Software for transcribing vinyl to digital!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Frantz' TT thread gave me the idea that a specific thread on how to most effectively transscribe our vinyl content into the digital domain would be a useful one. I did it years ago on the cheap with a product called the Xitel INport and supplied software (which I paid to upgrade to a full version). It was by an Australian company called CFB Software and it worked ok, but was far from perfect. I will say their customer support was truly outstanding.

I'm sure that several of you are using better software, and if possible, could those guys perhaps provide us with their opinions on the software they use? Cost?

 

[FrantzM]

Much needed info on the subject.. While Google is a good friend experiences and advices from like-minded people are a better guide...

Thanks John!

 

[Bruce B]

The least expensive - Audacity

What I use - Sonoma

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

The least expensive - Audacity

What I use - Sonoma

Perhaps Audicity is better now as when I used it about 10 years ago....meh....not so good then. I'll check into both though! Thanks Bruce!

 

[fas42]

Yep, John, give Audacity a go: I use it for upsampling, resampling and so far I'm happy with what it does ...

Frank

 

[Bruce B]

Perhaps Audicity is better now as when I used it about 10 years ago....meh....not so good then. I'll check into both though! Thanks Bruce!

For a nice professional editing software that won't break the bank, I'd suggest Sony SoundForge. It has a great set of tools for editing vinyl, like de-click/de-pop.

Sonoma is going to start at $8k and go up!

 

[JackD201]

Re: Sonoma

Is that just the software or are quality I/Os included Bruce?

 

[Bruce B]

Re: Sonoma

Is that just the software or are quality I/Os included Bruce?

Sonoma is a PCI card (each up to 8 channels), software and a dongle.

The A-D and D-A are each sold separately! Batteries not included!!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

For a nice professional editing software that won't break the bank, I'd suggest Sony SoundForge. It has a great set of tools for editing vinyl, like de-click/de-pop.

Sonoma is going to start at $8k and go up!

I always forget about Sony SoundForge....will definitely check it out. As for Sonoma....ouch! Thanks again Bruce!

 

[Thomas.Dennehy]

For my money, Audacity fails at the front end and again at the back end of the vinyl-to-digital transfer process if you are gunning for 24/96 resolution and WAV is your output format of choice. (And I speak from experience, with more than 250 titles under my belt.)

At the front end, Audacity is unable to capture 24-bit samples on Windows, even if your audio input device can. They can't use the necessary ASIO package from Steinberg/Yamaha and remain open source. Theoretically, any particular user can download the Audacity source, download the Steinberg SDK, and build a personal version of Audacity (not for re-distribution) that supports 24-bit recording. But the Audacity team believes you need professional-quality SW development tools to pull it off (not the free stuff you can download from Microsoft). I still might attempt it.

But ... at the back end, Audacity fails by not writing full metadata into WAV files. In particular, they omit Album Title and Track #. So all the tracks you export from Audacity create a massive Unknown Album pile on any media player I've tested (WMP, JRiver, foobar). And a solution inside any particular player doesn't port to any other. The Audacity team has admitted they could remedy this, but it isn't high on their priority list of bug fixes and new features.

I would welcome advice. Does anyone know of scripts or tools for tag editing via dbpoweramp?