Somebody kick me up the bum
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New member Username: Steve542England Post Number: 5 Registered: Aug-05 | Ok. 4 wine glasses down. So, why is it that I have put together a decent rig, have been lurking watching the posts re flat earth <yes!> have a nice top-end ADC, more IT exprience then most [mostly as I'm so old] and can digitally drop pops, crackle ... & can set up a tone arm by seeing distortion on digital output from a HiFi standards LP. And am sitting here jus doing some housekeeping. Boy, furniture needs moving and dusting some. I've only about 60 discs, but they include core Bowie, Yes and Zappa works which are gagging to go. [the jazz improv work on Zappa's Black Page makes my mind melt - what could that guy's band not do when he wanted??] Somebody kick me up the bum. Why am I hanging back? Tell me! Steve PS make that 5 glasses. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 5373 Registered: May-04 | Maybe you don't want to know how it actually sounds. |
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New member Username: Steve542England Post Number: 7 Registered: Aug-05 | ... should sound OK. Hm. i think it's like keeping stuff for years so you can savour it when you're elderly; to bring back memories and moments long lost. Part of me does not want to say I'm at that stage! Don't think so; but I also know that I have the kit to do the recordings now and make a reasonable job of it. I'll post link to a sample later on. Steve PS it was Chillean cab sav. Where'd it all go? |
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Silver Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 820 Registered: Sep-04 | OK, so recently I opened a 1982 Pauillac, a 1984 Graves, a 1986 Pauillace and a 1977 Delaforce. All had been burned due to overheating!!! The wines were a particularly refined vinegar and the port was just shot. I was quite sad about this, although I had anticipated that it might be the case, since I had brought the wines back from France in the early nineties. Perhaps this is what you fear Steve? The anticipation might be so much more to savour than the fact? Good luck whenever you drum up the courage... Regards, Frank. - resolved to drink his wines sooner rather than later from now on... |
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New member Username: Steve542England Post Number: 8 Registered: Aug-05 | Hi.. Hmmm. Anticipation... had to check it out! So I took a bash as had 1/2 a day free. And here it is - this is about as good as I can do short of spending a lot and investing days over each LP. But overall, the result is bright and enjoyable; I'm quite pleased with it. Definitely sounds better then when I first listened to the record! The results are CD to CD+ quality  to my ears anyhow. Should be nice through headphones. Here is a sample; I will take this down after 2 weeks. This is half-ish of an 18 min side, my website won't take the size of the whole thing. Recording + working just one side has taken c. 3 hours -- there is quite a lot of hand crafting. The source is a 2nd hand 1976 LP of Mr. F Zappa in New York; it's been played a fair bit and had quite a lot of clicks + noise. I recorded it at 96K samples per second; not quite as fast as I'd like but there we go -- best I can do. And it's in 24bit resolution. If you want to hear, you'll need to download it to play. And you will need an ogg player (simple one: Zinf or a full-bore does everything: the glorious MediaMonkey). I always use ogg files as these have better quality then mp3. Technique was: All electronics floating / double isolated + power stepped down to halve noise and remove hum loops on phono side. Deck is a PL12D + Shure M75ED II into a Yamaha CA-610 amp which boasts a lo-noise MOSFET preamp, then out to a Creative Labs external SBLive! 24bit USB ADC -- and onto a laptop as a .wav file. That gives a "raw" file; everything the needle hit during play. Plus alas quite a bit of hum, all low level but I can still hear it. Thence across network onto a fast Linux box and work on it using gwc (gnome wave cleaner) and audacity. Most clicks removed (using ear, hand and a gwc de-click. gwc is very cleaver and uses techniques developed in universities over decades for this job but click detection is best by ear). There seems to be a section which sounds odd around 7 mins into the recording; a slapping sound like ..what? a bad instrumental? damage? well it's just there. Don't think I can fix that. Other stuff -- cheated with hum removal by using a noise filter which can remove specific noise frequencies (you "educate" it then it takes those out)... drawback: it can overclean quiet passages; there is some slight evidence of this. The alternative alas adds hours per side as I'd have to isolate each hum component (worst is 100Hz, but harmonics abound in div 2 and times 2 each way from 50Hz -- lowest seen is 6.25Hz up to 400Hz) and remove by hand using very narrow notch filters. Boy that's slow. Steve PS ..if you don't know zappa, he often messes about. The 1st 2 mins or so is a "pallete cleanser" of very un-commercial sounds, so to reset your ears. Stay with it - it does get very good. And rewards being played load. |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 427 Registered: Feb-04 | Holy Moly! I thought this was a wine thread..... [Frank, too bad about that Port. Gives me fear and loathing about the '77 Fonseca in my cellar. The Bordeaux I understand...people always wait too long on them.] |
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New member Username: Steve542England Post Number: 9 Registered: Aug-05 | Yes! sorry. 1. Open a bottle and let it stand 2. Download MediaMonkey Standard from: http://www.tucows.com/preview/336595 or http://www.mediamonkey.com/download.htm and install it. 3. Download the .ogg (it's big at about 20M) and have a glass. 4. Have another glass. 4B. (for dialup modem users) finish the bottle and open another. 5. Hey! DL is finished! 6. Pour next glass. MediaMonkey should play or tell it to play etc. 7. Enjoy! Steve |
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Silver Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 831 Registered: Sep-04 | John Thanks for the sentiments. The wines would have been fine had it not been for one particularly hot summer when I had to store them in an inappropriate place for a while. My fault! 77 Fonseca - very nice indeed, but not drinking yet, still closed. Strictly speaking needs another 7 to 10 years methinks, perhaps more. We're having another hot year but luckily my wines are in a safer place than last time! And this time I have several ports which I would be really annoyed to ruin... Regards, Frank. |
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Gold Member Username: John_aLondonU.K. Post Number: 3749 Registered: Dec-03 | Steve, Please, what is "a nice top-end ADC".....? If it is a turntable, make sure it is not in the same room as the speakers. I had one of those, once; it was a re-invention of the microphone. I do not think there is a way to remove acoustic feedback, once it has crept in. |
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New member Username: Steve542England Post Number: 10 Registered: Aug-05 | Hi John, this is speaking rather technically... a nice top-end ADC (perhaps over-egged there) being the Creative Labs Analogue to Digital Converter. Actually it's cheap in $$ terms but good in audio terms by today's standards (v. good by standards of the LP I'm playing). In a moderm audio lab with $much to spend, then it's poor thing. There are no speakers. The record player's phono lines go into a phono preamp in the Yamaha which conditions it into a "Line" grade (1v peak-peak into 47K ohms) electrical signal - which goes into the ADC. Here it is digitised and can be understood by a computer. There is no final amp; at that stage I listen to what the PC hears through headphones. With everything running I can hear everything the stylus needle finds on the vinyl. Yes, speakers are good ways to turn record players into mikes! Steve |
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Gold Member Username: John_aLondonU.K. Post Number: 3751 Registered: Dec-03 | Steve, Thanks. I understand, now. |
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