| Jam Monkey 29.08.2009 18:02 |
Well, I am finally getting around to recording all my vinyl on to my PC, so it much easier to listen to. The thing is I only want to do this once, so I want to make the best recording possible. Can anyone advise me the bit rate I should record at? As a standard my program is set to 44.1Khz, but seems to go up to 96. Does the higher setting yield any better recording? I myself can't tell the difference but I don't have the best hearing in the world. Also as I don't want to use up my whole hard drive could anyone recommend an easy to use FLAC encoder? Many thanks |
| inu-liger 29.08.2009 18:43 |
CllrP wrote: Well, I am finally getting around to recording all my vinyl on to my PC, so it much easier to listen to. The thing is I only want to do this once, so I want to make the best recording possible. Can anyone advise me the bit rate I should record at? As a standard my program is set to 44.1Khz, but seems to go up to 96. Does the higher setting yield any better recording? I myself can't tell the difference but I don't have the best hearing in the world.The higher resolution will yield a smoother waveform, so 96/24 would be recommended, especially if an opportunity ever arises to trade some vinyl-related rarities through the 'net :-) 96/24 is getting pretty common in some online (albeit private) album trading communities for vinyl transfers, even some 192/24 transfers occasionally show up from time to time, and more recently we've been seeing some Queen bootlegs from the 1970's receiving new 96/24 high-def transfers/remasters from the original master cassette tapes! Also as I don't want to use up my whole hard drive could anyone recommend an easy to use FLAC encoder? Many thanks You can use FLAC Frontend, available here: link For playback, your player of choice may require a 3rd party plugin, however some popular players do automatically come with internal FLAC plugins now, like Winamp and foobar2000 (the latter which also can serve as an encoder, with some nifty advanced features :-) ) |
| Jam Monkey 30.08.2009 09:39 |
Many thanks for your advice, looks like I need a bigger hard drive to cope with all these files! |
| Dane 30.08.2009 11:49 |
Use a good amplifier between the record player and the pc. I've been digitising vinyl for a couple of years now, and having the ability to adjust the bass-treble with the amp can really increase the sound and/or power of your recording (without distorting it). If available, use a tube-amplifier instead of a transistor amp. But these are very expensive. But the overall sound will blow your mind! cheers and good luck! |
| FriedChicken 04.09.2009 05:02 |
Seriously, why would you transfer vinyl.... |
| Dane 04.09.2009 10:45 |
I guess for the odd single edit and/or acetate transfer, the rest has become a bit useless |
| The Real Wizard 05.09.2009 14:22 |
FriedChicken wrote: Seriously, why would you transfer vinyl.... Some people have loved their old records for decades and would like to have a digital copy of the music, even if it doesn't sound as good as a CD. They'll be listening to the exact copies that were well-loved for so long. That, and some people simply prefer the warmth of vinyl. |
| mooghead 05.09.2009 14:24 |
If your hearing isnt the best in the world then does it matter? And flac is well and good but cannot improve sounds from other formats. |
| Jam Monkey 09.09.2009 08:32 |
FriedChicken wrote: Seriously, why would you transfer vinyl.... Because I have loads of various edits, remixes, non-album tracks, promos etc on vinyl, and it's a real pain to keep taking them all out to play. Sometimes you just want to listen to the extended remix of Staying Power... |
| Adam Baboolal 10.09.2009 08:17 |
Vinyl is where I aspire to go with certain albums. Especially the Queen albums. I once heard a vinyl sample of MOTBQueen here and it really perked my interest in hearing the vinyl versions. In fact, there's a guy on youtube that put up Killer Queen playing on vinyl - link For me, it has a really nice quality. He has others on youtube, I believe. Brian did say that the Dvd-A (MLP encode) was closest to sounding like vinyl and I think I hear what he means. So, yeah, for those interested in vinyl, it's well worth getting. But if you just want cd's, just stick with your cd's. Adam. |
| thomasquinn 32989 10.09.2009 14:03 |
When recording analog -> digital, the bitrate is far more important than the frequency range. Personally, I'd recommend you record at 48kHz/32-bit, then downsample/convert (with dithering) to 44.1kHz/16-bit for optimum result on your cd. |
| Adam Baboolal 10.09.2009 14:47 |
I would advise sampling your collection at 24bit / 88.2kHz. This will allow you to sample them down evenly without any dithering issues, to 44.1kHz. It depends if that's your destination. I guess it also depends on what software and dithering options are available to you. However, if you have a great card/preamp and can afford 192kHz - go for that! What would be interesting to go along with 192kHz, would be a lossless playback for such a high rate. I don't have the time to research these things at the mo as I'm going to be very busy for the next 2 days with my computers. If someone with the knowledge can step in to help this guy, please do. Adam. |
| Yara 10.09.2009 14:48 |
Weird that. I still listen to vinyl a whole lot. It must be for emotional reasons. I have a big vinyl collection which I thoroughly enjoy, though I can’t say whether I’m so fond of it because of its sound or simply because I inherited it from my father and it reminds me of cheerful moments from the past. Maybe both! Some people do say that vinyls sound better and so on, but frankly I think my decision of sticking with them is based more on emotional than technical grounds. Nowadays it’s getting harder and harder to keep such collections. Space factors into the equation, not only musical taste - my place is so small that sometimes I have the impression I live in a maze of vinyls and books with a piano on top. I’ve been sleeping on a lousy old couch because a lot of stuff is strewn over my bed and last weekend I found a piece of underwear behind the refrigerator, I’m not kidding! There’s not a proper kitchen, you know, it’s more like a compromise between a dining room and a kitchen...and a bedroom This is so dysfunctional. And see, can you imagine the dust these things bring into the place? It’s a whole lot of dust - vinyls ÷ books = fungi and bacteria which may turn the whole place into an ancient Egyptian tomb. What if people start dying after dropping by? Will the papers run those sensationalist columns? I think about these things... It’s all to say that nowadays - as if it had been any different before, but... - space is as scarce a resource as our hard-earned money. "Scarce" in a very artificial sense: business creates an artificial demand that makes it more expensive than it would be without rampant speculation. There’s enough room for people in the big cities here, that’s not really the issue...maybe not room enough for people and their cars, though. Well... Strewth! I went totally off-topic, but my point is: there will come a time when people like myself will be FORCED into giving up vinyls or even books in favor of other media. FORCED by the circumstances. It’s going to get more and more expensive to live in a place where one can accommodate all this stuff. "Shut up, Yara", you’ll say, but I think about these things: if I hadn’t grown up as if I were in the seventies, it’s very likely I’d have for my studies nowadays only e-books, music files and a keyboard linked to the computer working as a sound central. I still have a mammoth piano, vinyls and books, though. I would record things nowadays, if I were a composer, in the most user-friendly and functional way, making it easier and easier to produce and mix the stuff and passing it on for other people to listen to. That’s my advice: don’t do what I do! Get rid of clumsy things. Cd’s take a lot of room too. Put it all in a pen drive or portable hard-disk and take it to the guy who’s going to listen to it, seriously. Or take your notebook. The time of people like me has ended. I’m an old lady already before having had the chance of getting old and mature. I take a lot of space being tall. A neighbor said so one day: "Indeed, these elevators were not made for people like yourself", as I leaned my head downwards as a clumsy ostrich. Good luck, though... : - ( (panicking) |
| Jam Monkey 10.09.2009 18:21 |
Well, I just bought a new sound card thats capable of 96/24 recording so that is what I will do. I'm not going to transfer it to CD, so no worries there, I listento all my music on my computer. Now if that vinyl I ordered on ebay would just turn up... |