Clarity of sound

[Aural Robert]

I've been plowing through digitizing my vinyl collection and as I listen to the results I have come to realize that I can now actually tell the difference between a good pressing and a crappy one. It's quite dramatic really.

A lot of the things I am listening to lately are not my preferred genre necessarily (like 8 Elton John albums for instance). However I have to say that even though I'm not a fan of the music, it IS quite well recorded and does sound fantastic through my system.

Why would I listen to 8 Elton John albums? Well somehow they became part of my collection and being anal I have to digitize 100% of my analog music. Just me.

Aural Robert
... politician's funeral pyre ...

[Adrian]

"Aural"
Not sure when or if I will be digitizing my vinyl.
What do you use?
Have you used another method/equipment to compare it to?

[Adrian]

BTW - a long-time FZ fan!

[rockpassion]

Aural,

I agree with you.  I have been digitizing my vinyl collection for about 2 years now and can really tell the difference in recording quality. 

I also am amazed at the recording quality of many of my albums from the 50's and 60's.  Not all of them were great, many are no better than other recordings from latter years, but the goods ones can really be unbelievable. 

Also, in digitizing my collections I listen to music I would not otherwise listen to.  I really enjoy transferring these digital copies to a flashdrive and listening to it in the car or on my system when I am doing housework or drawing. 

Richard

[Aural Robert]

Adrian, I started by getting an audio card that has rca inputs.

I picked up an M-Audio 2496 board, and originally had a small solid state pre-amp - a USB PhonoPlus - in between my tt and my pc. Then when PB got my Eros running, my tt goes into my eros, and then into my BeePre and out the 2nd set of outputs to my pc. An excellent solution as I can control the level of recording much more precisely, and I get the glorious tube sound in my recordings.

I use a simple software called Spin It Again to capture and process the digital capture. The entire album gets recorded as one wav file and then the software pings the web and downloads the cut list. You can adjust the markers for each individual cut, edit the track info etc. Then I create wav files for each track, mp3s for each track, and burn a cdr of the album. Works great but it is time consuming. I am very happy with the results. ATM I am about 80% through my collection (almost 900 recorded), not including maybe 250 donated albums.

I have not done any comparisons yet. I have some free time coming up so I will re-record one of my all time fav`s (Billy Cobham Spectrum) on my tube setup and compare the first version recorded with the new one. Good exercise, I will report back with the results.

Aural Robert
... With every mistake we must surely be learning ...

"Aural"
Not sure when or if I will be digitizing my vinyl.
What do you use?
Have you used another method/equipment to compare it to?

[kevemaher]

I use digital to capture on air recordings, such as operas and symphony broadcasts. I also use my RTR for certain programs.
The A/D is Benchmark ADC1, pricey but very flexible. Records up to 192/24.
Audacity is my software of choice. It is freeware, very well supported and feature rich. For LPs I find the pop and click eliminator is indispensible. They disappear without any audible artifacts.

[Adrian]

Thanks, Aural for the detailed explaination.