Recording Technique

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Gill

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Does anyone have any advice on how to record music from vinyl to computer? I'm using a program called Goldwave to do this and the problem I'm experiencing is that the voices of ladies singing a capella is very harsh. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any way to limit the input levels with Goldwave other than adjusting the volume.

Do I need to use some sort of filter, such as an equalizer or a band pass, and what settings should I use? I'm a complete novice in this field.

Gill
 
Hi Gill,

I use a sound card in my desktop computer called "M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Professional Audio Card with S/PDIF and MIDI". There are better cards available now days.

It is considerably cheaper than when I purchased mine. It was state of the art then. It can be looked at/purchased at the following web site for $99 US:

http://www.djmart.com/djgear/mau24praucaw.html

I use Dart Pro 98 (newest version is Dart Pro XP) available from:

http://www.dartpro.com/

where you can download a demo which I think has demonstration files. But, while I have created scripts that pretty much automates the job, one can easily overprocess and end up like you describe or worse. But you can always roll back and process again. With Dart Pro you can also test the processing before you commit it.

If you want high quality audio off the vinyl, you need the hardware (sound card) and good software (Dart Pro).

I have way too many vinyl records from current LPs going back to 16" transcription discs from the 1920s. The quality is great--better than the LPs if one plays with it enough.
 
Gill

I have tried many different 'freeware' programs that are availible on the net. But in the end have found that the best tool for the job is Steinberg's WaveLab

It is prety techy and expensive. But I just found that I did not have enough control over the alternatives. I also have an M-Audio Audiophile 192 Card.

Doesn't help much, I know :oops:
 
Funny that, yesterday bought a Portable Record Player 8-[ and looked through 1000's of vinyls to find as many Queen ones as i could :D

Only found 1 in a charity shop and three on a stall in the market :roll:

No help i know :p

Ta, Tom
 
Thanks for the help guys. I was rather hoping to resolve the difficulties without splashing cash. Ah well... :roll:

Gill
 
Hi Gill
I've used Goldwave for some of my old vinyls, and thought it did a pretty reasonable job, on the whole. However, IIRC, the problem you are experiencing is due to the fact that you have no control over the original channels, and I don't see how you can overcome that.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,
Cheers
Steve
 
THe best tool I have found for this sort of application is Audacity. YOU have full control over channels and input output levels and there are a range of available filters to affect the sound with, you may find something that will help the harshness of the sound. NB MAY. Being open source it means that theres a wide development community and you can if you choose write your own filters or fiddle with the application source code if you have those kind of urges. The best part is that, being open source, its free.

you can find it at http://audacity.sourceforge.net
 
:D That Audacity is a very nifty program - just the ticket! Many thanks for the suggestion, it's exactly what I was looking for.

Gill
 
Beware, Audacity uses a LOT of system recources, makes sure you're PC is up to it.
 
Does it? It hardly tickles my system and this isnt a stateof the art box, not a poor setup but certainly not this years model.
 

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