Recording-Remastering-Archiving
Jan 7, 2009 17:18:17 GMT
Post by rickcr42 on Jan 7, 2009 17:18:17 GMT
Home recordists:
"LIVE" recoring is pretty much out of reach for the average audiophile without a fair monetary outlay and a damn lot of practice-getting a clean recording with good dynamic range while keeping the signal below 0dBf is best left to the professionals-but "fixing" or "archiving" while no automatic IS a possible so for the more adventurous among you I figured I would post some content on a topic I rarely see in "Audiophile" country from my very limited though in comparison to some extensive experience.
Example #1 is of the "Fix It up/Modify it" type:
I recently with a teeny tiny remaster of a buddies CD.It wasn't horrible but it was a tad dry and had a wee bit of "open mic" background noise was present (sounded like the AC was on which the music is always fighting for prominance and you NEVER get a silent backgound where the music leaps out at you so either a door was left open or they didn't consider it would effect the overall "sound" of the session and more surprisingly once they heard it never corrected the screwup) plus it was sooo compressed (a modern trend) it was more "wall of sound" than it was "real life power rock".
The cool part of this is I had just previously downloaded for personal eval a FREE VST FX Plug-In from DigitalFish which it so happens was right on time for the remaster which it so happens was a perfect platform for my eval (even though I had a bitch of a time letting my partner in crime allow me the freedom to go away from his preffered FX programs.)
For the noise gate (to rid the background noise) and expansion I used "FLOORFISH" setting the threshold for the gate by ear and the expander with a slow attack/fast release profile above 2kHz (left the bass and upper mids compressed-don't need to overload marginal playback systems) to add some dynamic range back to the recording.Thankfully the band is one that plays only high energy cuts making the "fix" a snap since if one that had soft and loud sections AND studio ambient noise it would have been a real bitch to have a simple program/simple fix make the corrections with many times the threshold for the background noise removal HIGHER than the threshold for the softer music sections making removal better suited to more complex programs or multiple FX modules )
www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5
Being a VST plugin means it is not a stand along app but needs a host program to run with your options running to either a VST Plugin compatible audio editor (any of the pro editors),an audio editor with a VST "bridge" or if you truly want stand along one of the VST-To-DX modules such as this free one:(first read this www.cloneensemble.com/cl_comp.htm)
www.sonicspot.com/spinaudiovstdxwrapper/spinaudiovstdxwrapper.html
Free version limitations ?
You can only load one plugin at a time,not the problem it would seem at first blush since unlike analog processing where each run through will degrade the signal (added noise and distortion) the signal being just "bits" has no problem being manipulated over and over and over and........
Note-exept for the latency thingy which means you won't have "real time" monitoring of the processed signal but will instead have to process it then listen to the results to determine effectiveness so KEEP A PRISTINE COPY AVAILABLE FOR RE-DO'S !)
for simultaneous-multiple FX you will need either one of the above pro editors or the pro version of the Spin-Audio VST-DX Wrapper @ $50
And oh yeah,the plugins worked as advertised and the patient lived
Want to or Need to monitor your DX plugins ?
www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio/dxman.htm
what about plugin audio "quality" ?
www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio/bpolice.htm
Example #2 is of the archiving/format conversion type:
While most here will never deal with recording any live event or remaster a CD matters not because many here DO archive other mediums (Analog Tape,Analog Discs,VHS Hi-Fi Audio tracks,etc) and for them this is a totally relevant post because many times these archaic mediums need a bit of "help" before being transferred to digital for later CD burning or hard drive archiving.
Say for instance you want to "rip" an LP that while musically relevant is beyond hope for enjoyable playback,or you have a rare disc that you are afraid to lose due to years and years of playback with suspect styli,or you want to make your own personal "best of" mix for playback on your portable or in the car,same rules and programs as above apply.
A "Quick 'N Dirty" mini archiving lab on the cheap could mean "The Ripper" from Hag Labs,a simple phono stage/USB capture device available in a half kit which means the pain in the ass to solder SMD CODEC chip is already installed on the pcb but you are free to select your own passives to finish populating the board which means YOU CHOOSE how much the project will cost or how in the end it will sound (BTW-the PCM29xx chips are usable but marginal as USB playback devices the PCM27xx devices sounding better in direct comparison though why that is I can't say)
www.hagtech.com/ripper.html
It has both a phono stage for LP archiving and a line level input for everything else (including the use of your OWN phono stage if you prefer).
That taks care of the hardware.Once the data stream is IN THE BOX DAMMIT you need a digital audio editor unless all you want is a straight rip but with most being audio fidgets that usually just won't do so again,a good on the cheap editor,one that is fully usable and functional even if not as simple to use as one of the better pro audio editors (but hell folks,it IS freakin' FREE !) is Audacity:
audacity.sourceforge.net/
which needs a VST Enabler if you want to do any real dirty work
audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&i=vst-enabler
the only drawback of going this route is you will not get to see the "actual" GUI of the plugin but rather the Audacity version which in real terms means squat it having all the same controls,just not as "pretty" is all.
Another way ?
VST to DX as mentioned above for a truly stand alone app
Rip the vinyl,expnd or compress as needed,de-es.eliminate pops and clicks,adjust end volume level to match your other selections,cut sections you never liked,bring up sections you always wanted to hear better-your music,your way.all it takes is time and practice
that should about cover it,hope you find it just a bit useful as a stepping stone (rather than gospel which it hardly is by any measure),rick out
"LIVE" recoring is pretty much out of reach for the average audiophile without a fair monetary outlay and a damn lot of practice-getting a clean recording with good dynamic range while keeping the signal below 0dBf is best left to the professionals-but "fixing" or "archiving" while no automatic IS a possible so for the more adventurous among you I figured I would post some content on a topic I rarely see in "Audiophile" country from my very limited though in comparison to some extensive experience.
Example #1 is of the "Fix It up/Modify it" type:
I recently with a teeny tiny remaster of a buddies CD.It wasn't horrible but it was a tad dry and had a wee bit of "open mic" background noise was present (sounded like the AC was on which the music is always fighting for prominance and you NEVER get a silent backgound where the music leaps out at you so either a door was left open or they didn't consider it would effect the overall "sound" of the session and more surprisingly once they heard it never corrected the screwup) plus it was sooo compressed (a modern trend) it was more "wall of sound" than it was "real life power rock".
The cool part of this is I had just previously downloaded for personal eval a FREE VST FX Plug-In from DigitalFish which it so happens was right on time for the remaster which it so happens was a perfect platform for my eval (even though I had a bitch of a time letting my partner in crime allow me the freedom to go away from his preffered FX programs.)
For the noise gate (to rid the background noise) and expansion I used "FLOORFISH" setting the threshold for the gate by ear and the expander with a slow attack/fast release profile above 2kHz (left the bass and upper mids compressed-don't need to overload marginal playback systems) to add some dynamic range back to the recording.Thankfully the band is one that plays only high energy cuts making the "fix" a snap since if one that had soft and loud sections AND studio ambient noise it would have been a real bitch to have a simple program/simple fix make the corrections with many times the threshold for the background noise removal HIGHER than the threshold for the softer music sections making removal better suited to more complex programs or multiple FX modules )
www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5
Being a VST plugin means it is not a stand along app but needs a host program to run with your options running to either a VST Plugin compatible audio editor (any of the pro editors),an audio editor with a VST "bridge" or if you truly want stand along one of the VST-To-DX modules such as this free one:(first read this www.cloneensemble.com/cl_comp.htm)
www.sonicspot.com/spinaudiovstdxwrapper/spinaudiovstdxwrapper.html
Free version limitations ?
You can only load one plugin at a time,not the problem it would seem at first blush since unlike analog processing where each run through will degrade the signal (added noise and distortion) the signal being just "bits" has no problem being manipulated over and over and over and........
Note-exept for the latency thingy which means you won't have "real time" monitoring of the processed signal but will instead have to process it then listen to the results to determine effectiveness so KEEP A PRISTINE COPY AVAILABLE FOR RE-DO'S !)
for simultaneous-multiple FX you will need either one of the above pro editors or the pro version of the Spin-Audio VST-DX Wrapper @ $50
And oh yeah,the plugins worked as advertised and the patient lived
Want to or Need to monitor your DX plugins ?
www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio/dxman.htm
what about plugin audio "quality" ?
www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio/bpolice.htm
Example #2 is of the archiving/format conversion type:
While most here will never deal with recording any live event or remaster a CD matters not because many here DO archive other mediums (Analog Tape,Analog Discs,VHS Hi-Fi Audio tracks,etc) and for them this is a totally relevant post because many times these archaic mediums need a bit of "help" before being transferred to digital for later CD burning or hard drive archiving.
Say for instance you want to "rip" an LP that while musically relevant is beyond hope for enjoyable playback,or you have a rare disc that you are afraid to lose due to years and years of playback with suspect styli,or you want to make your own personal "best of" mix for playback on your portable or in the car,same rules and programs as above apply.
A "Quick 'N Dirty" mini archiving lab on the cheap could mean "The Ripper" from Hag Labs,a simple phono stage/USB capture device available in a half kit which means the pain in the ass to solder SMD CODEC chip is already installed on the pcb but you are free to select your own passives to finish populating the board which means YOU CHOOSE how much the project will cost or how in the end it will sound (BTW-the PCM29xx chips are usable but marginal as USB playback devices the PCM27xx devices sounding better in direct comparison though why that is I can't say)
www.hagtech.com/ripper.html
It has both a phono stage for LP archiving and a line level input for everything else (including the use of your OWN phono stage if you prefer).
That taks care of the hardware.Once the data stream is IN THE BOX DAMMIT you need a digital audio editor unless all you want is a straight rip but with most being audio fidgets that usually just won't do so again,a good on the cheap editor,one that is fully usable and functional even if not as simple to use as one of the better pro audio editors (but hell folks,it IS freakin' FREE !) is Audacity:
audacity.sourceforge.net/
which needs a VST Enabler if you want to do any real dirty work
audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&i=vst-enabler
the only drawback of going this route is you will not get to see the "actual" GUI of the plugin but rather the Audacity version which in real terms means squat it having all the same controls,just not as "pretty" is all.
Another way ?
VST to DX as mentioned above for a truly stand alone app
Rip the vinyl,expnd or compress as needed,de-es.eliminate pops and clicks,adjust end volume level to match your other selections,cut sections you never liked,bring up sections you always wanted to hear better-your music,your way.all it takes is time and practice
that should about cover it,hope you find it just a bit useful as a stepping stone (rather than gospel which it hardly is by any measure),rick out