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HI All,
I have been stymied transfering selected LP's to CD's for logistical reasons. I'm wondering how you have solved the problem or if I am missing something very basic.I'll explain. My listening room is located at the front of my house and my computer room is at the rear. It is not possible to move the computer to the listening room for the extended time period that it will take to do the transfers. Equally, it is DEFINITELY not possible to move my turntable and preamp into the computer room. Thus, how do I get the analog signal from my audio system to my computer?
I see two possibilities:
* Run a very long cable from my preamp output to the computers A/D converters. Obviously this has drawbacks but it is do-able. I don't like this solution very much because of the long cable run but it is the most time effective.* I could record the LP's on cassette on the big system and then play them back on another cassette machine in the computer room. Since I have four three head Nakamichi cassette machines all in good working order this is also do-able. I believe if I record on my Dragon in the big system using metal tape and Dolby C I would get reasonable sonic results. Time wise, this method is very expensive but I believe it is the best sonic solution.
I would love to hear your opinions on this especially from those who have faced a similar situation.
Follow Ups:
Same situation. Big turntable in the living room, big computer far away in my study.Solution: record onto DVD-RW on a Tascam DV-RA1000 in the living,
then transfer the discs to the PC for further processing with
ClickRepair and Adobe Audition, then write to final formats
including 96k/24b on music-only DVD-V, CD, and AAC.One remark: the DV-RA1000's DVD writer is extremely unreliable,
giving on the average one write error + crash on each and every
disc I record (2.5-3 LPs per disc). Better invest in the HDD-equipped DV-RA1000HD.
bring bac k dynamic range
HI Werner,
I must have incorrect information. I was under the impression that copies made on CD R+W would not be unversally compatable with, for example, my car CD player. Is this true?I do know that when I experimented over the weekend doing some copies to CD R+W, my Roxio software warned me about this. Since I did not have any CD-R's on hand I just continued and the copy was playable on my computer. I have not tried the copy on any other players yet.
HI All,
Thanks for all of your input. You've given me some good ideas to research. Hopefully, I can come up with a scheme that answers all my needs.
If you have a laptop, the logistics problem is solved. I simply bring my laptop to my listening room. I take the output of my phono stage directly to an outboard ADC. I use an Onkyo (model number something like "SE55U) that comes up on EBay every now and then, and it works extremely well. It has a level adjustment- very important- so that the 16 bits are utilized well. The digital out of the Onkyo goes into a USB port on my (Mac) laptop. The results are superb. The CD-Rs I make are virtually indistinguishable from the original vinyl, and I have a very revealing system. In fact, in blind listening, if people can tell the two apart in synched playing, they are as apt to pick the CD-R as sounding better as the original vinyl. They are extremely close, though it does require a high-quality CD player to fully appreciate this. The Onkyo is no longer made, but I'm sure there are others available that work as well. The results with it are far better than with the internal sound card or with another USB device called the iMic. The cost going this way is relatively low if you have a laptop, and the results should be better than going through the cassette tape stage.Joe
As an economy option, you could go to ebay and pick up a cheap component cd burner for around a hundred bucks and just hook it up to your system. The one I use is only half width and very compact. They work just like a tape deck. Burn to the disc and then just load the disc onto your hard drive with EAC, which you can download for free. Make any edits you wish with Goldwave, which you can also get a version of for free. Then burn back to a fresh disc with EAC.I think you would end up with a higher quality disc going this route than running a cable into your PC unless you want to spend some bucks upgrading your soundcard and such on the PC. And this way you don't have the issue with playing something in one room and running into the other for the recording.
I've used to use Nakamichi decks and they always sounded great, but I do think even with their quality, you're adding another generation to the recording process which, while maybe not degrading the sound significantly, is in no way going to improve results.
Check out the Sonneteer Sedley USB Phono Stage;"You have put a great deal of love and money into your vinyl collection so when it comes to storing it on computer only a high quality phono stage will do. The Sedley USB allows the user to back up their Lps on to a computer and play back all their digital media through their hi-fi system."
.
as well as the recent review by UHF;
http://www.sonneteer.demon.co.uk/pics/SedleyUSB UHF 2007.pdf
.
I record in 16 bit/44.1 on the Edirol out of the Bugle, then drag and drop from the Edirol to the desktop, and burn with Nero with track marks and start and end marks set in Nero. Really fast and the Edirol is about the size of a pack of cigarettes.It is quite a bit cheaper than a Masterlink, however, I would love to have a Masterlink because you can get 24 bit on a CD (only plays on the Masterlink...).
You might be able to get more money for the Dragon than it will cost for a brand new Alesis ML-9600 Masterlink.
John
The 24/96 is most attractive and I need the ability to burn to CD. Currently I have a transport, & play direct from harddrive using Squeezebox 3 ( Sample rates: 44.1Khz, 48Khz, Audio format: linear PCM, 16 or 24 bits per sample ).The Alexis seems not to have internet radio and or the ability for stand alone inclusion in a network (wired or wireless). What else can burn at this quality and have ability to be remote from the PC
HI John,
Sorry, that is not an option. Obviously you have not owned a Dragon. If you had you would not suggest that option.But, thanks for the thought. I will look into the Alesis though.
Actually, I did own two Dragons and I know them inside and out. They are perhaps the best cassette tape decks in the world. However, cassette tape with it's super narrow tracks traveling at only 1-7/8 ips doesn't compare in any way, shape, or form to high-resolution digital. Furthermore, the cost of maintaining and operating a Dragon far exceeds that of a digital recorder. You'll understand what I'm talking about once you begin making digital copies of your vinyl. I doubt seriously you'll ever want to listen to a cassette tape again.
HI John,
I appreciate your concern. If you check my profile you will see that I'm no neophite to the audio game. My system is excellent. It is fully capable of disginguishing the differences between CD's (Redbook) and inferior tapes and tape copies.I can tell you that the Dragon is capable of making copies of MOST CD's that are indistinguishable from the original. This assumes a properly set up deck and Dolby C and metal tape. What the tape ultimately lacks is the dynamic range of CD's. But most CD's don't come close to using their full dynamic range capability for various reasons. With that exception, the tape copies of LP's, which have less dynamic range than the Dragon, are great. Tape copies of CD's are outstanding. I think you are exagerating the differences.
I believe your statements are honestly given but I strongly disagree. By the way I have owned and operated two high end audio repair shops so I do know what I am talking about.
But, the subject of this thread is not about Dragon's.
i never miss mine. The thing that was annoying about the Nak's was that the azimuth adjusting meant a lot of tapes made on the nak only sounded good on the nak.
Probably the record head was out of alignment. Automatic azimuth adjustment on the Dragon operates on the playback head only.I've heard the statement many times that tapes made on the nak only sounded good on the nak but I never encountered that situation. Everyone to whom I gave tapes were amazed at how great they sounded and they always sounded great in other cassette decks that I owned, too. Of course, I kept my two Dragons in tip-top alignment including adjusting the phase comparator for the automatic playback head alignment mechanism.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Dragon is perhaps the best cassette tape deck ever produced other than the ZX1000. However, the cassette format does not compare to high-speed reel-to-reel and it does not compare to digital, either.
yeah , but i encountered it a lot even in recording studios where they are supposed to keep their gear going. That;s what i hated about cassettes, the spped makes aligment really important and speed stability sucks.
Henry
I just measured it. I don't know why Alesis says it is 19-inches wide.
Just looked at my Alesis manual. Gives dimension as 17 inches wide, 3.5 high and 11 deep.
Henry
nt
Hi Bry,
I could use my laptop too. My biggest concern is the quality of the converters in my Dell Latitude. Also, it is getting a little old with its 2.1GHz processor and 1 Gig memory (maxed out). The internal half full disk drive is not big (40 gigs) but I do have large external USB2 disks available on my main machine as well as a 60 Gig portable LaCie drive I use stritly with my laptop.So, I probably have the computer resources to use the laptop. Have you found the sound quality is really, really good? I'm very picky about this.
I was thinking that the sound capability on my big machine would be better than the one built into the laptop but I don't know that for sure. The sound cabability on my main machine is the one that came with the Asus mother board. I personally custom built this machine optimized for Photoshop image processing. Unfortunately, I don't have any extra bus slots left to install a PCI bus based sound card. It's full; running two monitors (requires two video boards to allow separate color profiles for each monitor), three printers, and extra interfaces.
So, the sound capability of my main machine is also an unknown at this time. I think I should do some experimenting to find out exactly what I have and how good it is.
Are any sound boards available as outboard units that can interface via USB? If so, I could use it with the laptop and do the recording in the listening room. This could be a happy solution.
What are your thoughts on this? I know I sound like a newbe to this which I am so I appreciate your help.
M-Audio Audiophile USB.This is a self powered, stand alone ADAC that is capable of 24/96 resolution. USB out to the computer.
Audacity is a great FREE recording program that is capable of recording at 24/96.
Before upgrading, I used this setup with a Celeron 800mhz/250mb/WinME computer. Slow but worked.Your current laptop configuration is sufficient to perform the conversion in real time and without problems.
Audacity is a powerfull program. Realatively easy to cut a large file into tracks and perform any needed editing.
Best,
Ross
I'm also using the M-Audio box with very good results in the final CD-R product as heard on my Arcam Alpha 9.However, the M-Audio has no way to attenuate the signal at the analog input, so I have to take the output from the preamp-out of my Bryston B-6OP rather than the tape out (to avoid clipping on some Lps). This is rather inconvenient as using the headphone jack on the B-60 shuts off the output from the preamp!
I do all my recording at 16bit/44.1kHz, since I don't believe there would be any benefit to recording at, say, 24bit/88.2kHz first and rendering to 16bit/44.1kHz (unless,possibly, some noise shaping algorithm is applied), but I haven't tested this hypothesis.
HI Ross,
I'm not interested in hi rez digital. I'm mainly making these CD's for the car and maybe my main system if the quality is good enough. Primarily I'm interested in keeping compatability between all my CD players. If they sound as good as the capability I presently have I will be more than satisfied. CD's in my main system sound quite good.My main program source is vinyl.
I have a similar laptop like yours, a Dell Inpiron with 2.4G CPU and 1G RAM. I tried the build-in converter but the quality didn't cut it. I bought a USB Soundblaster with 24-bit converter for the job. The laptop speed is fully capable of handling this task; it breezes through only taken up 20% CPU usage. The sound quality recorded to WAV and burned to CD is indistinguishable from a RBCD of the same album.
Theo
nt
My preferred method is to use a dedicated CD recorder (Alesis Masterlink, etc.) with a good quality phono preamp (Hageman Bugle, etc.) and record direct to the hard drive.All this provided, of course, that your funds allow for such a setup.
I think you will find that many people recommend a CD recorder (TASCAM CD-RW700) or something similar. There are cheaper versions, but this seems to one of the more highly regarded units around here. Just try a search, and you will have pages and pages to read.
good luck, HJ
I purpose-built a PC for vinyl ripping and it's in the same room as the stereo. It's not connected to the Internet, and it's on a wheeled stand so its easy to move if necessary.
Your cassette idea is a good one, especially since you have those wonderful Nakamichi machines. The only prob is that you have to work within the time contraints imposed by the cassette itself.
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