8 Feb
2007
8 Feb
'07
1:28 a.m.
Jim Leonard wrote:
Zane H. Healy wrote:
Well, as it happens, a significant part of my LP's are other than Rock, and
would most definitely be effected. Even Rock LP's can be effected.
it makes no real sense to digitize 33's or
45's at this point as the vinyl
will outlast the CD-R's I'd put them on, and the CD-R's would be much lower
quality. Last I looked it's impossible to make your own SA-CD or DVD-A
disks (though I'm now seeing some stuff on DVD-A).
You are misinformed on both counts :-) A run-of-the-mill CD can equal
what's on the LP as long as there aren't complex soft dynamics (ie.
stuff that falls under -96dB, the limit of 16-bit data on CDs. If you
have lots of quiet classical music, I would agree with you that there
would be loss... but if your LPs are mostly rock'n'roll or similar
dynamics, nothing would be lost at all. Secondly, it is most definitely possible to create
your own SACD and
DVD-Audio discs, although the software is expensive.
OK, so you can master them, can you burn them? I've seen the software for
mastering them, I've not seen a hardware solution to burn them, at least not
for SA-CD.
It looks like the software I now have discWelder Bronze can do DVD-A disks,
but I've not played with it to see if it really works. As luck has it, I
have a DVD player that can do DVD-A, and I don't have anything to play
SA-CD.
A much cheaper
alternative, and practically free, is to create a DVD *Video* with just
audio playing. The content is still 48/24 or 96/24, just like
DVD-Audio,
They detail just this in the latest issue of audioXpress, in fact I just
picked up a copy for the article on this, but haven't had a chance to read
it.
and with a 24-bit soundcard (under $100 these days) you
can
truly make archival dumps of your LPs to a digital format (48KHz 24-bit
exceeds what LPs are capable of reproducing).
If you're going to take the time to do this, I would hope you're going to
use something a bit better than a cheap soundcard to capture the audio. All
I'm doing right now is 78's and I purchased a Presonus Firebox 24-bit 96kHz
in order to copy them (it's replacing a card from Echo Audio). Right now
the weakest point in my chain for 78's is the crappy pre-amp I'm using,
followed by the cartridge and stylus.
I still fail to see a reason to transfer most of my LP's to a digital
format. As I have a very good turntable, the LP's will last longer than any
copies I make, and in order to do a good job at transferring all of them,
I'd have to invest 1000's of hours. I will transfer a few of my favorites
so that I can put them on my new iPod.
Zane