>Hi Robert,
>
>This group is OK for this - perhaps rec.audio.tech would be
>better.
I suppose comp.dsp is barely on topic because audio restoration
software uses DSP techniques...
This webpage has much useful info:
http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm
What this webpage doesn't say enough about (IMHO) is cleaning the
record before playing it. It's worth getting a Nitty Gritty type
vacuum record cleaner, and clean each side immediately before playing
it.
>I wouldn't trust the software - an AGC is a bad thing for this
>kind of work.
>
>The hookup you propose would work just fine.
>
>You might want to think about purchasing Adobe Audition (formerly
>Syntrillium's "Cool Edit") for a task like this. It will allow
>you to look at the samples, perform gain changes and equalization,
>etc. I think it's even got a noise reduction feature that may be
>useful.
There are 'click detection' algorithms made especially for LP's
that work very well at eliminating pops and clicks (the few left after
a good cleaning). One I've used a lot is Wave Corrector -
http://www.wavecor.co.uk/
As the first link I have talks about, Audition is rather expensive
compared to what Cool Edit 2000 used to cost and what other currently
available software costs.
>As you've surmized, getting the level right is probably going to
>be a pain. There's no telling how levels vary between records.
They can indeed vary a lot, though most 'normal' LP's have peaks
within a few dB's of each other. I did one LP that had over a half
hour of spoken word on each side, and it was at a relatively low
level, to keep the groove modulation small so adjacent grooves could
be close together to extend playing time. Others such as many disco
records and Telarc's 1812 have quite high levels.
But this is actually not a big problem. A decent soundcard has a
much larger dynamic range than the LP played on even on a very
expensive turntable. Set the level so that your peaks are above maybe
-12dBFS, but of course kept under 0dBFS. You don't have to be fussy
about it, as long as it's below clipping. Once it's recorded into the
computer, the software can do a 'normalise' function, which scans the
recording for the largest peak, and then raises the volume of the
whole recording so that the peak is 0dBFS. The 'normalise' function on
some programs allagedly does more than that, and you don't want that.
> I
>can't really think of anything to help you there - sometimes it
>just takes time to do a job right.
>
>--Randy
>
>"Robert Sherry" <rsherry8@comcast.net> writes:
>
>> First, I suspect that I am posting this to the wrong news group.
>> If so, I would hope that somebody in this group could tell me the
>> correct forum to post this question to.
It's been discussed several times on rec.audio.pro - you can read
the archives by going to http://www.google.com, click on groups, then
advanced group search. Searching for LP in group rec.audio.pro should
bring up more than you want to know...
>>
>>
>>
>> My father has a lot of old records. He would like to turn these
>> records into music CDs. His computer has a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card
>> in it. His record player is hooked up to an amplifier/receiver with a
>> tape out plug. We are planning, when we get the right cable, to hook
>> up a cable from tape out on the receiver to line in on the back of the
>> card. Will this work?
Yes, and the cable is about five dollars at Radio Shack,
>>
>>
>>
>> The card came with software that will capture music e.g. save it
>> to the hard disk. This software is suppose to automatically record at
>> the proper volume. I am concerned that the same song is going to have
>> to be record several times to get it right. Therefore, it may take 15
>> minutes to record a 3 minute song. This seems like a lot of work to
>> us. Do you think we are on the right track to making this work? Could
>> you suggest a source of additional information that would help us in
>> this area?
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert Sherry
>>
>>
Randy Yates <yates@ieee.org> wrote in message news:llltabts.fsf@ieee.org...
> Hi Robert,
>
> As you've surmized, getting the level right is probably going to
> be a pain. There's no telling how levels vary between records. I
> can't really think of anything to help you there - sometimes it
> just takes time to do a job right.
>
> --Randy
Assuming your sound card has a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio than
the original record (which may be the case in many situations), you can just
leave yourself plenty of headroom, i.e. record at a low enough level that you
will never clip. Then normalize each track on the PC when finished. This would
work especially well with a nice 24-bit sound card.
Reply by Randy Yates●March 21, 20042004-03-21
Hi Robert,
This group is OK for this - perhaps rec.audio.tech would be
better.
I wouldn't trust the software - an AGC is a bad thing for this
kind of work.
The hookup you propose would work just fine.
You might want to think about purchasing Adobe Audition (formerly
Syntrillium's "Cool Edit") for a task like this. It will allow
you to look at the samples, perform gain changes and equalization,
etc. I think it's even got a noise reduction feature that may be
useful.
As you've surmized, getting the level right is probably going to
be a pain. There's no telling how levels vary between records. I
can't really think of anything to help you there - sometimes it
just takes time to do a job right.
--Randy
"Robert Sherry" <rsherry8@comcast.net> writes:
> First, I suspect that I am posting this to the wrong news group.
> If so, I would hope that somebody in this group could tell me the
> correct forum to post this question to.
>
>
>
> My father has a lot of old records. He would like to turn these
> records into music CDs. His computer has a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card
> in it. His record player is hooked up to an amplifier/receiver with a
> tape out plug. We are planning, when we get the right cable, to hook
> up a cable from tape out on the receiver to line in on the back of the
> card. Will this work?
>
>
>
> The card came with software that will capture music e.g. save it
> to the hard disk. This software is suppose to automatically record at
> the proper volume. I am concerned that the same song is going to have
> to be record several times to get it right. Therefore, it may take 15
> minutes to record a 3 minute song. This seems like a lot of work to
> us. Do you think we are on the right track to making this work? Could
> you suggest a source of additional information that would help us in
> this area?
>
>
>
> Robert Sherry
>
>
--
% Randy Yates % "I met someone who looks alot like you,
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % she does the things you do,
%%% 919-577-9882 % but she is an IBM."
%%%% <yates@ieee.org> % 'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO
http://home.earthlink.net/~yatescr
Reply by Fred Marshall●March 21, 20042004-03-21
"Robert Sherry" <rsherry8@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:tdudnevFHI1Zu8PdRVn-sA@comcast.com...
>
> My father has a lot of old records. He would like to turn these
> records into music CDs. His computer has a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card
> in it. His record player is hooked up to an amplifier/receiver with a
> tape out plug. We are planning, when we get the right cable, to hook
> up a cable from tape out on the receiver to line in on the back of the
> card. Will this work?
>
>
>
> The card came with software that will capture music e.g. save it
> to the hard disk. This software is suppose to automatically record at
> the proper volume. I am concerned that the same song is going to have
> to be record several times to get it right. Therefore, it may take 15
> minutes to record a 3 minute song. This seems like a lot of work to
> us. Do you think we are on the right track to making this work? Could
> you suggest a source of additional information that would help us in
> this area?
Robert,
You might use Google groups and check out the type of messages so that
you'll find a likely newsgroup that fits your needs. If you look for "best
sound card" that might be a starting point.
I'd not worry quite so much about getting it right - except in the setup
process. There are two things to adjust in my (limited) experience:
- what level of input to the sound card seems to work well? I set mine for
a high level that doesn't clip or saturate. This won't adjust completely
but it's a good thing to do. Once set, you can probably leave it alone as
long as the setting isn't too aggressively high.
- what level of sound card gain gives you good dynamic range out of the ADC
on the sound card? You want to set this gain fairly high also.
The objective is to set the gain so that you don't have to amplify quantized
sounds too much and end up with too much noise in the quiet passages. You
want to take full advantage of the dynamic range available. I think that
occasional clipping is OK - not noticeable. Least-significant-bit noise, if
amplified, can be as objectionable as lots of clipping.
Then, when you record, as long as things start out fairly high amplitude,
you can adust the gain of the file before making the CD. I really like Cool
Edit for this purpose. You can see what you're doing and set the output
gain accordingly. And, you can create mp3s as well as regular audio CDs.
I converted a tape that had too much amplitude variation from tune to tune.
Once scaled, the end result was better for listening than the original -
because I made each record use up the full range. The same thing is
probably the case from one vinyl disk recording to another.
In the end, you might spend 4 or 5 minutes on the average capturing and a
few minutes adjusting the gain before making the final files.
Fred
Reply by Robert Sherry●March 21, 20042004-03-21
First, I suspect that I am posting this to the wrong news group.
If so, I would hope that somebody in this group could tell me the
correct forum to post this question to.
My father has a lot of old records. He would like to turn these
records into music CDs. His computer has a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card
in it. His record player is hooked up to an amplifier/receiver with a
tape out plug. We are planning, when we get the right cable, to hook
up a cable from tape out on the receiver to line in on the back of the
card. Will this work?
The card came with software that will capture music e.g. save it
to the hard disk. This software is suppose to automatically record at
the proper volume. I am concerned that the same song is going to have
to be record several times to get it right. Therefore, it may take 15
minutes to record a 3 minute song. This seems like a lot of work to
us. Do you think we are on the right track to making this work? Could
you suggest a source of additional information that would help us in
this area?
Robert Sherry