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jncraig  
#1 Posted : Saturday, October 27, 2007 5:11:42 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

I've been a real fan of digitized music for quite a while.

Back in the early to mid 1990's I had a couple of 100-disc CD changers.  In principal, these were wonderful.  In practice these weren't so practical because I never could remember which was disc 68 in changer #2.  And I could never find the cheat sheet when I needed it.  The changers allegedly could be controlled by a serial interface and, several times, I nearly plunked down about $250 (or was it $450) for a box that could connect my PC to the changers and use software to determine what I would hear.

The first time I heard that you could copy the contents of CDs to hard disk a light went on!  I very quickly joined the digitized music / MP3 / etc. world.  Hard drives were expensive back then, but not as expensive as 100-disc CD changers.

Last week I extended this to stacks of old LPs ... most of these LPs I'd never purchase as CDs and may can't be purchased as CDs.

I bought a turntable, connected it (via a preamp) to the stereo inputs of my computer.  I use a free program (Audacity) to do the work.  Right now, I'm just digitizing the LPs.  Eventually I may get around cutting the files into separate tracks, naming them, tagging them, etc.  For now, I feel good knowing that the old LPs may be heard again.


Speaking of old LPs ... I turns out that we have a FOUR DISC set called "The Greatest Hits of Frankie Valli and the Fabulous Four Seasons."  Believe me, as much as I love Frankie Valli and the Fabulous Four Seasons, when we bought this thing probably in the mid 1970s, Frankie Valli and the Fabulous Four Seasons didn't have four discs worthy of greatest hits status.

But Iron Butterfly stands the test of time ... and one-hit wonderdom!

Joe
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krgallivan  
#2 Posted : Saturday, October 27, 2007 7:06:33 PM(UTC)
krgallivan

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 20

Joe,

We talked about this a bit at InvestEd, you may remember.

I have a Squeezebox, but so far I'm just using it to listen to internet radio (and boy, do I love that!).  Eventually I can see that I will copy all my CDs to a hard drive on the network and use the Squeezebox to pump it through my stereo system.

But so far a) we don't have a network drive that we want to dedicate to music, and b) I haven't wanted to spend the time to do the copying and organizing.

I also have some LPs that I will want to digitize, and I have some questions:

  1. When you say "preamp" what exactly are you using?  I have a spare stereo system tuner/amplifier, will that do? 
  2. Are you comverting to MP3 format or some other -- .WAV?  My hearing is not exactly fine-tuned but I would like to preserve as much sound quality as possible.  Audiophiles don't seem to think much of MP3 -- what do you think?
  3.  was planning to use the turntable that was attached to my stereo system and that I haven't used for -- probably 10-15 years.  Would I be better to get a new one?  I'm not sure what the needle is like on my old turntable (assuming it still works) or that I could get a new one for it. 

I have used Total Recorder. Jack uses Audacity to create sound effects for the community theater group he works with.  Assuming you're familiar with both, do you think Audacity is better for this purpose?

I said I was going to do this when I retired.  That was 7-1/2 years ago.  But then I got interested in investing, involved in other household projects, still belong to two book discussion groups, volunteered to do a monthly newsletter for my women's group, and...

Kathleen
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jncraig  
#3 Posted : Saturday, October 27, 2007 7:23:25 PM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561
Yes, we did talk a bit about that!

If I handn't already been the owner of two Audiotrons (which are now out of production), I'd probably be an owner of a couple of Squeezeboxes, or perhaps even their earlier offerings, the Slimp3.

Most receiver/amplifiers have a "phono" input which is a "high level input" which means that there is a preamplifier before the amplifier. This is because the voltage level produced by the turntable pickup is lower than the outputs of CD players, tape decks, etc. If your turntable is connected to an amplifier that has "line level outputs" these can be connected to the sound card in your computer. You'll probably want the cables to be only a few feet to minimize hum pickup. The turntable I purchased has a built-in preamp to produce the correct outputs.

These days you can actually purchase USB turntables and forego most of that. I didn't, and not for any particularly good reason.

As for audio quality, I'm not so sure I worry about it ... because the old LPs are scratchy and because I'm not a discriminating listener. I suppose if something sounds too much like a bad record, I'll use some software to make the click and pops go away and not worry too much.

As I said, I'm doing the first step, and the first step is "do no harm." I'm saving as WAV files, and eventually I'll do something else.

Quite frankly, I can't hear the difference between a high bit rate MP3 and a WAV, not that I've really tried to do that. And, I'm hardly an audiophile. I just want to be able to hear my music and hear it conveniently.

I am a GREAT FAN of Internet radio. I do more listening to that than to music most times. Perhaps I'll talk about that in another post. My Audiotrons handle Internet radio quite nicely. A local PBS station, WAMU, is broadcasting 3 different channels in HD radio. I can listen to all three of them on the Internet. I think that's super!
Joe
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Sacjeanie  
#4 Posted : Monday, October 29, 2007 7:33:04 AM(UTC)
Sacjeanie

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 18

 

I bought a turntable, connected it (via a preamp) to the stereo inputs of my computer.  I use a free program (Audacity) to do the work.  Right now, I'm just digitizing the LPs.  Eventually I may get around cutting the files into separate tracks, naming them, tagging them, etc.  For now, I feel good knowing that the old LPs may be heard again.

 

Joe,

I've also found Audacity to be a helpful product.  I purchased "The Golden Compass" for my nephew to listen to while he was in the hospital.  The purchase was made from iTunes and I assumed that I could burn it to cd.  You know what happens with assuming. Using Audacity, I was able to record the book to an MP3 player, insert chapter marks and save these files for him to listen to.   I never thought of using it to record albums also.  Thanks for the tip.

Jeanie Krieger
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nancyb  
#5 Posted : Saturday, November 10, 2007 7:39:38 AM(UTC)
nancyb

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 53
I've been thinking of doing something digital with all our old records for a while, but have not gotten to it and have never been sure what is the way to go.

I came across an add from Hammacher Schlemmer for a "LP-to_MP3 Converter" which is a belt-driven turntable that plugs into a USB port on the computer. No brand name but cost is $190 [plus the ever-present S&H]. Is that a reasonable thing to purchase?

Nancy Brodsky
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jncraig  
#6 Posted : Monday, November 12, 2007 7:01:38 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Nancy,

A USB turntable combines everything into the turntable.  I think that's a viable option.  However, I think that the Hammacher-Schlemmer price might be a bit much.  You might want to check Amazon.com or other places for some much better prices.

I purchased the Audio-Technica AT-LP2DA.  It's more a turntable without the USB interface.

Either should work just fine!

 

Joe
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krgallivan  
#7 Posted : Friday, February 22, 2008 3:56:18 PM(UTC)
krgallivan

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 20

Joe,

Have you seen the information on the new Squeezebox Duet?  I don't need its capability yet but it sounds like a really wonderful device. 

And I was pleased to learn about the MP3Tunes.com music locker.  I think will be just the thing for me and I didn't even know it existed.

Clearly, I don't spend enough time poring over tech notes.  I AM spending way too much time on the computer / internet, though.  Where does it all go?

 

 

 

Kathleen
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jncraig  
#8 Posted : Saturday, February 23, 2008 6:29:39 AM(UTC)
jncraig

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 561

Yes!

I've been following the development of the SlimDevices products for several years.

The Squeezebox Duet is base on the Squeeze box.  The duet separates the "box" from the display, moving the display into the remote control.  It looks like a nice product, as do all of their products.

I'm still stuck in the Audiotron product line -- it's not manufactured any longer, but it works great.

Some other products that look interesting are the Sonos line, a bit more expensiver than the Squeezebox.  I've also occasionally visited the Olive website (www.olive.us) as a very nice looking, but very expensive product.

Joe
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krgallivan  
#9 Posted : Saturday, February 23, 2008 12:12:02 PM(UTC)
krgallivan

Rank: Advanced Member

Posts: 20

Some other products that look interesting are the Sonos line, a bit more expensiver than the Squeezebox.  I've also occasionally visited the Olive website (www.olive.us) as a very nice looking, but very expensive product.


Yes, well, "expensive" I don't need!  In fact, I was thinking that I'd like the Duet to be about half the current price to begin to be really attractive to me.  If one is going to position boxes at multiple stations in the house, per-unit cost needs to be relatively low.

Kathleen
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