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CD recording

Hi Tasha,
My albums are part of my history. The only time they were played more than once is when I needed to record them more than once. They are stored vertically and very tight. They have never been in the cold. They are not warped. They have only been played on one cartridge.

Once an LP is played it forms to the cartridge and should never be played on a different one. I read that somewhere a very lng time ago.

I have tried to take the same care of my tapes. I just wish I would have kept my same stereo. But, with just a little more time, I will have it all together again.

Have a great day all

Ed
 
I've got some 40 year old BASF tapes and they play fine - they've only ever been stored in boxes indoors - nothing special. Reel to reel is a great medium and really does last, in my experience.
 
Thanks Beechwoods,

I sure do hope so,I have some very rare recordings of German rock bands that I recorded personally while I was in Germany from 1980-84 that can never be replaced. I also recorded LP's from other GI's on to Reel tape High speed before making copies to cassette for myself. I would never allow anyone to borrow my LP's to record but would record my LP's to reel and then make copies of the reel to cassette for others. I was very fussy about my LP's.

My R2R tapes have not been out of their boxes since I think 1985-86 when I sold my original R2R. They were packed verticle and tight. Stored always in a bedroom closet as were my cassette tapes. LP's on the other hand took much more space. My LP collection is very large. Over 3700 at last count. They remain in a spare bedroom and have just come out of their crates. Time to start reminiscing.

It won't be long now and my system will once again be complete. My graying hair is already starting to turn back to it's original brown. I can feel the years turning back...
 
Edriz said:
My LP collection is very large. Over 3700 at last count. They remain in a spare bedroom and have just come out of their crates. Time to start reminiscing.

It won't be long now and my system will once again be complete. My graying hair is already starting to turn back to it's original brown. I can feel the years turning back...
Click to expand...

I'm humbled by the volumes of LPs you own. I stopped at around 500 in the early 80's. Only recently have I returned to LP's and collecting. You're going to be busy for a few days, uh weeks, uh years working with that collection.
 
Ditch the CT-F950 and upgrade to the 1250 model, I promise you that you won't be regret it. Also, most of my tapes are in excellent condition, as I only used Maxell MX 90 metal tapes, TDA SA C-90 CrO2 tapes, Fuji FR-II & FR Metal tapes, and a few BASF CrO2 tapes (those are the ones that went bad). As long as they were stored in a cool, dry, and structured environment, you should be alright.

When the time came for me to do the CD mastering, I used as many tapes as I could, as the albums were MFSL, CBS Mastersound, or Nautilus Superdisc half-speed masters, and I didn't want to play them unless I had to.

I used this software called Spin It Again! from a company called Acoustica ( www.acoustica.com ), and it has a frequency response that extends well above and below the 20-20 range (I used a 10Hz to 30kHz sweep tone, and the software picked it up), and it only cost about 30 bucks. The only other thing that you will need for this project is the RCA to stereo mini-plug cord, but you can get them at just about any electronics store, and they usually cost less than 15 bucks.

With all that said, I personally like doing it on the computer, but it does take more time. I hope that this helps you out!



Jason
 
I use MFSL Ultradisc CD-R's. Sure they cost about 4 bucks a pop, but to replace a MFSL Half-Speed Master, it cost about 50 bucks. Not only that, but the lifespan of these CD-R's is over 300 years, and they back it with a lifetime warranty. If your albums are that precious to you, and you want to be listening to them for the rest of your life, then these are the CD-R's for you!




Jason
 
Those UltraDisc MFSL CD-R discs are superb, but cannot be used in a Pioneer standalone consumer recorder since they're not Music CD-R. They are for low speed computer burning and professional standalone recorders like Marantz pro, Tascam, HHb, Alesis Masterlink and similar. Now you could capture the audio on a Music CD-R or RW and rip that disc to your PC with EAC and burn your disc on the computer using those Gold CD-R discs just fine.
 
If you're planning to convert LP's to CD's, please read up on converting them to 'lossless' computer files!!! And then, DO IT ON THE COMPUTER!!!!!

Encoding your LP's to .wav, .alac or .flac files is EASY and may save you hundred of hours. The digital files are CD quality or (can be 'dialed' to any quality level desired) and can be used to make 'hard-copy' CD's in a flash.

How convinced am I? I've converted 500 tapes so far and wouldn't go back to ANY other recording method.

How convinced am I? Our band owns two exellent 'stand-alone' CD recorder/duplicators. I'll never use them again.

Frankly, iff my bandmates weren't employing them as home CD players, I'd give you both for free.

There's a lot of great information online. Please check out:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Audacity is the software that is often included with USB turntable. Many LP conversion 'kits' are repackaged Audacity freeware. You can download a free copy and use it with ANY turntable or tape deck.

I've used Audacity to archive over 500 cassettes and it's worked beautifully. I'm also using it to make an archival copy of my vinyl.

You'll need a USB ADC/DAC. My $39.00 Edirol unit is equivalent to what they include in USB turntables and seems to do a fine job.

Don't get 'hung up' on trying to qualitatively assess USB Analog to Digital converters. I did. It was a waste of time.

That discussion is interesting, but, ultimately, I decided the 'non-audiophile' technical information available was more persuasive than the audio-phile notions about 'bloom in the binary code'.

Archiving CD's:

If you'd like to archive CD's on your computer, please take a look at:

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

http://www.digital-inn.de/forum14/

'Lossless' .flac encoding is becoming a standard for storing audio files. 'Exact Audio Copy' is a 'flagship' program for ripping and/or duplicating CD's. There are others that also do a fine job.

I've used EAC to rip around 400 CD's which I store as .flac files on a USB hard-drive. If I need a physical CD it takes about two minutes to 'burn' one.

EAC handles CD's as DATA -- eliminating any issues related to playback quality, recording, etc.

It's worth taking the time to read up on this. Online, I found that articles by folks with recording studio experience more helpful than audiophile resourcs.

Wikipaedia had several helpful entries, here's one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_compression_(data)

Good luck, piscator
 
WOW, Information Overload, my head is burning, water quick..... I'm old and smokin'
jhaan92, I love my CT-F950. I almost got a 1250. Didn't see much more benefit. Today anyway I don't really even need the 950. It's mainly for playing not recording. My main recoring cassettes were the TDK SA 90's. Maxell only if the TDK's weren't available. I tried the metals only once and wasn't really impressed for the money. I don't have too many Master or MSFL Lp's anyway, just a few and as far as the 20-20k range, at my age bud I couldn't hear that range for the last 15 years. I worked in a steel factory for over 30 years. LOL!!!

As KentTeffeteller was saying, the Pioneer CD recorder is kind of specific as to the type of discs that can be used.

Piscator, I had considered using the PC to doing conversions of my LP's and cassettes but I am a stereo buff at heart. In the years that I ave used a computer, this is the first and only forum that I have ever joined and that was just 2 weeks ago. I have never used an Instant Messager. Couldn't even tell ya how.

Since 1996 all I ever used a computer for is business. The last 5 years has been spent for business full time online. Nothing more until recently when I decied to replace a stereo system I had to give up years ago. I decided a few months ago that it's time for me to start doing things for me for a change and something I wanted was to re-build my stereo one piece at a time. Maybe not exactly what I had that I gace up but with gear that I've had at various times.

I am almost there. One of the things I never had was a CD player/recorder. Back then, CD's were just coming on the scene. I did have one of the first Laser didc players though. That was also a Pioneer Laser Disc. I can even remember the first disc I bought. I actually bought the disc before I got the player. It was "Rainbow, Live Between The Eyes" The Laser Disc was due to arrive in the stores that same week so I bought the disc first. I think that was either 1980 or maybe 1981.

My brain back then was just a little fuzzy*!&#. Anyway, my main concern is to ust record some of my LP's to CD and if my cassette tapes are in good enough condition then the only LP's that I will be recording isthe ones that; a) the tapes are wornb out, b) the LP's that were never recorded to tape in the first place.

I would never consider trying to record every LP I own. I don't think there is that much life left in my bones.

Someone posted up above that some brand of CD has a shelf life of 300 years?? Now, sir, is that test from experience? I have heard many stories about the life of a CD. Some from as little as 7 years to as long as 100 years but never 300. Who would ever care if a CD could last 300 years?? Anywy, I was told that my tapes could have been hurt when they went through X-Ray going back and forth overseas. I don't know how true that is but my equipment and tapes have been shipped betwwen the US and Europe a number of times. 3 times when I was in the service and a couple of times when I wasn't in the service. Does anyone know how true that is?

Anyway, I do appreciate all the information and help that you folks have sent my way. I do like keeping things simple though. You know the ols saying," You can't teach an old dog new tricks" I like the dea of hooking up the CD like a tape deck and recording that way Nice and simple for a simple mind, former welder!!

Thanks again guys and have a great weekend

Ed
 
Edriz,

I would never consider trying to record every LP I own. I don't think there is that much life left in my bones.
Click to expand...

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

My bass player, neighbor, said the very same thing!!

If you're only planning to make a few CD's a stand-alone recorder may do the trick.

OTOH, I haven't found stand-alone CD recorders to be quite as simple as using traditional tape decks. I don't find ours to be very 'intuitive' and always need the instruction manual to get the settings correct. Nonetheless they do get the job done.

If you're only interested in recording 'a few' LP's you might find it easier to have someone do it for you. In our area there are several computer shops that offer this for a nominal charge.

I thought you wanted to archive your entire tape and LP collection. This, I think, would be A LOT of work using a standalone CD burner.

If you're not 'computer savvy' a standalone burner might be just the thing for you.

Good luck! piscator
 
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