Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go and buy
these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions too. But I don't
want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire, possibly
better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

I have a version of Audio Cleaning Lab and a colleague's PC with Adobe's
Audition. Audition's built in de-clicker and hiss removal seems far better
that ACL (ACL actually added some artifacts that sounded just like clicks),
but was wondering if there are better solutions, and hopefully not as
expensive as Audition.

Thanks.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Grumps wrote:

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Interesting method.

I use a Rega Planar 3 with Pro-Ject Phono Box II connected to a Sony CD
recorder for capture. I then rip the resultant CD-RW onto the PC and
clean it up digitally.

I have a version of Audio Cleaning Lab and a colleague's PC with
Adobe's Audition. Audition's built in de-clicker and hiss removal
seems far better that ACL (ACL actually added some artifacts that
sounded just like clicks), but was wondering if there are better
solutions, and hopefully not as expensive as Audition.

The wave editor that comes with Nero actually does a pretty good job of
de-clicking and noise reduction. I use that and have had some pretty
good results with it.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Glenn Richards wrote:
Grumps wrote:

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Interesting method.

I use a Rega Planar 3 with Pro-Ject Phono Box II connected to a Sony
CD recorder for capture. I then rip the resultant CD-RW onto the PC
and clean it up digitally.

I have a version of Audio Cleaning Lab and a colleague's PC with
Adobe's Audition. Audition's built in de-clicker and hiss removal
seems far better that ACL (ACL actually added some artifacts that
sounded just like clicks), but was wondering if there are better
solutions, and hopefully not as expensive as Audition.

The wave editor that comes with Nero actually does a pretty good job
of de-clicking and noise reduction. I use that and have had some
pretty good results with it.

Thanks. I never even thought about Nero. I'll give it a whirl tonight.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go and
buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions too. But I
don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire, possibly
better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go and
buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions too. But I
don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire, possibly
better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.


Sort of related, have you got any opinion of the Mac Mini's audio inputs:

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/

I'm going to use one as a music/video server. I'd also like it to record
analogue things.

TIA, Rob

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go
and buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions
too. But I don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.

Onboard sound output is definitely full of noise and 'squeaks'. I assumed
that onboard sound inputs would be similar.
Audio recorded and played back with camcorder is quiet (wrt noise).

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

In article ,
Grumps wrote:
I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Camcorders tend to have crap audio circuits.

One of the cheapest half decent ways is with a domestic MiniDisc recorder
that has digital out - assuming your PC can accept this. Something like a
Sony JB930.

--
*Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Grumps wrote:
I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Camcorders tend to have crap audio circuits.

One of the cheapest half decent ways is with a domestic MiniDisc
recorder that has digital out - assuming your PC can accept this.
Something like a Sony JB930.

Interesting! Certainly the mic on the camcorder produces not too good
results, but that's due to other 'mechanical' issues. Then again, I can't
recite camcorder audio specs, 'cos they're not given. As stated, audio
recorded and played back to/from the camcorder is without appreciable
difference; and far less noisy than the PC.

But, is this time to;
1) Buy a decent audio input device for my PC (USB, 1394, internal PCI card),
or
2) Run some tests on my current method, or
3) Buy a digital audio in capable sound card for my PC?

Can anyone suggest a good option 1) ?

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

In article ,
Grumps wrote:
Camcorders tend to have crap audio circuits.

One of the cheapest half decent ways is with a domestic MiniDisc
recorder that has digital out - assuming your PC can accept this.
Something like a Sony JB930.

Interesting! Certainly the mic on the camcorder produces not too good
results, but that's due to other 'mechanical' issues. Then again, I
can't recite camcorder audio specs, 'cos they're not given. As stated,
audio recorded and played back to/from the camcorder is without
appreciable difference; and far less noisy than the PC.

I wasn't just thinking of noise, and my comments are based on using ones
at the semi-pro end where you'd think they'd take more care with the
analogue side.

But, is this time to;
1) Buy a decent audio input device for my PC (USB, 1394, internal PCI card),
or
2) Run some tests on my current method, or
3) Buy a digital audio in capable sound card for my PC?

A computer is an extremely hostile place for analogue audio, but decent
sound cards do exist.

Can anyone suggest a good option 1) ?

Perhaps Arny will be along shortly. I don't use a PC so can't recommend
anything.

--
*Middle age is when work is a lot less fun - and fun a lot more work.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes
In article ,
Grumps wrote:
Camcorders tend to have crap audio circuits.

One of the cheapest half decent ways is with a domestic MiniDisc
recorder that has digital out - assuming your PC can accept this.
Something like a Sony JB930.

Interesting! Certainly the mic on the camcorder produces not too good
results, but that's due to other 'mechanical' issues. Then again, I
can't recite camcorder audio specs, 'cos they're not given. As stated,
audio recorded and played back to/from the camcorder is without
appreciable difference; and far less noisy than the PC.

I wasn't just thinking of noise, and my comments are based on using ones
at the semi-pro end where you'd think they'd take more care with the
analogue side.

But, is this time to;
1) Buy a decent audio input device for my PC (USB, 1394, internal PCI card),
or
2) Run some tests on my current method, or
3) Buy a digital audio in capable sound card for my PC?

A computer is an extremely hostile place for analogue audio, but decent
sound cards do exist.

Can anyone suggest a good option 1) ?

Perhaps Arny will be along shortly. I don't use a PC so can't recommend
anything.

We've been using Terratec producer phase 22 cards in some applications
not too expensive from digital village.

What they do have is balanced inputs and outputs with levels more akin
to domestic use:) Hence no problems with hum's and buzzes


http://www.dv247.com/invt/19519/
--
Tony Sayer

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

"Rob" wrote in message
...
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go and
buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions too. But
I don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.


Sort of related, have you got any opinion of the Mac Mini's audio inputs:

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/

I'm going to use one as a music/video server. I'd also like it to record
analogue things.

I do nothing with Macs. However the basic sound on Macs has been more
predictably better than on contemporaneous PCs. PC on-board sound can range
from very poor to pretty much OK for consumer use.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go
and buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions
too. But I don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.

Onboard sound output is definitely full of noise and 'squeaks'.

That's possible, but not a general rule.

I assumed that onboard sound inputs would be similar.

Not necessarily.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could
go and buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3
versions too. But I don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.

Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.

Onboard sound output is definitely full of noise and 'squeaks'.

That's possible, but not a general rule.

I assumed that onboard sound inputs would be similar.

Not necessarily.

You're right!
I just did a simple test using my CD player as a signal source (pure single
tone test disk), and ran SpectraPLUS on the captured wav file to see the
spectrum and SNR.
The camcorder manages a mere 53dB, but the line-in (on-board PC sound) gets
to 71dB.
A lot of this (noise; am I wrong to want to get nearer to 90+dB?) is
probably in the CD player (portable), so I'll grab my audio tone generator
from work tomorrow.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

"Grumps" wrote in message
...

I just did a simple test using my CD player as a signal source (pure
single tone test disk), and ran SpectraPLUS on the captured wav file to
see the spectrum and SNR.
The camcorder manages a mere 53dB, but the line-in (on-board PC sound)
gets to 71dB.

Good show!

A lot of this (noise; am I wrong to want to get nearer to 90+dB?) is
probably in the CD player (portable),

Try a different CD player, maybe a regular table model.

Portables can be a tad noisy. Even low cost table models can do over 90 dB.

I wouldn't expect much more than 80 dB from an on-board PC sound card.

You can run some of these tests quite nicely with this freewa

http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml

RMA 5.5

so I'll grab my audio tone generator from work tomorrow.

You'll be hard put to find a bench audio tone generator that can beat a $40
DVD player.

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Rob" wrote in message
...
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...
Hi All

I have decided to convert some of my old LPs onto CD. Yes I could go and
buy these CDs, and yes I could illegally download MP3 versions too. But
I don't want to do either of these.

I have my old RP3 connected (via Nait amp) to the input of my Sony
camcorder. This then allows me to capture the audio via firewire,
possibly better quality than my PC's onboard sound input.
Probably not, but I don't know what your PC's onboard sound is like.

Sort of related, have you got any opinion of the Mac Mini's audio inputs:

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/

I'm going to use one as a music/video server. I'd also like it to record
analogue things.

I do nothing with Macs. However the basic sound on Macs has been more
predictably better than on contemporaneous PCs. PC on-board sound can range
from very poor to pretty much OK for consumer use.



Ta - my new Intel iMac sounds pretty good through the built in speakers,
and it's got various audio in/outs but I can't be bothered to lug it
about the house. I find the 'old' Mini's analogue (G4) out to be a
little 'flat' compared to the posh Creative soundcard on the PC. The
newer ones have digital out so I'd use that for playback. IIRC digital
in is a little trickier - my AV amp doesn't do A-D (could have that
wrong). Whatever, when/if I'll let the world know.

Rob

Converting LP to CD (yet again I suppose!)
 

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Grumps" wrote in message
...

I just did a simple test using my CD player as a signal source (pure
single tone test disk), and ran SpectraPLUS on the captured wav file
to see the spectrum and SNR.
The camcorder manages a mere 53dB, but the line-in (on-board PC
sound) gets to 71dB.

Good show!

A lot of this (noise; am I wrong to want to get nearer to 90+dB?) is
probably in the CD player (portable),

Try a different CD player, maybe a regular table model.

Portables can be a tad noisy. Even low cost table models can do over
90 dB.
I wouldn't expect much more than 80 dB from an on-board PC sound card.

You can run some of these tests quite nicely with this freewa

http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml

RMA 5.5

so I'll grab my audio tone generator from work tomorrow.

You'll be hard put to find a bench audio tone generator that can beat
a $40 DVD player.

Final update. My hand-held audio sig gen resulted in 83dB SNR using the on
board sound. Good enough for an LP.