Digitizing your vinyl - Which ones did you do today?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tvstrategies, Aug 7, 2017.

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  1. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down. Thread Starter

    I've set myself to digitizing the records I never bought on CD. Saving two copies: one in AIFF 16/48 for home and the other in MP3/320 for the car.

    My first five:

    The Nightfly Donald Fagen (R.L.)
    How Late'll Ya Play 'Til? David Bromberg
    Blues & Ballads Vol I & II Luther Dickinson (yes it had a download code, 256)
    Dire Straits (1st)
    Solid Air John Martyn

    800 to go. My Ortofon 2M Bronze is about broken in. Records are sounding PRET-ty GOOD with it. I memorized The Nightfly more than 30 years ago, yet the Bronze has revealed music I've never heard in there, even on CD. At some point the only CDs I still own will be those never were issued on vinyl, like a lot of indie and elecronic music, and those Miles Davis Complete Sessions box sets.

    What's the last one you digitized, and was it better than the CD issue? It's a great excuse to listen to music you haven't heard in a while, and a fun way to downsize (selling the CDs on Discogs and maybe here too!)
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2017
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  2. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I suppose the last one I've digitized was Arcade Fire - The Suburbs , because the CD was horribly mastered (they made a lacquer, then digitized THAT... POORLY!), and the vinyl seems to be a straightforward tape-to-lacquer mastering. Night and day better!

    Same goes for Danger Mouse - Rome. It was recorded to tape, and then totally screwed with for the CD mastering; they pinched the sound stage, rolled off the highs, and even sped up the recording... it's like an Instagram filter for audio. :( Meanwhile the vinyl is a straightforward mastering!

    Sadly, the last analog item I digitized was the Radiohead OKNOTOK bonus demo cassette.
    Spent 3 hours recording, cleaning up, splitting and downsampling... only to discover a download code for the content in the box. And the download sounds 100% cleaner than the cassette. SIGH. Waste of my time. HAHA
     
  3. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down. Thread Starter

    Yeah but what was the bit-rate and file format of the download? I imagine you created something better - lossless or at least 320 if MP3...

    Off topic, I see you're in Seattle - used vinyl store heaven. New stores all the time. I discovered one in Ravenna off 65th yesterday, and there's a new one on Fremont Ave, with bins full of $2-3 records in good shape...
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2017
  4. Linus

    Linus Senior Member

    Location:
    Melb. Australia
    Today (and yesterday), I did a few Dave Edmunds albums:
    Get It
    Subtle As A Flying Mallet
    Repeat When Necessary
    Rockpile
    All needledropped with my trusty old Cooledit software.
    Inspired by reading of his retirement on this forum.
     
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  5. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Yeah I did my recording at 24/192 but the download was 16/44.1 WAV!
    And because the music was obviously the source sent to a cassette, the download was technically a generation lower than my work. So I'm going with the download instead!

    I'll check out the new shop on Ravenna! Had no clue!

    And oh yes, $2-$5 shop in Fremont (Jive Time's cull bins and over stock area in the Vintage Shop I'm guessing?). I've got plenty of really good 1st pressings in VG+ condition there. At least 50 solid rock records, including a ton of $1 DG classicals that were mint!
     
  6. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    You should checkout Audacity. Easy to use, free, has a lot of mastering effects/tools built in, and can do hi res. I love it.

    But splitting tracks is tricky, so I use CD WAVE EDITOR (I think that's the name) which is super precise and handles 24bit files. It's a freeware program made for live show traders like Deadheads and Dave Matthews guys.
     
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  7. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down. Thread Starter

    Not Jive Time, actually. It's uphill, on the east side of Fremont Ave, called Daybreak Records. The one in Ravenna is M&L. Theres another good one across from (the "new") Elliott Bay Books in Capitol Hill, Everyday Music.
     
  8. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down. Thread Starter

    That's what I use also, but I remove the scratches manually. Haven't found a de-scratcher filter unless you can recomm. one.
     
  9. tvstrategies

    tvstrategies Turtles, all the way down. Thread Starter

    Okay, i'm curious as to what people think is worth digitizing from vinyl...
     
  10. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Ha, was just looking at Daybreak yesterday while eat breakfast at the wine shop. I'll stop in!

    I'll also look up the old declick filter/ program I used to use when digitizing. I remember it had a really good auto setting AND the ability to do manual fixes. Dr Robert, the popular needledropper used it too and had his recommended settings.
     
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  11. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Just found an old info sheet from Dr Robert. The program was called Click Repair (easy enough). Had a reverse search mode that was so damn precise!

    Clickrepair.net is the site and looks like theyr still in active development. Cool!
     
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  12. sathvyre

    sathvyre formerly known as ABBAmaniac

    Location:
    Europe
    Latest albums I digitized:

    SEPULTURA - Bestial Devastation (from OVERDOSE-Split-LP, original red label 1st pressing)
    BLOODBATH - Toxic Death
    DEEP PURPLE - Fireball (UK pressing, 2U / B-5 matrixes)
    E-X-E - Stricken By Might
     
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  13. The Lew

    The Lew Senior Member

    Jesse Harris & The Ferdinandos - The Secret Sun, just to get this opening track Just A Photograph onto a compilation CD.
     
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  14. Linus

    Linus Senior Member

    Location:
    Melb. Australia
    Thanks for the heads up.
    Audacity is based on Cooledit if I'm not mistaken. Splitting tracks is easy - and Audacity may have a similar method, (cue points/merge/batch).
    Cooledit won't run on OS's later than XP which is becoming a pain so Audacity may well be the way to go. Thank you!
     
  15. jmobrien68

    jmobrien68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toms River, NJ
    I just got a new car so I've been digitizing vinyl to CD so I can enjoy them on my commute. My method is a bit time consuming and I wish I could do them quicker, but it is what it is.
    So far I've done...
    Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign (the rhino/stax reissue)
    Margo Price - Live At The Hamilton & 45's (2lp third man vault release along with the blue room sessions 45 and the 2 new 45's she just released)
    Biters - The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
    Black Pu$$y - Power
    and right now I'm in the middle of doing Rufus Thomas - Walking The Dog (rhino/stax mono reissue).
     
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  16. folkfreak

    folkfreak The cold blooded penguin

    Location:
    Germany
    I only do this for records where no digital version exists.
    This week I am working on Dick Gaughan's Kist o Gold.
    This is a tough one. Don't know if all copies are that bad but mine has an awful lot of crackle and hiss and is generally very loud (not the music but the running noise).

    So this is the third time I am trying it, this time with the Acon restoration suite. Maybe I should search for a different copy.....
     
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  17. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Conjure One-S/T, 2002/2017 2x45 (Rhys Fulber- Delerium/Front Line Assembly etc.)
    Working on it right now as I type.
    [​IMG]
     
  18. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Psychic TV-Godstar, 1984-85 UK Noel
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

    Location:
    Three Rivers, CA
    I mainly do digitizing mainly for friends who have special records that they want on CD. I usually make an Mp3 file of those records for my collection. Otherwise, I do not do it too much personally.
     
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  20. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    The Cure-Pornography, 1982, 1983 Japan VAP
    For full albums I usually do 1 side at a time. I'll cut and tag later.
    [​IMG]
     
  21. negative1

    negative1 80s retro fan

    Location:
    USA
    I have an ongoing project for my vinyl collection.

    However, lately i usually do 12 inch and 7 inch singles.
    =========================================

    Also, various tracks, that are vinyl only.
    -------------------------------------------------
    Blancmange - blind vision (canadian vinyl version) from the Canandian LP of Happy families, which was an exclusive mix.

    Kraftwerk - die roboter (3d edit) from the 7 inch that came from the musicexpress magazine.

    later
    -1
     
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  22. stetsonic

    stetsonic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    It's Adobe Audition you're probably thinking of. After Adobe acquired CoolEdit (2002? 2003?) the first version of Audition was merely a rebadged CE Pro.

    But Audacity is a very nice piece of software. I've used it for years for digitizing records and tapes, and though I recently finally caved in and got Izotope RX Elements, I wouldn't have bought RX solely for needledrop work. Audacity is free and it handles that job just fine.
     
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  23. Subvet

    Subvet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Maine
    For me, it's primarily stuff that's not available on CD. For instance the "Buckingham Nicks" LP, or the Jason Isbell direct to disc EP from the most recent Record Store Day. I use "Vinyl Studio" software, even though I don't record with it since I have a hardware recorder.

    I'm breaking in a new cartridge so I haven't done any lately. I plan to get back at it soon and digitize the recent, and first, vinyl release from Gillian Welch.
     
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  24. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    Nothing today.

    The last LP that I digitized was King Crimson's Discipline. It sounds a LOT better than my Definitive Edition CD.
     
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  25. No Static

    No Static Gain Rider

    Location:
    Heart of Dixie
    Oysterhead - "The Grand Pecking Order"
     
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