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In Reply to: RE: Digitizing my 500 albums posted by LtMandella on February 11, 2021 at 11:31:47
I own and operate an audio/video transfer service and have done hundreds of jobs for customers, every audio format imaginable, including wire recordings! I also produced over 500 radio shows for a local college station, and most of the material used were WAV files, transfers of my 78/45/33 records and tapes.
I would not recommend transferring 500 albums to Reel To Reel tape. No advantage over digital transfers IMO, other than a "WOW" factor watching big reels of tape spin. Besides, it doesn't solve your storage problem.
For front end, I'm using quartz-locked direct drive Technics turntables and an array of over a dozen cartridges. The output goes into a KAB Souvenir EQS MK12 variable EQ phono preamp. From there, into a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD and that is in turn connected to my PC.
I use Goldwave audio editing software on the PC, and all transfers are 16/44.1 as WAV files. Some 'golden ears" claim they can hear the difference with higher resolution. I've done blind A/B tests with volunteers, they can't hear the difference nor can I.
I highly recommend "Click Repair" software. It can easily take a transfer of a lesser condition record with clicks, pops, crackle, etc... and dramatically improve the sound of the WAV file.
MY experience is that a high quality digital transfer sounds exactly the same as actual vinyl playback, based on what I hear and having done A/B testing with volunteers.
It goes without saying that garbage in = garbage out. It is critical that you use a turntable with dead accurate speed (unless you prefer an off speed "lively" sound), properly aligned cartridge, clean stylus, and clean records.
Make sure all the cables are properly routed. Take every step to eliminate ground loop hums. I'd also recommend testing your play area and how certain factors may or may not impact on recording quality. Test with dustcover open and closed. Test recordings done at no volume versus medium and high volume. You want to find potential feedback and distortion and eliminate it before beginning a big transfer project.
Good luck with the project!
Follow Ups:
I use a record doctor vacuum. Takes about 4 minutes for both sides of an LP.
I will be using a Music Hall MMF 7.1 table, Grado cartridge.
re. sampling rate. Quality of recording/mastering trumps sampling rate. I marginal recording/mastering cannot be improved by higher sample rate, but given good recording and mastering, 24x96 or more beats 16x44.1 in my experience. I will be using a KORG MR-1 recording at 24x96 at least. Might as well since the unit can record up to 24x192 or DSD 64 if I want.
I did one interesting test years ago when experimenting with dubbing LPs to reel-to-reel.
I was using a high end SS control preamp at the time. Considered one of the best pro units. I dropped the needle on the LP, started the reel to reel recording, and started spinning the LP.
After a few seconds to allow the needle to get into the music grooves, I pulled the plug ONLY on the turntable - I left everything else powered up AND the reel to reel still recording.
Then I walked around the room, clapping, speaking softly and loudly, shouting, singing, etc., while the reel to reel was still recording but the needle was sitting motionless in the record groove.
Stopped recording, then rewind, and started tape playback.
Guess what? Except for the normal level speech, I could hear almost every noise I had made while the needle was sitting dead still in the groove!
Shouting, clapping, singing, could hear it all!
Turntable was a Music Hall MMF 7.1 with Grado cartridge.
Pretty interesting experiment. Talk about microphonics. So now I know: Headphones only for monitoring when recording LPs.
And for normal listening with turntable in same room as speakers, there is likely to be audible microphonics...
If art interprets our dreams, the computer executes them in the guise of programs!
I made recordings at 24/96 using an Alesis Masterlink and then I looked at them through a spectrum analyzer in Sound Forge software. In these first tests I didn't make any noise during the experiment because I just wanted to look at the noise floor of my phono system. Here are the graphs I made from the spectrum analyzer.
Noise Floor with Tonearm in Arm Rest
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Noise Floor with Stylus Resting On A Stationary Record
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Noise Floor of Both Superimposed On Each Other
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Reference Level: 3.54-cm/s RMS Velocity (Diagonal) Right Channel
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Noise Floor: All 3 Superimposed On Each Other
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I also did the same experiment you did by playing loud music from my CD player while my stylus was resting on a stationary record. Here are the spectrum analyzer graphs of this test.
Arm Down No Music Playing
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Arm Down Music Playing
interesting ... you actually created a 'pressure zone microphone' effect
Les Paul's early experiments amplifying guitars used needle/cartridges too
recording / transferring signals with mics sans 'in the air' monitors is really best practice as well
with regards,
This is not the same as a pressure zone microphone, which consists of an ordinary microphone located very close to a flat surface. There's nothing touching the flat surface in a pressure zone microphone. Sound waves reflect off the flat surface into the microphone's diaphragm.
I know ... that's why I said 'effect' despite being inaccurate as hell
you're right of course, the LP actually functioned as a diaphragm, the needle as the element ... far more technically accurate, my bad
of course PZM's rely on piezoelectric excitation to work yet his LP was responding to sound pressure and focusing it in [towards?] a narrow gap
anyway, glad that's cleared up thanks!
regards,
Hmm, didn't some guy named Edison fool around with an audio recording device that also used a needle?
If art interprets our dreams, the computer executes them in the guise of programs!
I think that was Lenny Bruce
regards,
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