Vinyl

[NW-Bound]

Yes, sadly digital media do not have the lifespan that we hope for. One would need to make multiple copies, and refresh them. We discussed this before in another thread.

However, like you said, records do not play long enough. Not even LP. I like to put on a
DVD-MP3 and have it randomly play all day (>500 songs). I do not have many records, by the way.

Back on digitizing, my point was that for purists, wouldn't the higher sampling rate be something to experiment with, not the common 44KHz? I have too many things going on now to toy with that, but thought you or someone else might want to give it a shot.

 

[Nodak]

It just occurs to me that there is something you record aficionado audiophiles might have tried already.

What's wrong with trying to capture the sound of your beloved album, i.e, digitizing it for posterity? I mean if you believe the CD audio quality of 44,100 Hz sampling and 16-bit resolution is not enough, you can get better sound cards for a reasonable price now. How much does it cost to get something with, say, 24-bit resolution and 192 KHz sampling or such? The sound files will be huge, but with terabyte HDs so cheap now, who cares?

Can you really tell the digitized sound from the original then? Except for the nostalgia of watching the platter spin, what will you be missing?

I have been doing that for some time now. I use 24 bit with 320Kbps sampling whenever possible. The files are indeed enormous but, the resulting sound is very good. MP3s made from those files sound excellent in my car sound system. The problems come in attaching my good turntable to my computer system. It's cumbersome to do and the fact that I have to use the computer for other things means it won't stay connected for long. As for how long they will last I don't know. Have never had a problem with a commercially produced CD but those I have made for use in my car have a limited life span before skips and other problems appear.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

What's wrong with trying to capture the sound of your beloved album, i.e, digitizing it for posterity? I mean if you believe the CD audio quality of 44,100 Hz sampling and 16-bit resolution is not enough, you can get better sound cards for a reasonable price now. How much does it cost to get something with, say, 24-bit resolution and 192 KHz sampling or such? The sound files will be huge, but with terabyte HDs so cheap now, who cares?

Like you, my hearing is deteriorating, so the nuances of high fidelity are lost on me now. OTOH, it doesn't detract much at all from my enjoyment of music
I think lots of folks are digitizing their albums. There are turntable digitize gadgets available for just this. I doubt may true audiophiles are doing this though.

I used to be an audiophile, and spent embarrassing amounts of money on high-end equipment. After a while, we noticed that we were not listening to our LPs any more and decided to cull them. We spent several evening listening to just a minute or so of each (of several hundred LPs) and were amazed at the quality differences in the recordings.

There was no rhyme or reason to it either. Some recordings from well-regarded labels such as Deutsche Grammophon (not to pick on them) were just awful. Some old pop albums could make our bazillion dollar stereo sound like a transistor radio. Some recording from bargain-basement labels were lovely. I recall that we stopped and listened through our entire collection of Beatles LPs because the recordings were so great. Los Panchos recordings from the 50s were stunning.

The exercise left me thinking that the most important person other than the performer is the recording engineer, and they are almost never credited.

 

[NW-Bound]

Please don't tar and feather me, but I have many more audio cassettes than records.

I have digitized them with standard 44KHz PC hardware, then applied filtering to reduce hiss. Sounds OK, not great. But then the original sound was already mediocre.

 

[Nodak]

Beatles albums were always well done. I remember how amazing the sound on "Sgt Pepper" was when it came out in 1967. It showed how good stereo recording could be.

 

[Danny]

let us not be forgetting the importance of the album art - Half-priced Books is selling frames for them

Like the album autographs that bbbamI posted especially the p.s. by Doug Ingle to "Take Care"...

Also there are some records that have not been put on CD

I'm now playing my 42 year old In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida record and remembering when they came to our college basketball floor in 69 - the clouds of smoke that started whafting from Ingle's head when they hit the first notes of In-A is still in my head.


I too think the Bon Scott AC/DC era was the best - he was scary. Next up: If You Want Blood You've Got It

 

[bbbamI]

let us not be forgetting the importance of the album art - Half-priced Books is selling frames for them

Like the album autographs that bbbamI posted especially the p.s. by Doug Ingle to "Take Care"...

Also there are some records that have not been put on CD

I'm now playing my 42 year old In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida record and remembering when they came to our college basketball floor in 69 - the clouds of smoke that started whafting from Ingle's head when they hit the first notes of In-A is still in my head.


I too think the Bon Scott AC/DC era was the best - he was scary. Next up: If You Want Blood You've Got It

Oh...that did it! I'm gonna get my IB album and listen to In-A... I think I'll turn my speakers on so that they will play outside on my patio. Gonna let the neighbors enjoy it as well! .....

 

[Danny]

Oh...that did it! I'm gonna get my IB album and listen to In-A... I think I'll turn my speakers on so that they will play outside on my patio. Gonna let the neighbors enjoy it as well! .....

Hell Yeah!

 

[RonBoyd]

Yes, its done all the time. I have the software and have done it at the 44K CD resolution level - it comes out OK but does not sound to me as good as the original and like I said its very time consuming.

Which is why I am considering this solution:

Victoria Retrowriter - Vinyl and/or AUX to CDs (GDI-C2CDRW) [GDI-C2CDRW] - $249.99 :

It would also take care of my Cassette problem also.

 

[RonBoyd]

MP3s made from those files sound excellent in my car sound system.

Now, this is where I do have a problem. For whatever reason (and my ears are really old), I can hear the difference between compressed and uncompressed audio files -- in addition, an hour or so of headphones and MP3s give me a splitting headache. Same is true of several hours in the car on a road trip. Of course, WAV files are very large but worth it (IMHO).

 

[RonBoyd]

Also there are some records that have not been put on CD

All the more reason to digitize. Some of those recordings from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s are incredible. The Carter Family recordings for instance... or Fats Waller... the list is long.

 

[ejman]

Which is why I am considering this solution:

Victoria Retrowriter - Vinyl and/or AUX to CDs (GDI-C2CDRW) [GDI-C2CDRW] - $249.99 :

It would also take care of my Cassette problem also.

It's hard to know what the quality of these recordings would be since I'm not familiar with that particular unit. Generally speaking, the all in one converters I've seen are very cheaply made and in particular, the turntable portion is of very poor quality. Keep in mind that for an LP to sound good, the record has to turn at exactly the right speed, with no wobble, the tonearm has to have high quality bearings with low friction, and the cartridge has to have a high quality stylus.

I've had good results with my office system ( Marantz 27 receiver, Dual 1019 Turntable and Shure M91 ED cartridge) into my computer using software made by a Dutch Company (Polderbits). That equipment sold for approximately
$600 circa 1970 or so...

If that company has a good return policy it might be worth it but if you already have a good stereo system and a turntable its not all that hard to hook up to a computer to do the conversions with what you may already have

 

[RonBoyd]

... but if you already have a good stereo system and a turntable its not all that hard to hook up to a computer to do the conversions with what you may already have

Nah. This is my turntable:

Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : AT-PL50 : Fully-automatic Stereo Turntable System

I have hooked it directly to my computer and recorded the music (Total Recorder) but that's kind of a hassle. I am looking for something a little less time consuming.

 

[Nodak]

Nah. This is my turntable:

Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : AT-PL50 : Fully-automatic Stereo Turntable System

I have hooked it directly to my computer and recorded the music (Total Recorder) but that's kind of a hassle. I am looking for something a little less time consuming.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought of looking for a TT with USB.

 

[RonBoyd]

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought of looking for a TT with USB.

Oh! This TT is not a USB device (although that is a great thought), it plugs directly into the sound card in the computer.

 

[Nodak]

Oh! This TT is not a USB device (although that is a great thought), it plugs directly into the sound card in the computer.

I looked at your link and found the AT-LP120-USB that has USB output from the TT. It's a little pricey at $429 but it may be worth it for transferring some old records.

 

[RonBoyd]

I looked at your link and found the AT-LP120-USB that has USB output from the TT. It's a little pricey at $429 but it may be worth it for transferring some old records.

Oh, wow! Nice catch. I was put off by the price until

Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB Record Turntable - AT-LP120-USB - Buy.com

Somewhat in the ball park, I guess.

 

[Nodak]

Great find on the Buy.com price. Thanks.