Touch the Future Now at Staples
Community Newsletter: Q&A: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital
- 10/19/06 5:01 PM
Great phono Preamp
by mgvh - 10/20/06 7:19 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
No one here appears yet to have mentioned one of the simplest ways for getting phono output to the computer, and that is the DAK Preamp/Mixer.
http://www.dak.com/reviews/2020story.cfm
(You'll have to overlook the 'busy' page, but yes, this is the same DAK many of us gadget types remember from back in the 70s.)
For $75 you get all the cables you need and a wonderful preamp/mixer. The sound quality is really excellent, and I have used it for both phono and tape input. It also comes with very useable software to edit the WAV files, do the tagging, edit out LP noise, and convert to MP3.
USB Turntable, the way to go!
by Inspector Frost - 10/20/06 7:22 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
While Barry's article is correct and very well stated, there is a little more you may benefit from knowing.
I have the USB Turnatble built by ION and marketed by Numark (a very respected brand of DJ turntables). You actually gain much more speed using this type of system. It is not 20 minutes a song, rather about 30 minutes per side of an LP record from start to finish!
The USB-TT is selectable from 33 1/3 to 45 speed wise and also has a +/- 10% slider. The package comes with Audacity, which is a very basic and simple to use utility. With a free plug in, you can capture in WAV, and export to MP3.. but more on that later.
The main feature of Audacity is the ability to time shift the file with zero quality loss. In other words, you can record a 33 LP album at 45 rpm speed plus the added 10% from the slider. That comes to a 35.9% speed gain over direct play at 33 rpm. That may not sound like a lot, but it is when you have 100+ albums or more to do. This will also allow you to record 78s and adjust those back to original track speed as well. I don't have any, so I haven't tried 78s, but I wouldn't expect any issues.
The other major help Audacity provides is the labeling of tracks inside the tool. You take 1 whole side of an album, mark the points where songs start with a label name and hit Multiple Export. It takes the WAV file, breaks it at each label into an individual file and uses the lable name to name the file. It also allows you to add meta data at the time of export. The free plug in allows export to MP3 format. Recording is done at 44.1kHz and output is 128Kbs, with very acceptable results (understanding this is coming from a record -> not exactly the best medium to start with).
Audacity also has a noise filter that allow you to take a snippet of record hiss (like before the track starts) and then apply the filter to the entire track. This causes a minimal loss of original signal, but removes a surprising amount of hiss. The finished track sounds better than the original played on the record player, by FAR.
One thing effects your sound quality more than anything else -> The condition of the record. Old records your kids have used as Frisbees will sound bad with many pops and noise. Mint condition records have very little negative noise (and Audacity will remove that).
This will not net you CD quality sound (nothing short of re-mastering the originals in a studio will do that!), but it will allow you to take out of print 33 1/3, 45, and 78 records and convert them to digital files (and store those bulky records!). The tracks also do have that homely and familiar tone about them that completely digital recordings sometimes lack. Point is -> they will still Feel like your old records and give you that warm fuzzy when you listen to them.
James, Dallas TX
But what about the cons?...
by Inspector Frost - 10/20/06 8:35 AM In reply to: USB Turntable, the way to go! by Inspector FrostOh, I forgot to add... The USB-TT and Audacity is a light load on the PC, more or less. I use a 1.8ghz Athlon, 1gb ram, Game Theater XP sound card w/ 2 dvd/rw drives & 2 250gb hard drives running Windows XP Media Center Edition.
The file space of the raw file is huge (I never save them), but MP3s are not too bad. 200 LP albums will roughly fit on about 80gb worth of space. It's about 3mb to 4mb a song, give or take.
As far as doing long tracks and breaking them up, the most I have continuously recorded is 2 LP albums (both sides). Here is the drawback-> Audacity must "re-render" the track after the speed conversion, and re-render it again after the noise removal. It then does it a third time upon export to convert to MP3 using the Lame codec and break the track into individual songs. Each render takes about 2 minutes for 1 LP's worth of track time. This is entirely PROCESSSOR dependant. Faster machines will do this much quicker. I find that 1 LP (both sides) is just about the right balance between convenience and render time. But my entire process is still only 30 min per LP album if you don't waste any time.
Also with the USB turnable, only USB to the computer is required. There are no audio connections or cables needed, however they are available on the unit, so you can use it as a regular turntable for you home entertainment system. An A/C cord for the the turntable is present, but the audio cable headaches are gone, and there is no need for expensive Monster Cables, etc. (Which BTW I am a BIG fan of in most cases).
One potential drawbacks - This is a DJ style turntable, it doesn't have any auto-arm movement or auto-stop when it reaches the end of the LP side. Personally I don't mind this, but it does mean that you shouldn't leave the turntable unattended or if you forget, it will just keep going, and going, and going....
Also, it doesn't have a cover or dust shield, which is common for DJ style turntables. Most are kept in ATA style professional music cases. As for mine, I'll spend $5 at Wal-Mart for some black vinal material and elastic and have the wife sew a cover for it.
J
Audacity
by edge_bit - 10/20/06 7:26 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Audacity is a much better tool for cropping and fixing your vynil to digital recordings.
The noise removal tool, if used properly, can significantly reduce noise without totally destroying the original sound wave.
How you do this is by selecing a section of silence in the sound track where there is some noise you want to remove. Then you open Audacity's built in filter for noise removal, and get a noise sample.
After getting the noise sample, select the whole sound file and open the noise removal filter again. This time set the slider on the noise removal all the way to the left and listen to a preview. If there is still too much noise step it up one setting at a time and listen. You don't want to remove too much from the sound wave.
Hopefully if it wasn't really that noisy in the first place, you won't be able to tell much of a difference between the original sound wave and the new one other than the missing noise.
To save a WAV, MP3 or other playable format you'll need to "Export"... Audacity saves in a proprietary format.
Cheers
vinyl to digital - 78s
by cardmaster53 - 10/20/06 7:31 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My turntable only does 45rpm and 33 1/3rpm. The free program Audacity has a speed conversion feature. This allows you to record old 78s at 45rpm and then speed it up to sound right. I had purchased a Magix brand program to do this but it did not have the range necessary (73.333%), but it did other audio processing capabilities.
Audacity is available for WIndows, Macs, and Linux computers.
Sound cards are the essential part.
by mjd420nova - 10/20/06 7:35 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You can use just about any machine, as long as it has a sound card and a piece of recording software. Be sure to use the GOLD type of cables to connect everything, you don't want to induce any static or hum. A good source, be it cassette, reel to reel, eight track, vinyl or CD needs to be fed into a good amplifier, and the line output of that goes into the line input of the sound card. Decide on a name for the directory to store the files, and make a few samples to be sure that path is okay and you can find them later when you want to listen or record to CD's. The PCM format is essential, and files should be saved in the .WAV format. Depending on the sound card, the music should be at least 16 but, with at least 44 Khz response for stereo. Check the inside of the computer to be sure that the audio cables to and from the sound card and CD burner are routed away from and power cables and if HUM is present, they may need to be wrapped in foil and grounded to eliminate any noise induction. Sixteen bit recordings will take up about 10 Mb for every one minute of recording. A good turntable, cartridge and needle are essential for vinyl, and other playback devices should have clean playback heads. They quality is then dependent upon the condition of the media and how they were stored. Vinyl, cassette, eight and reel to reel are subject to warping, and tape media will begin to shed oxide over time, so be sure to keep the heads clean and the rubber wheels free of any buils up that may occur. Good luck.
Good answer
by jkra32 - 10/20/06 7:38 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Barry W of North Canton Ohio has given some sage advice. You mentioned that you have an 80G hard drive. Careful, your intended project will fill that puppy right up. May I suggest the purchase of an external HD with at least a three digit Gig capacity. Mine is 300G and I use exclusively for audio projects, backing off material to DVDs on a regular basis.
I use an application named LP Recorder to capture vinyl and cassette material, converting it into WAV format.
Also, an application name EAC (Exact Audio Capture), used to rip CDs, will take wav files and convert them to MP3 format. EAC works well with the mentioned Lame MP3 codec. EAC has built in utilities to handle finding and fixing bad input and can vary the quality (compression)of the MP3 encoding.
Good luck.
10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital
by askehan - 10/20/06 7:40 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Converting LPs to vinyl is a fun trip down memory lane, but also a time-consuming process.
If you are not confortable with gathering up the hardware and software yourself, you can get a "kit" from DAK industries (DAK.com) I purchased one of their systems last winter and am very satisfied with the system and the tech support (Drew). I purchased the system with the Turntable, amplifier, Audio-Capture Software & hiss-pop removal software.
They also sell just the components you need (i.e. you already have a turntable). Note- I have no affiliation with the company & am just a happy customer.
The software includes the audio capture and track-segregation functions. They sell a separate SW if you need to do Hiss&Pop removal (This works very well!). The "Wave Editor Pro" software shows the recorded wave graphic and lets you cut out sections of the recording you don't want (e.g. 5 minutes of silence when you forgot to go turn off the turntable recording ;-))
Finally, you can save the file as WAV or MP3. You will need another SW (like Roxio, etc) to convert and save the WAV/MP3 files to the CD format.
I have really enjoyed converting and listening to all my old albums, especially the one I know will never be on CD (e.g. 1954 recording of Dixeland Jazz quartet)
Good luck with your converting
Sincerely,
AAS
converting old vinyl to digital
by stickmann100 - 10/20/06 7:52 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
In your answer to the question of the week, I did whst you first suggested. I got a mailing from Columbia House or some other record club, where for .01 cent you get 25 free CD's, most of which are old stuff, and found Cd versions of most of my vinyl collection,(which was about 300 albums from the 60's and 70's)and that was that! The other way, while challenging, at best, seems to me to be a very long and difficult operation. But that's just me, I am lazy by nature. Very well written and comprhensive though, very helpful!!!
Adding to a really good response
by slyde1 - 10/20/06 7:58 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Adding to a great set of instructions, I would add that after fighting with the Roxio sound editor, I found the "Insert track marker" under tools to be invaluable. It saves a lot of time as you can record the source without monitoring it and come back later looking at the occilliscopic display to break and name the tracks very quickly while you edit the leadin/out and do the conversions all at once. I also would suggest using a ceramic cartridge turntable directly into your sound card,unless you are a true audiophile.
I've had a lot of fun doing conversions of unavailable tape and vinyl.
Good Luck.
Converting LP's to CD's
by CWPete - 10/20/06 8:08 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Check out this website (http://www.polderbits.com/) for software that is available for converting LP's, singles, and cassetes to CD's. It appears that this software has a much simpler way of coverting than the way stated in the CNet article.
My 2 cents worth.
http://www.polderbits.com/
converting vinyl records
by charlieh44 - 10/20/06 8:29 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The process is simple. Play your LPs on a turn table. From the turn table out connection, run a compatible line that can be purchased at most electronic stores. Plug the cord jack into the line in connection at the back of the computer. I've found it extremely easy to use a program called "Audacity" which free from Open Source. Start the LP, punch "record" on Audacity. You can input the songs one by one and save them. Then, I use Windows media player which can read the Audacity Wave files to convert the music to a CD which can be played by any CD player. I have found, however, that the more expensive CDs sometimes won't play on an older CD player.
Follow these steps and the process will be easy unless you want to use expensive programs that let you do more.
converting old vynil records to dics
by commander - 10/20/06 8:29 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Ferdi W;
A great article on one of my favourite hobbies;
Time is not a problem;...I am a senior and the hobby is a wonderful relaxer as well as a memory starter.
Herb Hall Canada
audio editing programs
by btcarnovale - 10/20/06 9:01 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've been done conversions for a while.
Two programs I have found very useful are Goldwave www.goldwave.com and Wave Corrector www.wavecor.co.uk.
Neither of them are free, but you can download demo free demo versions of both of them.
Goldwave has a very nice user interface and an extensive set of capabilities. I have found it very useful when manually editing out pops/clicks.
Wave Corrector is only slightly better than Goldwave at doing automatic repairs of pops/clicks. But it does generate a time tagged list of all of the pops/clicks in a file - a feature Goldwave lacks.
I generally use Wave Corrector to find the precise spot of a pop/click and Goldwave to do the editing if I decide to correct it. NOTE: Many of the artifacts identified by Wave Corrector as pops/clicks are really just music, so simply using the automatically generated corrections may slightly degrade the music.
Both are about $50 US. If you were only going to get one, I'd get Goldwave. I find both very useful though.
10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital
by shkarst - 10/20/06 9:02 AM In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I tend to agree with the last poster. I'd go with the audio component route, which you must still have, if you are running a turntable. A couple or two Christmas seasons ago, I bought myself a stand alone, Sony Audio CD recorder, since I wanted to retire my 30+ year Akai GX-230D open reel machine, from any further recording. Parts and supplies are becoming way to difficult to get.
Anyway, this has sort of become an annual Winter project, to convert any real vinyl keepers to CD. OR when I purchase a new vinyl (Which I do through catalog sales), and it a a particular keeper, especially a multi LP set, I will put that on CD.
I use a three step process to insure the best recording possible: 1) I use my ZeroStat gun, that I bought years ago to zap all static, 2) Then I give it a damp cleaning with my Discwasher brush/Fluid (Which I still have), Then I run over it with my Audioquest brush. Finally ready to record. Now you will still get that occasional/inevitable pop or tick. Just ignore those. Because IMHO, the analog sound of those LPs is much better and will be conveyed onto that CD. You'll hear bass, the sound of that kick drum, etc. on your home made CDs, like you have never heard on a mass produced one.
Just remember this, your PC, no matter how good it is, is not an audio device. It was never designed as one. All the parts are too close, the power supply, etc. I occasionally feed the audio of my PC over to my home theatre speaker amp/receiver, and have to tolerate the slight hum, that I have tried everything to eliminate. I just have to conclude that the power supply/transformer is just to close to everything else in my PC, and since not designed as an audio component is probably not properly shielded.
Good luck and happy recording.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
