On Jun 12, 8:14 am, Adrian wrote:
On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:47:28 GMT, "ARWadsworth"

wrote:

"Adrian" wrote in message
.. .
HI All

Firstly - apologies for the fact that the last 10 years' developments
in personal music technology seem to have passed me by...
but I've been busy at other things g

Like many others of my generation, (I suspect ) - I have a couple of
boxes of vinyl lps and singles, and cassette tapes in the shed....
despite being 'much loved' - they never seem to get played...

Sort of at the back of my mind for some time has been a plan to
dig out these 'classics' and transfer them to something more modern -
like CDs for instance.

Then I got to thinking (always fatal !)
The new (old) car, a '64 Moggie Traveller needs some sort of music
system, if only to drown out the rattles and bangs.

So - is there 'another way' to get the vinyl transferred into a format
that could be used in the car ?

Possible plans so far
1) Grab the audio through my (pretty good) computer soundcard and burn
to CDs

-- drawback - it's a tedious process, and ties up the PC for hours on
end

2) Buy a dedicated CR-recorder and grab the audio and burn directly to
CD. Thinking of the Sony RCDW100 Twin CDR - about £200.

-- drawback - cost
- advantage - stand-alone solution

3) Grab audio to mp3 format, and diy an electronics solution to play
mp3's in the 'new' car. Thinking of an mp3 player with line in and
removable memory cards, combined with a simple homebrewed power amp /
psu tucked away in the car somewhere. (There's the DIY angle !!)

-- drawback ... don't know ?? - price of the MP3 player perhaps ?
--advantages - playback is 'bump-proof' - combination of Irish roads
and 1960's Moggie suspension might cause problems for a conventional
in-car CD player..

Any comments / suggestions etc ??

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...wsletter&U=07P...

Well - I already have a fairly decent turntable (back from the days
when hi-fi was a collection of separate boxes !) - so that's not a
problem.

Then what are you beloved old albums doing in the shed, then ?! I got
started with transferring some of my albums to CD and in the end found
more pleasure in getting a new drive belt, arm and cartridge and
rediscovering vinyl...

One thing in the Maplin write-up did look interesting - and that was
the suggestion that you could grab the lp's at 45rpm rather than 33.3
- and then use the software (Audacity) to convert them to the correct
speed.

Why didn't I think of that ?? I have Audacity and Goldwave - both of
which will do this 'speed convert' thing - I'm thinking that there
must be a catch though ????

Would cut the 'transcription' time by a third....

The catch is that vinyl is not recorded "flat", but has emphasis
applied to diminish low frequencies and boost high frequencies. On
playback, low frequencies are boosted and high frequencies cut. This
reduces surface noise which is usually hissy, and avoids massive
needle excursions on powerful bass signals. I suppose it's possible
that your PC software could attempt some reverse correction, but
assuming you were going to run your deck output through at least a pre-
amp, you will probably lose some very high frequencies forever
(running the LP fast will push all the frequences up, some beyond what
the cartridge can faithfully reproduce), and it'd all be a bit of
bodge for a small time-saving, frankly.

or just illegally copy the tracks you want off the internet.

Well - I would if I could (find the free content, that is)
All I ever seem to find is places that look free and then try to sting
you for a subscription - I'm obviously looking in all the wrong places
!

I think my kids might get some of their music from Russia (not on my
home network, mind), but I have no doubt it's dubious in some
respect. I have a quaint old-fashioned notion that if I want
something, I should pay for it. Sad in the 21st century, I know. I
am quite happy to buy CDs at under a tenner on average (sometimes much
mess) and get 100% of the engineered and mixed product. They were
nearer £15 in the early days, often for 35 minutes of simply
transcribed analogue. Now, you will get a proper remaster, often done
by some of the original team, and some bonus tracks, plus some sleeve
notes telling you all about how the creative geniuses worked, how they
weren't seeing enough groupie action, etc. (I do occasionally buy
"new" music...)

Anyway, to return to your in-car needs, you will find that some kind
of "line" input is increasingly common on car head units these days.
I would doubt if any of them would stylistically match your car
interior, however. But even if you have to purchase a simple radio
unit, something like an iTrip works surprisingly well.

HTH.

--
"Going out of my mind, back in 5 minutes."