Converting Analog Audio To Digital

This screencast talks about some basic principles involved in transferring analog audio from records or tape into your PC to convert it to MP3 or CD... :) JC

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Vintage
• Audio
• Stereo
• Hi-Fi
• Recording

[thencamespeedster]

Once you converted an analog audio track to digital and applied peak normalization,

is it ok to normalize that track again when you burn it on a cd? I often burn tracks from different sources on a cd and use Nero's normalization option so that they have the same volume. Nero advices to use rms normalization for this.

[BadEditPro]

@thencamespeedster This is a touchy subject because it all depends on whether Nero is distorting the audio or not. If Nero is turning everything down from the highest peak level, no problem. If Nero is attempting to raise the peak level about digital zero to increase the RMS value of a quiet track, it's going to clip the hell out of it. mp3Gain is a better normalizer than the one in Nero. :) JC

[theryaner]

Will a vinyl converted to digital sound different than a cd ripped to an mp3?

[BadEditPro]

@theryaner Yes, it will sound better or worse depending on the quality of the transfer. Basically, the original playing live always sounds best but you can get pretty close with a good digital transfer. CD to MP3 is a direct process whereas recording analog audio and then converting it to mp3 is a bit more tricky to get right. :) JC

[theryaner]

@BadEditPro Ah I see thanks! Another question. I'm aware that many modern released vinyls are actually produced originally from high quality digital masters. Would the vinyls still sound better than it's original format even though it was made from digital?

[BadEditPro]

@theryaner The short answer is yes. Professional 96/24 digital being played back on very high end equipment is very close to analog in quality. The trouble starts when the 96/24 master is converted to 44.1/16 CD audio. So, being that an LP has better resolution that a CD, you're getting a better reproduction of the original with an LP than you'd get from a CD made from the same 96/24 master. :) JC

[thencamespeedster]

@BadEditPro I'll look into mp#Gain. Thanks.

[villainsdeeds]

I've been doing this for a few years now, but I watched this video anyway to see what kind of pointers I could pick up. I was quite pleased with myself to find that you didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. I guess I'm on the right track.

[BadEditPro]

@clydesight Thanks! Using the high resolution settings to record will make a difference in the finished product,. :) JC

[clydesight]

Thanks for the video. I use Audacity and it can be set to 9600 32 bit like you said. It also has a bunch of filters and effects and additional plug-ins. For a free program, that's amazing! I can't find a hiss clip[ pop filter though, I'll have to look deeper into the help file!