|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
24.3.237.82
but I'm looking for the kinds of specifics I can't glean from the archives. You PC mavens out there, listen up.
I'd really prefer a stand-alone CD recorder, but they're so expensive. The alternative is, upgrading the PC I'm typing this on.
It's an old Compaq Presario 7470. AMD K6 processor, 20 gig hard drive, 192 mb of RAM. It has a CD burner, but I've never used it as the supplied software will only copy discs. You can't burn individual files.
I'm ready to upgrade the memory (I think 512 mb is the upper limit on this machine), the burner, and the hard drive.
How much HD space? What software? Is ripping LPs to CD even feasible on a machine this out of date?
_____________________________
Follow Ups:
I use a PC (HP 800mhz/128mb Ram/ 80gb HD / WinME) and a stand alone ADAC (M Audio- Audiophile USB).Software: Audacity it is FREE !!! It will support up to a 24/96 digital signal. You can cut, paste, adjust, tweak, eq to your heart's content. Downside is that the software can not automatically look for song breaks. You have to do that manually, however you can add cue marks to a continious file to create CD tracks.
My procedure is to record each LP side as 1 file, setting the level to peak at -3 to -5db. Save the file. Then come back later to process. Open up the saved file, highlight to create a track, then export as a saved track- with title. That's it.
Audacity does not work quickly, saving and exporting a large file can take several min on my computer. It also helps to reboot your computer before beginning a recording session as well as turn off any programs running in the backround.
Best,
I do this quite a bit, and using a stand alone makes it so very simple. Look for a good used one on Ebay to save money.I have an Onkyo, it has 96/24 A> D converters, and makes very nice sounding CDRs of LPs. I, like many of you, have a lot of material on LP that i do not have on CD, and I have been doing quite a bit of ripping to CD lately so that I can get that music (gasp) on my iPod for when I am travelling.
Rob
Anybody ever use it? Best Buy sells it for $300, but I've seen it cheaper than that.
The CDs are for work and car, primarily.
_____________________________
Bought mine at CircuitCity for $254 ( and a pile of 'CD-R Music' blanks cheap at, of all places, Sears! ).Was pleasently surprised by the quality of the recordings. A lot depends on your system and how clean the LP is but for the most part it does the job and then some. One caveat: you won't be able to copy the songs to your computer- they're protected after the finalizing stage. But what the hey, making the CD's this way is much faster and probably cheaper than going the computer route.
I prefer the Onkyo for rips, but I just happen to have both. I imagine the Sony would be fine for burning vinyl. You might just want to check what resolution A> D converters it has, but if it's for the car, etc., I bet it's fine.
Rob
You may well find some of the 1st generation Yamaha CDR-HD1000 going second-hand (largely due to limited HDD capacity).These units incorporate a CD-RW drive and an HDD (20GB on 1000 model)
The 20GB is more than enough space to hold ripped files and to provide for customised "mix 'n match" virtual albums - which can the be burned to CD-R.
Handy features:
a. Auto track-splitting of analog feeds via level/duration parameter
b. Post "rip-phase" track splitting/combining
c. Virtual album creation from multiple ripped "disks"
d. Support for CD-Text for album & track titling
e. PC application "Title Editor" for easy title capture via PC
f. Monitor output for using PC screen
g. It can also function as HDD-based "jukebox"One disadvantage: You need to use Recordable Audio CD-R blanks such as Verbatim's "MusicLifePlus" Audio CD-R blanks. Any Audio CD-R blank MUST have the following text below the "compact disc" logo:
Digital Audio
Recordable
For ConsumerOne limitation: No compression provided and no support for mp3 coding.
I've got the "follow-on" model (CDR-HD1300) which was originally shipped with an 40GB HDD. I went to a local PC wholesaler and bought a Seagate Barracuda SATA 120GB drive and did the switch-over (simple process) and I now have ~180 hours capacity on the HDD.
One tip: If you do get one, download the "Title Editor" from Yamaha's website and go out and buy a 9-pin male to 9-pin male "null Modem Cable" so that you can connect your PC to the CDR-HDxxxx - its much easier than using the remote control in an "a la cellphone SMS" entry mode.
The latest units (CDR-HD1500) are now shipping with 200GB drives (see link below).
Here's my angle1. needed stuff (hardware)
computer w /soundcard - recommend at least P3 (yes! it will do)
turntable
good phono stage
wiresk from turntable to phono stage to soundcard2. software
I just used this thing called "goldwave", and an old version at
that.I wanted something that would write to WAVE file directly
(*.wav) without any blings except leveling (volume and
the "equalize" function). get something that will display
the waveform of the signal as it records.3. when recording
DO NOT clip the input signal--watch the signal strength
and make sure it doesnt clip. make the signal
maybe 80 or 90% of what the graph is capable of.write directly to WAV file. put some fades on both
ends of the WAV file, trim, and "equalize" (or "level?")
to max the volume WITHOUT clipping the music.4. burn the WAV's to CDs.
WAV files are approx 10 megs PER MINUTE. So you need something
like 700 megs per cd project.
I've been there but i dont do it now--i found out after burning
so many CD's that I couldnt be happy with digital. I bought
a cassette deck:-(
I've described (in general) my process for recording vinyl in this post , as well as given some general advice on recording with computers in general. Two things I left out of that post are how I store the recorded files and what gear I use to record it.When you're recording with computers one of the most important aspects is what soundcard you are using (if you don't have an external analog to digital converter). Most on-board audio (built in to the motherboard) and most Creative soundcards are pretty bad for recording. The high-end consumer cards and the lower-end professional cards, however, are pretty good for their price. In the $50-$100 category I'd reccomend the EMU 0404 (which I use), the M-Audio Audiophile 2496, the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 (the 7.1 version isn't as good, but still better than lower-end stuff), or the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 (LT & non-LT). In the $100-$200 range I'd reccomend the EMU 1212m, M-Audio Audiophile 192, or the ESI Juli@. Beyond ~$200 I'd get an EMU 1212m or M-Audio Audiophile 192 and have it modded, or get an external unit.
As for storing files I keep all my recordings in the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Compression) format. This cuts the filesize by about 40% to 50% on most files compared to their WAV versions and because it's lossless no fidelity is lost in the compression and decompression. It's also one of the most widely used lossless compression formats, and because it's free and open source there will probably still be decoders around for it in 10-20 years, even if the original authors stop supporting it.
There are programs that allow you to record a whole side as .wav and split it later. You could do a side, pause the recording, flip it over and keep recording. The one I use is Polderbits. It worked well on cassettes but I haven't gotten to vinyl yet. It is good for pop rock but probably not for classical as it's looking for the 2.5 second silence to know where to split it. They have a free trial. There are probably others that can do this too.
Thanks for the tip on the software. Really user friendly. I finally got my homebrew NE5532 based phono amp up and running this evening, and everything is playing great. In case anybody else is reading, I noticed that it really helps to be monitoring the edit with a decent set of cans (I'm using my Grado's). This enables you to get the filtering just right, in my case the .wav files pick up everything...pops, ticks, cracks, noise etc. Computer speakers aren't going to cut it...pun intended. i'm gonna be up all night!
.
Here's a link to an earlier thread on the topic. (And you don't need a monster PC, either. I use a 733 mHz with 128MB RAM & Windows 98. Works very well.)Cheers,
Bobbo :-)
- http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=vinyl&n=430337&highlight=cooledit&r=&session= (Open in New Window)
A typical song might take up about 30MB of storage in wav format. If you compress to MP3, it might shrink down to 5MB. However, you need processing power to do the conversion. Your bus speed is important because if you have are recording at the time, you can't really run other things (like recording software that might be too big).I typically record my LPs to Reel to reel first. The RxR allows me the ability to start and stop without messing around with my TT and potentially scratching my LPs. This is a time consuming hobby as you need to record in real time and in my case, I do it twice.
Of concern along with your PC's BUS speed is your harddrive speed. A 7200rpm drive is much better than the 5600rpm drives typically on laptops. I believe there are new drives that are even faster now.
If you go to MP3, note you will lose some fidelity. Careful with your compression ratios. If it's for the car, not a major deal. If it's for archival purposes, major deal.
You need software as the sound recorder software that comes with Windows only allows you to record in 60sec clips. There are a number of free ones out there that are pretty easy to use. Of course you can actually pay money and get some with bells and whistles like pop and click removers, noise reduction etc. I don't use any of that because my records are in pretty good condition and sound clean enough for my purposes. So I record pops and clicks and all.
Record one song at a time otherwise, your rip will look like one big long recording per side of LP.
I would also recommend (though not necessary) a good soundcard. The one most people have are adequate, but not great. Adequate being good enough for car music.
What else can I tell you? Really time consuming but, for me, an enjoyable hobby.
Enjoy...
which also must be done in real time.
MP3s are out, too much compression. If I do this, it'll be wav format. I've ripped some CD tracks as wav files and they've been as large as 50mb.
I'm fairly PC-savvy, can replace drives and cards, fool around with different software. I have a reel-to-reel deck, but it needs a new tape head, unfortunately and I haven't had any luck in finding a replacement.
Still considering the Tascam stand alone, but man I'd sure like to see the ocean next year and buying the Tascam just might put that out of reach.
_____________________________
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: