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Post by James T. Kirk on Feb 12, 2022 10:54:15 GMT -6
Back a few years ago I bought a turntable that came with software that loads on my laptop that will convert all our old 45 and 33 rpm vinyl to digital. I installed it in a matter of minutes. Right now I'm listening to the Beach Boys 69 Live in London album. I plugged the turntable into an auxiliary plug on my Bose Wave radio. It sounds pretty good. After staring at this turntable for too long I've finally decided to get started. The first step was to order a vinyl cleaning kit from Amazon. I'll do them a little at a time. Once I'm finished I'll probably try to sell the records while there's a resurgence of sorts.
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Post by lowell on Feb 13, 2022 0:14:33 GMT -6
I wonder if it can create higher definition files than CD audio (CDA). Neil Young was advocating for a music format that created music that was closer to the quality you get when you play vinyl. I know that some MP3 creation programs allow higher definition (of course they are bulkier files too). I'm not sure if Neil was trying for more definition than a wav (wave file).
"Neil Young's Pono High Resolution Audio Project"
"The process of creating good-sounding version of much smaller file-sizes for audio began in the early 90s with the mp2 and then mp3. To give you an example of the difference in file size between what is on a CD and the mp3 version - if you take a song from a CD and convert it (people call this "ripping" for some reason) to mp3, you end up with a file that is about a tenth the size of the original file on the CD. For example, a song on a CD might be a 40MB wav file. But when ripped to mp3, it ends up only 4MB.
Additionally, even the files on the CD are technically lower quality than the master recording. CD standards require a 16-bit file (see our article on bit-depth in audio recording) and a 44.1 KHz sampling rate (see our article on sampling frequency). But master recordings used to make those CDs are almost always 24-bit and either 48KHz or 96 KHz. So even CDs are "lower rez" than the master recording."
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Post by James T. Kirk on Feb 13, 2022 5:13:48 GMT -6
I don't think this is hi-tech software. It's pretty much click the "record" button and drop the stylus arm. I'm sure there's much better equipment out there than this. I should get the cleaning kit today. Once I get that and read the manual I'll see what it does. Most of these records haven't been played in 40+ years. I just look forward to hearing them as they sounded then.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Feb 19, 2022 9:43:48 GMT -6
Well I got my vinyl cleaning kit a few days ago and thought I'd get the 45s done today. I might not need to do the 33s because they are all in the original jackets. So I sat for a couple of hours and did the 21 45s I had found awhile back. Not bad, I thought. Then I wondered about a record I thought I had had that wasn't in the stack. So down the basement I went and after a brief search I found the other 113 45s I missed. Good Grief!!! I might have to rethink this project. I definitely need to order more 45 sleeves.
{{{{{SIGH}}}}}
UPDATE: Well, all 134 of the 45s are cleaned. I've randomly played portions of about 30 of them and most of them sound surprisingly good, so I think cleaning them first was a good idea. I had 100 sleeves so I ordered a 50 pack from Amazon that should be here tomorrow afternoon. I'll probably do an Excel spreadsheet inventory. There will be some I won't have to convert because I have the same songs on albums.
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Post by lowell on Feb 20, 2022 1:38:35 GMT -6
Compare the sound of one of the 45s when played, with the digital version that is produced by the turntable. Listen to one and then listen to the other and see how much difference there is. You may like the original from the vinyl much better. In that case you will want to store them again after converting them.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Feb 20, 2022 4:27:09 GMT -6
I'm far from an audiophile. I just like the music more than the sound I guess. Plus, I'm trying to declutter and get rid of things I don't use. If I can get all this music on a high capacity thumb drive or a small number of disks where I can actually listen to them I'll be pretty happy. The records would probably be thrown out after I'm gone anyway, so if I can get a few bucks for them while there's a resurgence of interest in them I'll sell them.
Right now, in addition to cleaning the records, I'm checking out a couple of different kinds of audio software. I'm not crazy about the one that came with my turntable. I'm also waiting to get my other laptop back from my computer repair guy so I can devote it to this project. Once I get everything hooked up I think it will go fairly quickly.
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Post by lowell on Feb 20, 2022 17:49:19 GMT -6
I'm glad to hear that you're checking out other kinds of audio software. Computer storage is generous enough in quantity now, that we don't need to compress files to save room on a terabyte storage device. In my town we have a music store (still in operation despite covid) where people look for old vinyl in addition to CDs. You could offer them to a store like that if they accept them all and pay a modest price, once you have digital versions equivalent in quality to the originals.
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