Archiving-Digitizing
Jan 21, 2009 16:13:54 GMT
Post by rickcr42 on Jan 21, 2009 16:13:54 GMT
Surprised there is not more "Audiophile" interest in this topic.The "youngsters" can't seem to see past Rip the CD,Convert the CD,Store the Songs,Play the Songs or Download the Song,Move The Song to the iPod.
Maybe it is laziness,no one wants to do any actual WORK other than download and play or at worst have to click the "Convert to" or"download to" button or maybe it is just having grown up in a time where everything older than they are is considered ancient technology thus lacking in any merits so not worthy.
For others like me who use all the formats out there,who grew up in a time where being a so called "audiophile" meant you were hands on and you had to actually GET OFF YOUR ASS to play music-
Turn the system ON
Cue the tape
Cue the LP
Tune the Radio station
Adjust the Volume/Balance/Tone
Go back and sit down or to whatever activity the music will be a background soundtrack for.
We accepted the fact that like your dinner plates,your house,your clothing,your BODY you needed to do a periodic cleaning AND make an attempt to KEEP it in as clean an environment as possible.We tried to keep some semblence of order by catalogueing our collections MANUALLY and we treated each disc/tape as if a mini-treasure because nothing,nothing is worse than having an "event" in the middle of a song you are deeply into (ticks and pops at least did not lockup the system or "drop out" entire sections of the music something digital does do and that those who push the digital side rarely mention or they dismiss as not being as annoying as a simple low level hiss
)
www.vinylengine.com/care-and-handling-recorded-sound-materials.shtml
But being human even we "oldtimers" like to take it easy at times to so for instance you would have to shoot me dead if you want to take away my TV remote because there is NO WAY I am getting off my lazy butt to change the channel (from one news station to the next
) which usually comers with a volume change as well the idiots in charge of the cable companies/SATV/stations having no conception of NORMALISING at least the AVERAGE level.I hate it when late at night ,half asleep,ready to wind down for the day I change the channel and the speakers SCREAM at me,I adjust down,change again,and now I can't even here the damn dialog the channel being soooo much lower in level than the previous choice
Get a clue punks ! Do the fking job or let someone with a brain take your slot !
when there is a KNOWN problem that has widespread knowledge of,as in everyone with a damn television that watches broadcast programming,and it goes on for years without even an attempt at a solution from those in control I say there is a serious problem on the "give a shit" level.They must not care or we do not complain enough (or both) or after all these years there would not still be a problem worth mentioning.That there is says a lot about how much modern "service" providers really care about the customer which is you DO NOT MATTER until you no longer pay for the service at which time they will court you and offer you "deals" to bring you back or steal you away from the competition
So we like the simple "Lazy Boy" approach too but only for trivial everday non-critical applications and why also while we dearly would like a remote volume/balance control we struggle with actually implementing one because we KNOW it has an actual measurable and audible effect on the musics integrity no matter how good it is (unless it is a motor driven pot which changes nothing but that also means use the available devices or use the preferred pots and go without the remote option)
From where I sit they are all comprimised in one way or another (active series devices means everthying goes through it,active or passive devices means impedances will change and if buffered then IT will have an effect on the sound being another series device) and though I have one,a outboard DIY PGA module it has the option for a total direct-bypass and even THAT is a comprimise because of the additional RCA connectors needed for the additional interconnect and why I may at some point have to build it into my control console.
So for those times when I have the time to actually sit down and "taste" my music I have zero problem cuing up,adjusting,then sitting down with some "sipping material" and relaxing until I need to get up and flip the disc/cassette which usually due to the time element just so happens coincides with the need for a "refill" so no big deal (my idea of automatic/remote control refill is "honey ? Would you get this for me please ?" ).
then there is the "music as background soundtrack to my life" thing.That is the "in the car,turn on the radio or cue up the trunk mounted multidisc player) and once in the home was my Pioneer 50+1 CD "Jukebox" on random play (also with a remote
) but these days is the computer which i have to be honest,for sheer effortless lazy man operation is about as good as it gets and is the "audio source" I use most (FM Radio being #2) but having said that is not and as far into the future as I can see will never supplant my "manual operation get off your ass hardware" system because no matter howq good it sounds it is second place by a large margin for anything deeper listening/relaxing.
Makes my life easier yes.Good enough for 99.9% of my listening yes.Could I live with it as my sole source if i had to ?
Yes.But still lags behind my analog playback system in ultimate SQ and so when I want to get to the REAL content my computer goes from "Audio Server" to "Intrnet box" or "Electronics Design Lab" or "Information Library" as it was intended to be from the outset of home computer as a possibility,and yes,I pre-date home computers by a fair amount and USABLE home computers by even more (my first computer was an Altair with logic toggles on the front panel to input the data
)
So being one to make use of all possibilities and not one to take a pass just because the medium is a comprimise (or I wouldnever listen to the radio or use a portable MP3 player,an ANCIENT RCA Lyra player ;D does LOOK cool though 
) I have "ripped" and "edited" and "converted" then "stored" pretty much my entire music library on a 1 Terabite MyBook external hard drive (though I think I may be headed to a NAS in the future 
) which means unlike the simple "rip it and store" of the Cd or "download it and store it" of the online digital formats involves some actual work and maybe in a nutshell is why I rarely read about this topic too much there being from my vantage point a SERIOUS slant towards "Lazy Bastatrds" in most of the generations following mine and a bit after and I can say that in comfort from peronal observation in the workplace AND in how thjey spend their leisure time.Most would rather pay someone else to do a thing rather than do it themselves it being both beneath them to get their hands dirty and hell,it IS work so again,unless they are getting PAID themselves (and payed well for little sweat which is for someone else) it is not happening plus considering it takes away from their gameplay,no not actually tossing the ball or catching the ball,but "effortless" play pushing buttons while sitting in a comfy chair,well,just not possible there being only 24 hours in a day
Arching analog is WORK,make no mistake about it being hands on control rather than button pushing then letting the "machine" do all the work (don't get me started on LIVE recording
) because there are "steps" if you want the end product to be actually listenable so like with most things there is a beginning,a middle,and an end with EACH critical to the final outcome.
Stage 1-The SOURCE;Garbage in ? Garbage out !
I wish I had a friggin' dime for every post I have read where some knucklhead thinks they can lowball the analog front end then expects the end results to be "as good as my CD's" then when it turns to shit cries that it is the medium at fault !
If you want a good copy you NEED a good source so even if you have no desire to LISTEN to the analog version it still needs to be set up as if it were your ONLY source of music.Only then will you be happy so spend the damn loot and do the damn resarch on how to get the damn thing set up properly or don't bother,you will be wasting your time.
Stage 2-Digitizing
If you have a good soundcard or a quality sound card "replacement" (Quality USB CODEC) you have the "good enough" hardware side covered already.Better would be a dedicated external ADC (much like many use an external DAC with their computers feeling the improvement in SQ worthwhile) but either way this is NOT a "blind box" that you can just set to "record" and expect the end results to be pleasing.As with any other section of the analog signl path,and we are still in the ANALOG DOMAIN until the data actually gets IN the computer or onto a hard drive,impedance matching and signal level compatibility are paramount so you will need to match the source input to the AD Converter then adjust levels accordingly.
Where this becomes a "not worth the effort" situation is you need to KNOW how digital works and why !
Signal too low and you lose the lower resolution parts because they fall into the area where you run out of bits.Too high and you run out of headroom and unlike analog where a "hot" signal is even in a worst case scenario is STILL playable you can never,ever,ever go past 0dBf even for a microsecond ! NOT EVER !
So you options are ood school hands on control or "gain riding",run the recording into your sound card and using a computer software audio signal peak level indicator monitor the level of the recording looking for the HIGHEST LEVEL PRESENT then adjust overall volume for -6dB or the old school safety valve-the peak limiter-hardware based if an external ADC,can be software based if using your soundcard.
If the external ADC route You CAN NOT have this "over" 0dBf in the computer and then use a software limiter and expect it to work because the analog signal has already been converted externally and can not be fixed internally so pay attention to those levels or your "project" will be a bust.You do not want to flirt with 0dBf.This is not analog and you have no room for error
www.bcr.org/cdp/best/digital-audio-bp.pdf
Stage 3-Editing/Coding;
Now that you have "ripped" your analog signal you have a format that can be manipulated and the possibilities pretty much are endless.The basic would be to get the signal cleaned up and get the levels somewhat normalised so all your music plays at close to the same volume level but you are in total control here so if for instance you never really liked the choices made by the original recording engineer but find the actual selection worthy of merit THIS is your chance to make it more suited to your own personal idea of what sounds good.Everything from EQ to compression to expansion to noise reduction to pop and tick removal to hiss removal to getting rid of sectons that have no reason to be there to..........well everything.
Get yourself an audio editor that is VST Plug-In compatible and have at it !
Your music,your way,screw everyone who doesn't agree.They don't have to listen so please YOU !
Now that the RAW data is pretty much how you want it,it is time to make a decision on how you want to STORE it.Ideally if you have the disc space it would be in wav. format it being the most "pure" but if space is at a premium then you have little choice but to use a compression code and again you have to choose what form this takes which can be anything from lossless (FLAC,WMA.etc) to lossy (LAME,etc).My personal take is store it in as close to the original as possible then code down for playback or download to a portable audio device but that is MY personal choice.
Stage 4-Organising/playing
Here you are finally into "known" territory if you use your computer for music as the same rules apply as they would with the simple "rip and play" or "download and play" because data is data and once you code it you can treat it as any other medium used to organize and play songs on your computer and we get back to the same old "what sounds best" arguments/opinions.
DAMN !
Took almost as long to write this as it would to convert and entire LP !
Maybe it is laziness,no one wants to do any actual WORK other than download and play or at worst have to click the "Convert to" or"download to" button or maybe it is just having grown up in a time where everything older than they are is considered ancient technology thus lacking in any merits so not worthy.
For others like me who use all the formats out there,who grew up in a time where being a so called "audiophile" meant you were hands on and you had to actually GET OFF YOUR ASS to play music-
Turn the system ON
Cue the tape
Cue the LP
Tune the Radio station
Adjust the Volume/Balance/Tone
Go back and sit down or to whatever activity the music will be a background soundtrack for.
We accepted the fact that like your dinner plates,your house,your clothing,your BODY you needed to do a periodic cleaning AND make an attempt to KEEP it in as clean an environment as possible.We tried to keep some semblence of order by catalogueing our collections MANUALLY and we treated each disc/tape as if a mini-treasure because nothing,nothing is worse than having an "event" in the middle of a song you are deeply into (ticks and pops at least did not lockup the system or "drop out" entire sections of the music something digital does do and that those who push the digital side rarely mention or they dismiss as not being as annoying as a simple low level hiss
)www.vinylengine.com/care-and-handling-recorded-sound-materials.shtml
But being human even we "oldtimers" like to take it easy at times to so for instance you would have to shoot me dead if you want to take away my TV remote because there is NO WAY I am getting off my lazy butt to change the channel (from one news station to the next
) which usually comers with a volume change as well the idiots in charge of the cable companies/SATV/stations having no conception of NORMALISING at least the AVERAGE level.I hate it when late at night ,half asleep,ready to wind down for the day I change the channel and the speakers SCREAM at me,I adjust down,change again,and now I can't even here the damn dialog the channel being soooo much lower in level than the previous choice Get a clue punks ! Do the fking job or let someone with a brain take your slot !
when there is a KNOWN problem that has widespread knowledge of,as in everyone with a damn television that watches broadcast programming,and it goes on for years without even an attempt at a solution from those in control I say there is a serious problem on the "give a shit" level.They must not care or we do not complain enough (or both) or after all these years there would not still be a problem worth mentioning.That there is says a lot about how much modern "service" providers really care about the customer which is you DO NOT MATTER until you no longer pay for the service at which time they will court you and offer you "deals" to bring you back or steal you away from the competition
So we like the simple "Lazy Boy" approach too but only for trivial everday non-critical applications and why also while we dearly would like a remote volume/balance control we struggle with actually implementing one because we KNOW it has an actual measurable and audible effect on the musics integrity no matter how good it is (unless it is a motor driven pot which changes nothing but that also means use the available devices or use the preferred pots and go without the remote option)
From where I sit they are all comprimised in one way or another (active series devices means everthying goes through it,active or passive devices means impedances will change and if buffered then IT will have an effect on the sound being another series device) and though I have one,a outboard DIY PGA module it has the option for a total direct-bypass and even THAT is a comprimise because of the additional RCA connectors needed for the additional interconnect and why I may at some point have to build it into my control console.
So for those times when I have the time to actually sit down and "taste" my music I have zero problem cuing up,adjusting,then sitting down with some "sipping material" and relaxing until I need to get up and flip the disc/cassette which usually due to the time element just so happens coincides with the need for a "refill" so no big deal (my idea of automatic/remote control refill is "honey ? Would you get this for me please ?"
).then there is the "music as background soundtrack to my life" thing.That is the "in the car,turn on the radio or cue up the trunk mounted multidisc player) and once in the home was my Pioneer 50+1 CD "Jukebox" on random play (also with a remote
) but these days is the computer which i have to be honest,for sheer effortless lazy man operation is about as good as it gets and is the "audio source" I use most (FM Radio being #2) but having said that is not and as far into the future as I can see will never supplant my "manual operation get off your ass hardware" system because no matter howq good it sounds it is second place by a large margin for anything deeper listening/relaxing.Makes my life easier yes.Good enough for 99.9% of my listening yes.Could I live with it as my sole source if i had to ?
Yes.But still lags behind my analog playback system in ultimate SQ and so when I want to get to the REAL content my computer goes from "Audio Server" to "Intrnet box" or "Electronics Design Lab" or "Information Library" as it was intended to be from the outset of home computer as a possibility,and yes,I pre-date home computers by a fair amount and USABLE home computers by even more (my first computer was an Altair with logic toggles on the front panel to input the data
)So being one to make use of all possibilities and not one to take a pass just because the medium is a comprimise (or I wouldnever listen to the radio or use a portable MP3 player,an ANCIENT RCA Lyra player ;D
does LOOK cool though 
) I have "ripped" and "edited" and "converted" then "stored" pretty much my entire music library on a 1 Terabite MyBook external hard drive (though I think I may be headed to a NAS in the future 
) which means unlike the simple "rip it and store" of the Cd or "download it and store it" of the online digital formats involves some actual work and maybe in a nutshell is why I rarely read about this topic too much there being from my vantage point a SERIOUS slant towards "Lazy Bastatrds" in most of the generations following mine and a bit after and I can say that in comfort from peronal observation in the workplace AND in how thjey spend their leisure time.Most would rather pay someone else to do a thing rather than do it themselves it being both beneath them to get their hands dirty and hell,it IS work so again,unless they are getting PAID themselves (and payed well for little sweat which is for someone else) it is not happening plus considering it takes away from their gameplay,no not actually tossing the ball or catching the ball,but "effortless" play pushing buttons while sitting in a comfy chair,well,just not possible there being only 24 hours in a day Arching analog is WORK,make no mistake about it being hands on control rather than button pushing then letting the "machine" do all the work (don't get me started on LIVE recording
) because there are "steps" if you want the end product to be actually listenable so like with most things there is a beginning,a middle,and an end with EACH critical to the final outcome.Stage 1-The SOURCE;Garbage in ? Garbage out !
I wish I had a friggin' dime for every post I have read where some knucklhead thinks they can lowball the analog front end then expects the end results to be "as good as my CD's" then when it turns to shit cries that it is the medium at fault !
If you want a good copy you NEED a good source so even if you have no desire to LISTEN to the analog version it still needs to be set up as if it were your ONLY source of music.Only then will you be happy so spend the damn loot and do the damn resarch on how to get the damn thing set up properly or don't bother,you will be wasting your time.
Stage 2-Digitizing
If you have a good soundcard or a quality sound card "replacement" (Quality USB CODEC) you have the "good enough" hardware side covered already.Better would be a dedicated external ADC (much like many use an external DAC with their computers feeling the improvement in SQ worthwhile) but either way this is NOT a "blind box" that you can just set to "record" and expect the end results to be pleasing.As with any other section of the analog signl path,and we are still in the ANALOG DOMAIN until the data actually gets IN the computer or onto a hard drive,impedance matching and signal level compatibility are paramount so you will need to match the source input to the AD Converter then adjust levels accordingly.
Where this becomes a "not worth the effort" situation is you need to KNOW how digital works and why !
Signal too low and you lose the lower resolution parts because they fall into the area where you run out of bits.Too high and you run out of headroom and unlike analog where a "hot" signal is even in a worst case scenario is STILL playable you can never,ever,ever go past 0dBf even for a microsecond ! NOT EVER !
So you options are ood school hands on control or "gain riding",run the recording into your sound card and using a computer software audio signal peak level indicator monitor the level of the recording looking for the HIGHEST LEVEL PRESENT then adjust overall volume for -6dB or the old school safety valve-the peak limiter-hardware based if an external ADC,can be software based if using your soundcard.
If the external ADC route You CAN NOT have this "over" 0dBf in the computer and then use a software limiter and expect it to work because the analog signal has already been converted externally and can not be fixed internally so pay attention to those levels or your "project" will be a bust.You do not want to flirt with 0dBf.This is not analog and you have no room for error
www.bcr.org/cdp/best/digital-audio-bp.pdf
Stage 3-Editing/Coding;
Now that you have "ripped" your analog signal you have a format that can be manipulated and the possibilities pretty much are endless.The basic would be to get the signal cleaned up and get the levels somewhat normalised so all your music plays at close to the same volume level but you are in total control here so if for instance you never really liked the choices made by the original recording engineer but find the actual selection worthy of merit THIS is your chance to make it more suited to your own personal idea of what sounds good.Everything from EQ to compression to expansion to noise reduction to pop and tick removal to hiss removal to getting rid of sectons that have no reason to be there to..........well everything.
Get yourself an audio editor that is VST Plug-In compatible and have at it !
Your music,your way,screw everyone who doesn't agree.They don't have to listen so please YOU !
Now that the RAW data is pretty much how you want it,it is time to make a decision on how you want to STORE it.Ideally if you have the disc space it would be in wav. format it being the most "pure" but if space is at a premium then you have little choice but to use a compression code and again you have to choose what form this takes which can be anything from lossless (FLAC,WMA.etc) to lossy (LAME,etc).My personal take is store it in as close to the original as possible then code down for playback or download to a portable audio device but that is MY personal choice.
Stage 4-Organising/playing
Here you are finally into "known" territory if you use your computer for music as the same rules apply as they would with the simple "rip and play" or "download and play" because data is data and once you code it you can treat it as any other medium used to organize and play songs on your computer and we get back to the same old "what sounds best" arguments/opinions.
DAMN !
Took almost as long to write this as it would to convert and entire LP !
As I said, I scan my own covers, and don't download those crappy compressed files, so I don't need artwork. Legitimate CD quality,(or better !) music downloads normally have original HIGH QUALITY artwork supplied.
