I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Regards Peter.

petercharlesfagg wrote:
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Regards Peter.

Headphones are higher output (and distortion) than a preamp output.
If you turn them down the distortion may not improve, but the noise will
get worse..

Borrow a deck and amp that has a decent output.

"petercharlesfagg" wrote in message
oups.com...
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

The headphone out socket is amplified and hence could potentially do some
damange to equipment expecting a non-amplified signal. However the biggest
problem you are likely to encounter is poor sound quality, the line in on
your PC won't be able to handle the amplified signal very well and the
result will be sound degredation.

"petercharlesfagg" wrote in message
oups.com...
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

You can use the headphone jack, as long as you keep the volume really low!

I suggest you set the level of your line in on the PC to the same as your
wave out first,
then play some music on the PC to hear how load that is.
Now start with the volume control on your hifi off, and gradually bring it
up until it is about the same volume as the music you played before.

Sparks...

In uk.d-i-y, petercharlesfagg wrote:
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Line out is better quality, and given the amount of effort you're about
to expend (I think you might be surprised just *how* much effort), you
want good quality.

I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon
gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy
with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio).
What I'm doing now is buying the equivalent CDs on Amazon. They're quite
cheap second hand[1]. Of course that depends on CD versions of the vinyl
being available.

Others probably have different experiences but for me this was one job
where DIY definitely wasn't best.


[1] And you can get most of your money back by copying the CD and
selling it again on Amazon. Ordinarily that would constitute copyright
infringement, and of course we wouldn't want to cheat the record
companies out of their hard-earned income, would we, no sir, definitely
not, *but* as you would still have fully-paid-for copies on vinyl your
conscience should be clear.

--
Mike Barnes

In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
What I'm doing now is buying the equivalent CDs on Amazon.

Not always available. When you are being (rightly) sarcy of those who copy &
sell remember that there are (one or two) outside that category.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

petercharlesfagg wrote:

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

As others have said, you *may* be able to get a usable signal from the
headphone socket with the volume set very low, however the results may
be less than you expect since the impedance will still be wrong.

The other option is to borrow/buy something more suitable. Another
gottcha to beware of is that you can't use the output directly from most
record decks[1] since you also need the RIAA equalisation circuit that
is present in the phono input stage of the amp to give you the correct
sound balance.

[1] You can purchase some record decks that are designed to plug
straight into the line level input on an amplifier and hence include the
compensation circuit in the record deck.

Having a PC with loads of RAM (i.e. 1GB or more) is the simplest way I
found to do audio stuff. Grab the whole LP (well both sides) as a
massive WAV file, apply any noise filters etc as required and then split
it back into tracks. Much quicker than trying to do a track at a time.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:20:15 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

As others have said, you *may* be able to get a usable signal from the
headphone socket with the volume set very low, however the results may
be less than you expect since the impedance will still be wrong.

That's not usually a problem. The headphone output will almost always
be a low impedance and that's no problem looking into a high(ish)
impedance.

--
Frank Erskine

petercharlesfagg wrote:
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Headphone - line in is very unlikely to damage anything, unless you
start off at maximum volume.
Plug it in, at 0 volume.

Now, enable the line-in input, using whatever software you choose.
Wind up the volume until you start getting distortion in the loud bits.
1v RMS into phones is really quite loud.

In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon
gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy
with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio).

I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor
could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the
record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

So I'd say you've got a poor quality sound card or have got the levels
wrong. Most sound cards don't have much headroom so need to be fed at the
right level. FWIW, my computer is two floors away from the sound system so
I've got a balanced interconnection system between them.

I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points
etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Headphones are higher output (and distortion) than a preamp output.
If you turn them down the distortion may not improve, but the noise will
get worse..

The actual voltage drive may not be that much more - it's just that it's a
current amplifier designed to drive a low impedance load. And often a
pretty poor one at that. The right way would be to make up a matching pad
so the amp is running at its best level to minimise the noise but not
overloading the sound card input.

--
*If I worked as much as others, I would do as little as they *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

petercharlesfagg wrote:

I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Regards Peter.

It will work and wont damage anything, the gotcha is you'd need to turn
your hifi volume down, and the background hiss will then be
considerable. The solution is simple nuff, put 2 resistors on each
output channel to divide the output down so you set the stereo to mid
volume, and feed it into the sound card.

As someone else said, record the whole album as 1 or 2 wav files.


But, since youve already paid for the music, why not dl copies off the
net.


NT

petercharlesfagg wrote:
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using
the headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Regards Peter.

You could always use the L&R speaker ouputs by putting a connector between
L&R speakers and still use the speakers to hear the music, however again
this will require volume extremely low.

You would need 2 of these one for each channel, assuming you're L&R
speakers a phono input?

And also you need a double male phono to stereo jackplug splitter.

http://tinyurl.com/a2nhb

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

oops! sorry wrong connector. :-)

http://tinyurl.com/764nn
--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

On 16 Feb in uk.d-i-y, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor
could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the
record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

If you'd like to put the details in writing with illustrations I'd be
interested in publishing it (and pay you a small fee).

--
John Cartmell - Qercus magazine - www.qercus.com
Qercus: a fusion of Acorn Publisher & Acorn User magazines
Finnybank Ltd 30 Finnybank Rd Sale M33 6LR == 0845 006 8822

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon
gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy
with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio).

I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor
could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the
record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

So I'd say you've got a poor quality sound card or have got the levels
wrong. Most sound cards don't have much headroom so need to be fed at the
right level. FWIW, my computer is two floors away from the sound system so
I've got a balanced interconnection system between them.

I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points
etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

There is a few good bits of software out there that will try their best
to detect the silence between tracks and chop it up for you. Certainly
can save a lot of time - even if its not perfect and you need to move
the markers around a bit.

Frank Erskine wrote:

On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:20:15 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:


As others have said, you *may* be able to get a usable signal from the
headphone socket with the volume set very low, however the results may
be less than you expect since the impedance will still be wrong.


That's not usually a problem. The headphone output will almost always
be a low impedance and that's no problem looking into a high(ish)
impedance.

You are right, it ought not matter too much, but I have found in reality
it does depend a bit on the sound card... most are fine, some it can be
very difficult to get a distortion free capture from a source that is a
bad match. Having said that, with the price of semi decent sound cards
being peanuts these days you may as well get one if that is the problem.

You can also get a problem when driving a high inpedance input with lack
of load on the headphone output with badly designed headphone amps...
but that is a different issue

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

I really appreciate the knowledgeable words and comments.

As to purchasing CDs of my originals it would be difficult because I
have been collecting LPs since I was 16, some 42 years ago and many are
on obscure labels let alone stereo!

As for the technical stuff "Matching pad" "resistors" etc. I have no
idea how to go down that road. I do purchase things from Maplin so the
catalogue is not a completely closed book but as to resistances,
impedance, etc. I am lost!

Generally I get the distinct impression that it really is not worth the
time and effort but I would so dearly appreciate cleaning up some of
the earlier LPs to remove the years of playing noise, even though I
used preeners and anti-static spray plus the groove cleaner that gently
rode the music waves as they played.

Thanks again for all your responses.

Regards Peter.

[1] You can purchase some record decks that are designed to plug straight
into the line level input on an amplifier and hence include the
compensation circuit in the record deck.


Or you could get one of these:

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=904&aid=15036

petercharlesfagg wrote:
I really appreciate the knowledgeable words and comments.

As to purchasing CDs of my originals it would be difficult because I
have been collecting LPs since I was 16, some 42 years ago and many
are on obscure labels let alone stereo!

As for the technical stuff "Matching pad" "resistors" etc. I have no
idea how to go down that road. I do purchase things from Maplin so
the catalogue is not a completely closed book but as to resistances,
impedance, etc. I am lost!

Generally I get the distinct impression that it really is not worth
the time and effort but I would so dearly appreciate cleaning up some
of the earlier LPs to remove the years of playing noise, even though I
used preeners and anti-static spray plus the groove cleaner that
gently rode the music waves as they played.

Thanks again for all your responses.

Regards Peter.

Numerous programs on the net for getting rid of pop's,whistles,hisses and
twangs. ;-)
--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

petercharlesfagg wrote:
I really appreciate the knowledgeable words and comments.

As to purchasing CDs of my originals it would be difficult because I
have been collecting LPs since I was 16, some 42 years ago and many are
on obscure labels let alone stereo!

As for the technical stuff "Matching pad" "resistors" etc. I have no
idea how to go down that road. I do purchase things from Maplin so the
catalogue is not a completely closed book but as to resistances,
impedance, etc. I am lost!

Generally I get the distinct impression that it really is not worth the
time and effort but I would so dearly appreciate cleaning up some of
the earlier LPs to remove the years of playing noise, even though I
used preeners and anti-static spray plus the groove cleaner that gently
rode the music waves as they played.

Thanks again for all your responses.

Regards Peter.


forget about 'impedance matching'. You just need a voltage divider.

There are 6 connection points:

A: hifi headphone plug outer / ground
B: hifi headphone plug middle / left signal
C: hifi headphone plug tip / right signal

D: PC jackplug outer / ground
E: PC jackplug middle / left signal
F: PC jackplug tip / right signal

Now, connect A to D.
Connect B to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to E.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from B to D.
Connect C to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to F.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from F to D.

Now you'll get good quality recordings. Parts cost £1.


NT

petercharlesfagg typed:

I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.


Snip noticing everyone else's advise

Its also worth getting an editing program such as Cool Edit
The free/shareware version is still available from
http://www.threechords.com/hammerhea..._edit_96.shtml
erm and as this is now quite old the and no longer supported, the Key is
also readily available if you search.




-

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

And for getting both channels free from distortion, you can see the spikes
on this program, although it might be a bit teccy for you?
http://polly.phys.msu.su/~zeld/oscill.html

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

On 16 Feb 2006 06:06:21 -0800, wrote:

There are 6 connection points:

A: hifi headphone plug outer / ground
B: hifi headphone plug middle / left signal
C: hifi headphone plug tip / right signal

D: PC jackplug outer / ground
E: PC jackplug middle / left signal
F: PC jackplug tip / right signal

Now, connect A to D.
Connect B to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to E.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from B to D.
Connect C to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to F.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from F to D.

Now you'll get good quality recordings. Parts cost £1.


NT


--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On 16 Feb 2006 06:06:21 -0800, wrote:

There are 6 connection points:

A: hifi headphone plug outer / ground
B: hifi headphone plug middle / left signal
C: hifi headphone plug tip / right signal

D: PC jackplug outer / ground
E: PC jackplug middle / left signal
F: PC jackplug tip / right signal

Now, connect A to D.
Connect B to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to E.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from B to D.
Connect C to a 220 ohm resistor, connect other end of this to F.
Connect a 22 ohm resistor from F to D.

I think the last one should be C to D, so that the headphone amp "sees" a
22 ohm load on it's right output, like the left does. B-) I'm not
going to argue about the values but most "walkman" headphones are a
nominal 35 ohm so I'd be tempted to use a 39 ohm resistor for the CD and
BD ones.

It might be worth pointing out for ease of construction that A could be
substituted for D.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Mike Barnes" wrote in message
...
In uk.d-i-y, petercharlesfagg wrote:
I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the
instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on
my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about
using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the
headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the
connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this
connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Line out is better quality, and given the amount of effort you're about
to expend (I think you might be surprised just *how* much effort), you
want good quality.

I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon
gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy
with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio).
What I'm doing now is buying the equivalent CDs on Amazon. They're quite
cheap second hand[1]. Of course that depends on CD versions of the vinyl
being available.

Others probably have different experiences but for me this was one job
where DIY definitely wasn't best.


[1] And you can get most of your money back by copying the CD and
selling it again on Amazon. Ordinarily that would constitute copyright
infringement, and of course we wouldn't want to cheat the record
companies out of their hard-earned income, would we, no sir, definitely
not, *but* as you would still have fully-paid-for copies on vinyl your
conscience should be clear.


If you own the original could you not just download the CD as apposed to
buying it?

Thankyou Mark, I may well give it a trial just to familiarise myself
with what is required in a full programme.
Regards Peter.

In article ,
Qercus editor wrote:
On 16 Feb in uk.d-i-y, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor
could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the
record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

If you'd like to put the details in writing with illustrations I'd be
interested in publishing it (and pay you a small fee).

OK so that was a generally broadcast private e-mail. Sorry Dave! The rest of
you should note that the fees are too small to make it worth while pestering
Dave to get in a round of drinks should we ever have a group 'meet'. ;-(

--
John Cartmell - Qercus magazine - www.qercus.com
Qercus: a fusion of Acorn Publisher & Acorn User magazines
Finnybank Ltd 30 Finnybank Rd Sale M33 6LR == 0845 006 8822

In article ,
Richard Conway wrote:
I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points
etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

There is a few good bits of software out there that will try their best
to detect the silence between tracks and chop it up for you. Certainly
can save a lot of time - even if its not perfect and you need to move
the markers around a bit.

Not for my machine, there's not. ;-)

--
*Work is for people who don't know how to fish.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Qercus editor wrote:
I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy.
Nor could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by
playing the record and CD together but they thought they were
listening to the LP. ;-)

If you'd like to put the details in writing with illustrations I'd be
interested in publishing it (and pay you a small fee).

What - how to record audio from an external source and burn a CD from it
on an Acorn? There's no special tricks needed - just a sound card and
supplied software, and a CD burner with CDBurn. WavEdit etc if you wish to
make tracks.

--
*Women who seek to be equal to men lack ambition.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article . com,
petercharlesfagg wrote:
Generally I get the distinct impression that it really is not worth the
time and effort but I would so dearly appreciate cleaning up some of
the earlier LPs to remove the years of playing noise, even though I
used preeners and anti-static spray plus the groove cleaner that gently
rode the music waves as they played.

Unless the LPs are truly awful I'm not convinced these 'clean up' progs
work well. They may well remove some of the noise but remove ambience (for
want of a better word) too.

--
*Generally speaking, you aren't learning much if your lips are moving.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Qercus editor wrote:
In article ,
Qercus editor wrote:
On 16 Feb in uk.d-i-y, Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:
I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and
copy. Nor could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked
them by playing the record and CD together but they thought they
were listening to the LP. ;-)

If you'd like to put the details in writing with illustrations I'd be
interested in publishing it (and pay you a small fee).

OK so that was a generally broadcast private e-mail. Sorry Dave! The
rest of you should note that the fees are too small to make it worth
while pestering Dave to get in a round of drinks should we ever have
a group 'meet'. ;-(

You can add MrBacon to that list as well...he's so tight, when he takes his
trousers off its sounds like velcro. ;-)

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

In article om,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
I think the last one should be C to D, so that the headphone amp "sees"
a 22 ohm load on it's right output, like the left does. B-) I'm not
going to argue about the values but most "walkman" headphones are a
nominal 35 ohm so I'd be tempted to use a 39 ohm resistor for the CD
and BD ones.

I'd always thought it was 32 ohms. Any advance?

--
*With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Séan Connolly wrote:

Or you could get one of these:
http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=904&aid=15036

Here is another gadget that stores straight to digital if you just want
them handy (and so that you can put the valuable old records in a safer
storage.) http://www.usb-ware.com/ads-instant-music.htm
Not that I am experienced by any means. I got it from a parallel
thread: "Old 78 & 33 rpm records to CD" on alt.windows-xp

CD and DVD storage is not what you migh be expecting it to be. Pressed
disks are obviously good in any media but stuff written onto dyed inner
surfaces are not the same. Here is a discussion about file strorage in
business and at home on APC mag:

"Finally, there's long-term storage. Just as individuals fill up the
space available to them, so to do companies. However, businesses
don't just back up their data when they need to clear space, they do
it every day to protect it -get a copy off the servers and stored
somewhere safe. And guess what? They don't use optical media. CDs and
DVDs have never taken off as a serious storage option for businesses,
due to the understanding that they won't last.

Magnetic tape media has been the weapon of choice for a long time -
each tape guaranteed for hundreds of thousands of read/writes, equating
in real time to well beyond 20 years, often much longer.

And yes, each tape is far more expensive than blank optical media. And
tape drives are hideously expensive too. And intelligent backup
software would require a personal loan. So we come full circle to the
nub of the problem -high-capacity, average-quality storage for ordinary
users is plentiful, accessible and cheap. Reliable, long-term storage
is none of these things.

But because we can all buy cheap blanks, we don't see it as a problem."
http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/C...257108000A5417

You can use the same techniques discussed here to send to a VCR I
imagine, or some other tape storage media?

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Richard Conway wrote:
I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points
etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

There is a few good bits of software out there that will try their best
to detect the silence between tracks and chop it up for you. Certainly
can save a lot of time - even if its not perfect and you need to move
the markers around a bit.

Not for my machine, there's not. ;-)

Ah, I see - missed that bit! I know someone who would probably write
some for it if you could get him suitably annoyed by the lack of it
What Acorn are you using?

In uk.d-i-y, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon
gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy
with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio).

I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are
excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor
could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the
record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

So I'd say you've got a poor quality sound card or have got the levels
wrong. Most sound cards don't have much headroom so need to be fed at the
right level. FWIW, my computer is two floors away from the sound system so
I've got a balanced interconnection system between them.

It's *setting* the proper level that's the problem. Tedious doesn't
begin to describe it.

I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points
etc,

Not only the track index points but the names and artist(s), if you're
interested in (for instance) making further use of your efforts by
downloading to an iPod or similar.

but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

That's more-or-less what I meant. Copying a CD is a doddle in
comparison. Unfortunately the OP has a non-mainstream collection.

--
Mike Barnes

In uk.d-i-y, Yeh But No But wrote:

[1] And you can get most of your money back by copying the CD and
selling it again on Amazon. Ordinarily that would constitute copyright
infringement, and of course we wouldn't want to cheat the record
companies out of their hard-earned income, would we, no sir, definitely
not, *but* as you would still have fully-paid-for copies on vinyl your
conscience should be clear.


If you own the original could you not just download the CD as apposed to
buying it?

Unfortunately not, AFAIK - record companies don't work like that, you
have to pay full whack all over again. Also download quality is crap
compared with a CD. I'm no expert and I'd be delighted if someone told
me I was wrong on either or both points.

--
Mike Barnes

In uk.d-i-y, Weatherlawyer wrote:
CD and DVD storage is not what you migh be expecting it to be. Pressed
disks are obviously good in any media but stuff written onto dyed inner
surfaces are not the same. Here is a discussion about file strorage in
business and at home on APC mag:

"Finally, there's long-term storage. Just as individuals fill up the
space available to them, so to do companies. However, businesses
don't just back up their data when they need to clear space, they do
it every day to protect it -get a copy off the servers and stored
somewhere safe. And guess what? They don't use optical media. CDs and
DVDs have never taken off as a serious storage option for businesses,
due to the understanding that they won't last.

Magnetic tape media has been the weapon of choice for a long time -
each tape guaranteed for hundreds of thousands of read/writes, equating
in real time to well beyond 20 years, often much longer.

And yes, each tape is far more expensive than blank optical media. And
tape drives are hideously expensive too. And intelligent backup
software would require a personal loan. So we come full circle to the
nub of the problem -high-capacity, average-quality storage for ordinary
users is plentiful, accessible and cheap. Reliable, long-term storage
is none of these things.

It rather depends on what you call "long term". USB hard disks are
pretty cheap and reliable, though. For instance I use a couple of these:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=31PL

at about ten pence per CD, stored in CD quality (with lossless
compression).

Obviously the life of the medium and the technology are limited, but
after (say) ten years it should be trivially easy to copy it all onto a
modern medium.

--
Mike Barnes

In article ,
Richard Conway wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Richard Conway wrote:
I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index
points etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

There is a few good bits of software out there that will try their
best to detect the silence between tracks and chop it up for you.
Certainly can save a lot of time - even if its not perfect and you
need to move the markers around a bit.

Not for my machine, there's not. ;-)

Ah, I see - missed that bit! I know someone who would probably write
some for it if you could get him suitably annoyed by the lack of it
What Acorn are you using?

Still an RPC, but with all the bells and whistles like TV tuner etc. I
can't see me upgrading to the latest ones given their cost since this one
still does most I want of a machine - and it's networked to another in the
workshop. Next move - regretfully - will be to a PC, if I live that long.
Acorns tend to go on for ever. ;-)

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
So I'd say you've got a poor quality sound card or have got the levels
wrong. Most sound cards don't have much headroom so need to be fed at
the right level. FWIW, my computer is two floors away from the sound
system so I've got a balanced interconnection system between them.

It's *setting* the proper level that's the problem. Tedious doesn't
begin to describe it.

I don't actually often set levels as such. The peak level on LPs is
pretty consistent. And all the other sources on my main Hi-Fi system are
matched as close as I can get them. Although Freeview are trying my
patience between TV and radio ;-)

My soundcard software boots to a preset level and I've matched the
balanced to unbalanced amp to that. I don't peak any digital recording to
full scale in good broadcasting fashion.;-)

--
*A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.