

Before I had my mp3 player I recorded my LPs to .Wav using "Audacity". Audacity is an open-source audio editor and recorder, so it's a free alternative to using professional software that often cost a great deal of money.

Link to Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[Stefan Wood]

I've been using a Goldring turntable (w/ Elektra cartridge), connected to a Parasound phono amp, connected to a Creek Audio integrated amp. Still using the Harmon Karden CDR2 recorder, which has served me well for 8 years -- was upgraded once. I would like to declick some of my recordings, however, I wish I had the time to do so. I have been very happy with the results, regardless. For Mac users, there is a program called Amadeus which is shareware ( I think $30) and is supposed to be a very good audio editor, declicker, etc.

[AllenLowe]

actually a lot of de-clicking can be done by hand, VERY CAREFULLY, by editing the wave form - I have yet to hear an inexpensive program that does this automatically without degredation of sound - I do think 16 bit diting can be done without any loss, if the converters are good, and I have done a number of CD projects for companies working from LP originals -

[AllenLowe]

by the way, COUW, bad idea on that method of de-crackling - listen through headphones and you'll likely hear some real distortion -

[couw]

I listen through headphones all of the time and it works fine for me. Just try it and don't use it if you don't like the result.

[AllenLowe]

you need better headphones - are you covering both ears?

[Guest]

Welcome SeeWhy. I have recently been using this interesting method to speed up the process of getting rid of crackles. Thus far I have not encountered any detrimental effects like those you describe for trombone (or trumpet) parts. Maybe it's worthwhile to give it a try as well ?

←

Sounds v-e-r-y interesting - I shall try it and see what happens. I'll be back with a verdict!

I'm naturally suspicious of 'miracle cures' though...

Actually I meant more that I have a system for locating clicks - manually - and treating them fairly accurately in pretty quick succession. Even a really screwed up LP can be more or less restored within a day (OK that's a long time for most but that's what I get paid for).

Because the mind can be easily fooled, the ears, eyes and hands need help to co-ordinate an attack on an unwanted click. I have developed a very personalized system of keyboard shortcuts, scripts and sheer guess work (yep - I don't know it all) all designed to get the best sonic results possible at the expense in most cases of time factors. Having said that I can do lot very quickly.

It's only occurred to me recently that I ought to do something about sharing this knowledge. This seems like a nice enough place to start - and I am really more about preserving the music than being a hifi nut.

So if anyone out there wants advice with Cooledit and restoration techniques - let me know. Maybe I'll upload a page somewhere to link to... are you wanting it?

Col AKA SeeWhyAudio