Joe Blake
17th October 2010, 22:21
Starting in 1962 I built up a collection of several hundred vinyl recordings (33 and 45 rpm). I bought my last one in the late '80s I think.
Then came the digital revolution and I wanted to keep listening to the records, but without the hassle of having to move away from the computer (or the lounge seat) to flip the disc.
I'd also built up quite a large library of tapes, both cassette and reel to reel that needed conversion.
In the late '90s I started experimenting, but found it difficult to record directly into the computer and still keep the stereo separation. I got around it by recording onto a DVD then re-recording into the computer. This gave me the stereo separation I desired, but it took twice as long as it should have.
Not long ago my neighbour bought one of the vinyl-to-MP3 turntables which have been on the market, and knowing that I'm a bit of an audiophile, he asked me to test it out. It seemed to do the job but not well. While very simple to use, there were a couple of bad points; (a) the tone arm was too light and (b) the turntable platter was plastic and caused a "tinny" echo.
I've got an elderly (1970) but still excellent Pioneer PL25 turntable which I wished to use to play the LPs but I needed a USB stereo input to my computer.
And then ...
Voila!
http://www.lakopacific.com/content/Image/KaiserBaas/MusicMaker/features%20of%20Kaiser%20Baas%20MusicMaker.jpg
http://www.lakopacific.com/page/New..._MP3_converter/
At $99 it was as cheap as some of the medium expensive MP3 turntables on the market.
Because the Pioneer tone arm cartridge needs a pre-amp (which the Kaiser Baas doesn't seem to have) I had to drag one of my old stereo amps* out from the grave-yard and feed the signal through that, but once I'd set it up it worked liked magic. The worst problem was suppressing the crackles and pops of the vinyls. (The first album I digitised was Robin Williamson's music for the Mabenogi, issued in 1983, which wasn't as noisy as some of the ancient discs). Although the software for the Kaiser Baas has many choices for noise suppression/removal I used my tried and tested method of washing the disc with a soft nail brush in filtered rainwater, then a "dust bug" dipped in methylated spirits. This not only helps to remove the dust from the record groove but also temporarily lubricates the stylus to further reduce extraneous noise.
Here's a link which (hopefully) will give an indication of how effective the washing has been. (It's a 1968 recording of Holt's "The Planets" - over 40 years old.)
http://www.supload.com/listen?s=vFIxvj
I think I've found my Holy Grail, so I can see the next few months of my life taken up with digitising my record collection. To do my cassette tapes took me about 6 months (they were all mono, so the stereo separation wasn't an issue.)
To date I've done over 40 discs, with only a couple needing to be re-done because of too much surface noise. One of the very pleasant surprises was "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - it knocked my ears off. I heard things in there I'd never heard before.
Joe
*Incredibly, I found out that my "home theatre 5.1" etc etc amp doesn't have any stereo audio output (RCA) nor does it have any pre-amp for the Pioneer's tone arm cartridge. :evil:
J
Then came the digital revolution and I wanted to keep listening to the records, but without the hassle of having to move away from the computer (or the lounge seat) to flip the disc.
I'd also built up quite a large library of tapes, both cassette and reel to reel that needed conversion.
In the late '90s I started experimenting, but found it difficult to record directly into the computer and still keep the stereo separation. I got around it by recording onto a DVD then re-recording into the computer. This gave me the stereo separation I desired, but it took twice as long as it should have.
Not long ago my neighbour bought one of the vinyl-to-MP3 turntables which have been on the market, and knowing that I'm a bit of an audiophile, he asked me to test it out. It seemed to do the job but not well. While very simple to use, there were a couple of bad points; (a) the tone arm was too light and (b) the turntable platter was plastic and caused a "tinny" echo.
I've got an elderly (1970) but still excellent Pioneer PL25 turntable which I wished to use to play the LPs but I needed a USB stereo input to my computer.
And then ...
Voila!
http://www.lakopacific.com/content/Image/KaiserBaas/MusicMaker/features%20of%20Kaiser%20Baas%20MusicMaker.jpg
http://www.lakopacific.com/page/New..._MP3_converter/
At $99 it was as cheap as some of the medium expensive MP3 turntables on the market.
Because the Pioneer tone arm cartridge needs a pre-amp (which the Kaiser Baas doesn't seem to have) I had to drag one of my old stereo amps* out from the grave-yard and feed the signal through that, but once I'd set it up it worked liked magic. The worst problem was suppressing the crackles and pops of the vinyls. (The first album I digitised was Robin Williamson's music for the Mabenogi, issued in 1983, which wasn't as noisy as some of the ancient discs). Although the software for the Kaiser Baas has many choices for noise suppression/removal I used my tried and tested method of washing the disc with a soft nail brush in filtered rainwater, then a "dust bug" dipped in methylated spirits. This not only helps to remove the dust from the record groove but also temporarily lubricates the stylus to further reduce extraneous noise.
Here's a link which (hopefully) will give an indication of how effective the washing has been. (It's a 1968 recording of Holt's "The Planets" - over 40 years old.)
http://www.supload.com/listen?s=vFIxvj
I think I've found my Holy Grail, so I can see the next few months of my life taken up with digitising my record collection. To do my cassette tapes took me about 6 months (they were all mono, so the stereo separation wasn't an issue.)
To date I've done over 40 discs, with only a couple needing to be re-done because of too much surface noise. One of the very pleasant surprises was "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - it knocked my ears off. I heard things in there I'd never heard before.
Joe
*Incredibly, I found out that my "home theatre 5.1" etc etc amp doesn't have any stereo audio output (RCA) nor does it have any pre-amp for the Pioneer's tone arm cartridge. :evil:
J