Digital Recorder
 

I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a few
more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as lashing up the
computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of having the tracks on
the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new or
secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

--
Cheers, Rob

Digital Recorder
 

"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a few
more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as lashing up the
computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of having the tracks on the
device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new or
secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

--
Cheers, Rob

Tascam is a very good choice.

But the SD-20M has facilities that you probably
don't need. It is 4 channel, and has XLR mic inputs with
phantom etc etc

I use SS R100 (which has storage on SD CF or USB in
..wav and .mp3 format) as a stand-alone master recorder.
It is a bit more expensive but good used units are to be
found on E-bay.

Take a look at the Denon DN 500R also.

Iain

Digital Recorder
 

"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a
few more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as
lashing up the computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of
having the tracks on the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new
or secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm


Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Been doing it for years and it works.

Alternatively get a cheap secondhand laptop and record the LP straight
onto that, then cut it up again with Audacity. That also works well,
perhaps better than the minidisc as it gives you the option of the
recording format.




--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

Digital Recorder
 

Woody said:
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a
few more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as
lashing up the computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of
having the tracks on the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new
or secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

If we're talking 2ndhand from ebay, I'd say a Zoom pocket recorder's a
better idea. I've had a Zoom H2 for a few years now, and it works well
(it's the nicest pocket recorder I've ever had) - choice of formats, from
lowgrade pm3 to better-then-CD wav, plus it records onto SD as the OP said.
And should be well within that price range.

Not a great interface for playing them back, mind, if that's the idea. And
if you wanted separate tracks you'd need to either punch the buttons in real
time or do the inconvenient lashing-up-the-computer thing to split them out.
But I'm not sure there's a way round that. [ being Wrong On Usenet is a very
good way of finding things out ]. It'd be a convenient way of getting vinyl
onto an SD card if you didn't want to fire up a computer. There might be
better devices for playing it back.


--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Digital Recorder
 

In article ,
Richard Robinson wrote:
Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

MiniDisc is digital. Some have digital out so could transfer to the
computer in the digital domain if you have a soundcard which accepts this.
But the data compression system MiniDisc uses is rather old and may not be
the best.

--
*DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

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

Digital Recorder
 

On 02/06/2017 18:59, Iain Churches wrote:
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a few
more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as lashing up the
computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of having the tracks on the
device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new or
secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

--
Cheers, Rob

Tascam is a very good choice.

But the SD-20M has facilities that you probably
don't need. It is 4 channel, and has XLR mic inputs with
phantom etc etc

I use SS R100 (which has storage on SD CF or USB in
.wav and .mp3 format) as a stand-alone master recorder.
It is a bit more expensive but good used units are to be
found on E-bay.

Take a look at the Denon DN 500R also.


Thanks - they look to be good. I've also seen 'scratch recorders' that
seem to fit the bill - Roland AR3000R and Marantz PMD 560. The obvious
difference is that they're 16 bit (as opposed to 24).

Without wishing to get into too much of a debate, might that matter?

The other things are ease of use, and the reliability of things like the
level meters.


--
Cheers, Rob

Digital Recorder
 

On 02/06/2017 18:59, Woody wrote:
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a
few more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as
lashing up the computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of
having the tracks on the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new
or secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm


Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Been doing it for years and it works.


Yep, could do - as mentioned down-thread, I'm not that sure about how
the compression works and whether it's lossless. But in any event
lugging the machine about would add to the inertia . . .

Alternatively get a cheap secondhand laptop and record the LP straight
onto that, then cut it up again with Audacity. That also works well,
perhaps better than the minidisc as it gives you the option of the
recording format.


Yes, I have a netbook that might do, and a USB soundcard - but I'd
rather go for a purpose built solution.

Thanks for suggestions though


--
Cheers, Rob

Digital Recorder
 

On 02/06/2017 20:51, Richard Robinson wrote:
Woody said:
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a
few more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as
lashing up the computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of
having the tracks on the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new
or secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

If we're talking 2ndhand from ebay, I'd say a Zoom pocket recorder's a
better idea. I've had a Zoom H2 for a few years now, and it works well
(it's the nicest pocket recorder I've ever had) - choice of formats, from
lowgrade pm3 to better-then-CD wav, plus it records onto SD as the OP said.
And should be well within that price range.


I had thought of a portable. I would be looking to get as good a
recording as possible - so would need to be sure that the A-D conversion
was as good as can be.

Not a great interface for playing them back, mind, if that's the idea. And
if you wanted separate tracks you'd need to either punch the buttons in real
time or do the inconvenient lashing-up-the-computer thing to split them out.
But I'm not sure there's a way round that. [ being Wrong On Usenet is a very
good way of finding things out ]. It'd be a convenient way of getting vinyl
onto an SD card if you didn't want to fire up a computer. There might be
better devices for playing it back.


Playing back would not be the main use, and I'd edit the files on a
desktop computer.


--
Cheers, Rob

Digital Recorder
 

In terms of cutting up a recording of a whole LP side, try getting a
copy of Steinberg Clean - I have V4 - which can be bought on eBay for
a fiver or so.

The easy bit is the cutting. It shows a wave trace with moving marker
so it is easy to find the track gaps, click on the gap, and when all
have been done tell it to cut. It retains an uncut copy and adds each
of the cut tracks below it in a list. You can then retitle each track
and anti-click them if you wish, either manually or automatically (at
which it is surprisingly effective.) You can also fade in and fade out
a track with the simple moving of a marker with your mouse. Its a long
time since I last used it but ISTR it also has a normalising feature
but I may be wrong.

Audacity (which is free) is another sound programme which is very easy
to use and works extremely well. It too has a sound trace but you have
to mark, cut, and export each track to save it in any universal
format. Click reduction/removal, level correction (frequency selective
or wideband) etc is very simple.



--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

Digital Recorder
 

In article ,
says...
Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

Only if you're using one of the early analogue MD recorders:-)

On the Sony MD recorders I've used, ejecting the disc and pressing
record puts the machine into what Sony refers to as "Monitor mode";
The analogue input is digitised and a straight copy of this stream
(which has not undergone any data reduction processing) is available
from the digital outputs and a decoded version of this is available at
the analogue outputs.
Plus, of course the MD recorder will decode signals input via the
Digital connections and output them via analogue.

£30 or thereabouts will buy one with a faulty disc mechanism and or
lost remote ETC on eBay.
Not bad for a pretty fair combined ADC and DAC.

Digital Recorder
 

Yes go back and use a computer. It works better has better editing and snap
crackle pop removal in editing software.

Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a few
more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as lashing up the
computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of having the tracks on the
device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new or
secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

--
Cheers, Rob

Digital Recorder
 

Seems an awful waste of money if you only want to do a few.

I still feel that any old xp computer and decent sound caard wiill do the
job.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Iain Churches" wrote in message
...

"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a few
more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as lashing up the
computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of having the tracks on
the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new or
secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

--
Cheers, Rob

Tascam is a very good choice.

But the SD-20M has facilities that you probably
don't need. It is 4 channel, and has XLR mic inputs with
phantom etc etc

I use SS R100 (which has storage on SD CF or USB in
.wav and .mp3 format) as a stand-alone master recorder.
It is a bit more expensive but good used units are to be
found on E-bay.

Take a look at the Denon DN 500R also.

Iain

Digital Recorder
 

In article , RJH
wrote:
On 02/06/2017 18:59, Iain Churches wrote:
"RJH" wrote in message
...


Tascam is a very good choice.

I'd also recommend Tascam from having an HD P2 recorder and finding it
works very well. However that would perhaps be overkill. Has excellent
meters, etc.

An alternative is something like the Scarlett 2i2 with a laptop and
suitable software. Audacity would do, although I use my own DIY software
that has better PPM indication, etc.

Thanks - they look to be good. I've also seen 'scratch recorders' that
seem to fit the bill - Roland AR3000R and Marantz PMD 560. The obvious
difference is that they're 16 bit (as opposed to 24).

Without wishing to get into too much of a debate, might that matter?

In practice the main advantage is that - given the ADC has a decently low
noise level - you can easily set the recoring gain low enough to avoid
clipping without under-recording the levels. Then if you wish, scale up a
little when processing the results. The problem here is that - paticularly
if you've not done kind of thing this a few times before - 16 bit may not
give enough 'room' to avoid both clipping and under-recording unless you
carefully start with the right level.

However for LP if you're prepared to have a 'dummy run' you can get decent
results from 16 bit if you give recording a run though and use that mainly
to set the 'optimum' recording gain that just misses clipping peaks. Then
have another go. Note, though, this means you need to ensure your metering
will show you short peaks OK... and assumes you're using a decent ADC!

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Digital Recorder
 

In article ,
UnsteadyKen wrote:
On the Sony MD recorders I've used, ejecting the disc and pressing
record puts the machine into what Sony refers to as "Monitor mode";
The analogue input is digitised and a straight copy of this stream
(which has not undergone any data reduction processing) is available
from the digital outputs and a decoded version of this is available at
the analogue outputs.
Plus, of course the MD recorder will decode signals input via the
Digital connections and output them via analogue.

£30 or thereabouts will buy one with a faulty disc mechanism and or
lost remote ETC on eBay.
Not bad for a pretty fair combined ADC and DAC.

Yup - I used one for some time to convert the toslink feed from my TV to
analogue for the external sound system. Mainly because the usual toslink
to analogue convertors didn't produce a high enough audio level signal.

--
*If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?

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

Digital Recorder
 

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
Yes go back and use a computer. It works better has better editing and
snap crackle pop removal in editing software.

Brian

I do transfers from shellac, vinyl,
analogue tape 38cm/s and 19cm/s and
sometimes even C cassettes!! on a daily basis,

I find a stand-alone recorder (the Tascam SS R100)
to be the best solution. Then I take the transferred
material on USB or SD card to the workstation for post.

Iain

Digital Recorder
 

RJH said:
On 02/06/2017 20:51, Richard Robinson wrote:
Woody said:
"RJH" wrote in message
...
I'd like to digitise a couple of LPs, and have the facility to do a
few more as and when. I'm looking to get a standalone unit as
lashing up the computer is inconvenient, plus I like the idea of
having the tracks on the device or portable media like an SD card.

Any recommendations please? I was thinking of maybe up to £200 new
or secondhand. This looks to be OK, but does more than I need:

http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/tascam_sd-20m.htm

Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

If we're talking 2ndhand from ebay, I'd say a Zoom pocket recorder's a
better idea. I've had a Zoom H2 for a few years now, and it works well
(it's the nicest pocket recorder I've ever had) - choice of formats, from
lowgrade pm3 to better-then-CD wav, plus it records onto SD as the OP said.
And should be well within that price range.


I had thought of a portable. I would be looking to get as good a
recording as possible - so would need to be sure that the A-D conversion
was as good as can be.

Not a great interface for playing them back, mind, if that's the idea. And
if you wanted separate tracks you'd need to either punch the buttons in real
time or do the inconvenient lashing-up-the-computer thing to split them out.
But I'm not sure there's a way round that. [ being Wrong On Usenet is a very
good way of finding things out ]. It'd be a convenient way of getting vinyl
onto an SD card if you didn't want to fire up a computer. There might be
better devices for playing it back.


Playing back would not be the main use, and I'd edit the files on a
desktop computer.

That was how I digitised my vinyl - play into the zoom h2, then USB the
resulting file into the computer to tidy up; because I had one already for
other purposes and I reckoned a dedicated sound gadget would probably have a
better ADC than a generic computer. But it may not have absolutely the best
ADC that's available, I don't really know how to read the specs or rate
them. (These 64yo ears are content with the result, that's all I can say)


--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Digital Recorder
 

UnsteadyKen said:
In article ,
says...
Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

Only if you're using one of the early analogue MD recorders:-)

Ah, okay. I was :-) Then that + lossy compression led me to jump ship in
favour of something lossless that spoke USB, so I lost touch & hadn't been
aware of their later development.


--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Digital Recorder
 

Brian Gaff said:
Seems an awful waste of money if you only want to do a few.

I still feel that any old xp computer and decent sound caard wiill do the
job.

I think the quality of the A-to-D conversion is relevant. Plus, in some
cases, a different gadget can be more convenient in terms of cabling,
depending on where the various bits of gear are in the room(s).


--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html

Digital Recorder
 

In article , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes:

In article ,
Richard Robinson wrote:
Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record you
disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using something
like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

MiniDisc is digital. Some have digital out so could transfer to the
computer in the digital domain if you have a soundcard which accepts this.
But the data compression system MiniDisc uses is rather old and may not be
the best.

Weren't all the UK Minidisc recorders (and possibly EU ones too)
restricted to not having digital out? I looked for one to transfer
some live recordings of my band from and couldn't find one.

--
Mike Fleming

Digital Recorder
 

In article ,
Mike Fleming wrote:
In article , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes:

In article ,
Richard Robinson wrote:
Have a dig on eBay for a hi-fi type Sony minidisc recorder. Record
you disk, then take the recorder to your PC and record it using
something like Audacity.

Minidisc ? It'd still need digitising, no ?

MiniDisc is digital. Some have digital out so could transfer to the
computer in the digital domain if you have a soundcard which accepts
this. But the data compression system MiniDisc uses is rather old and
may not be the best.

Weren't all the UK Minidisc recorders (and possibly EU ones too)
restricted to not having digital out? I looked for one to transfer some
live recordings of my band from and couldn't find one.

Dunno them all. I've certainly seen toslink out on them. But MiniDisc was
only ever designed as a domestic format - never as a mastering one.
Although it did find uses in broadcast, as rather better than things like
NAB carts.

--
*Procrastinate now

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

Digital Recorder
 

In article ,
Richard
Robinson wrote:
Brian Gaff said:
Seems an awful waste of money if you only want to do a few.

I still feel that any old xp computer and decent sound caard wiill do
the job.

I think the quality of the A-to-D conversion is relevant. Plus, in some
cases, a different gadget can be more convenient in terms of cabling,
depending on where the various bits of gear are in the room(s).

A point to bear in mind is that default 'internal soundcards' on computers
may have little or nothing in the way of an 'analogue gain control' stage
*before* the ADC section. This can be a real problem if you can't
externally adjust the levels and are 'out of luck'.

And they may also have lousy rejection of electronic noises from elsewhere
inside the computer.

I'd be happy to accept there are superb exceptions. But I've never found
one that came with the machine when buying a general purpose 'PC' or
laptop.

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Digital Recorder
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

But MiniDisc was
only ever designed as a domestic format - never as a mastering one.


Why on earth would anyone want to master to Minidisc:-)))


Although it did find uses in broadcast, as rather better than things like
NAB carts.

They were ubiquitous in radio. I still have a Denon DN M991R
"professional" minidisc recorder, (a very impressivge and well built
machine with balanced analogue in and out on XLRs and AES/EBU
in and out also. It has a hard wired remote and a conector
for keyboard) It was consigned long ago to the glass
cabinet together with the 2" editing block and Chinagraph pencil.

http://erecycleronline.com/audio-vid...-is-57592.html

Comparison with even a 38cm/s tape master showed the
mindisc format to be rather dull and lifeless. lacking in lustre,
- high woodwinds, cymbals, and strings in particular.

Iain

Digital Recorder
 

"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Richard
Robinson wrote:
Brian Gaff said:
Seems an awful waste of money if you only want to do a few.

I still feel that any old xp computer and decent sound caard wiill do
the job.

I think the quality of the A-to-D conversion is relevant. Plus, in some
cases, a different gadget can be more convenient in terms of cabling,
depending on where the various bits of gear are in the room(s).

A point to bear in mind is that default 'internal soundcards' on computers
may have little or nothing in the way of an 'analogue gain control' stage
*before* the ADC section. This can be a real problem if you can't
externally adjust the levels and are 'out of luck'.

And they may also have lousy rejection of electronic noises from elsewhere
inside the computer.

I'd be happy to accept there are superb exceptions. But I've never found
one that came with the machine when buying a general purpose 'PC' or
laptop.

Jim


A cigar for that man:-)

Iain