Recording Vinyl to CD

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:50 am

I am a Hip Hop DJ and in the process of copying over my vinyl songs to CD. I am a newbie to the recording phase of all this and would like some info as far as Mastering at home using a PC and plugins, what are the steps I should do before putting the songs on CDR. Below are the software and plugins I currently have.

Software:
Wave Lab 5
Sound Forge 7
CD Architect 5.0
Acid Pro 4 & 5

Which software is the best to record with?

Plugins:
Waves Diamond Bundle 5

Which utilities within this should I use (compressors, click, crackle, hum, etc..)?

What CDR blank media is the best to use for constant use for DJ'ing? I will be DJ'ing using the Denon DN-S5000 CD Turntables and want a CD that can be used constantly and last the longest. Should I use 74min CDR's or 80min CDR's so they can played on all types of CD players and decks? I was told to use one of the following, HHB White Thermal 80min, Mitsui Silver (74/80min), Taiyo Yuden Gold (74/80min), and TDK. Should I use silver or gold bottoms and does it make a difference?

What is the best CD Burner, Plextor? Which Plextor model. I'm looking for either internal and external. Are the Plextor DVD burners good to use for audio recording?

Again, sorry for the list of questions, but I love music and it's my hobby but as I stated before I am a newbie to the recording and mastering phase of all this, but would like to learn and get it right from the beginning. I will be converting lots of vinyl over so it's worth taking out the time and getting the right information before starting to record. Thanks in advance.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:36 pm

I don't want to seem... suspicious...

You have around $2000 in recording software and a FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR set of plugins, and you don't know what to use to record a stereo track?

I could be wrong, and I'm not slinging accusations, but this doesn't smell right somehow...

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:26 pm

I'm asking for the best method from experienced users. I have my way of recording but know that there are more ways and better ways from professional users. And yes, to answer your question, I do have "$2000 in recording software and a FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR set of plugins" because it is a group of us that got together to purchase this equipment to learn and use. We figured get some of the recommended best to learn and use rather than constantly have to upgrade. Not everyone who has expensive equipment and software is an expert from the start. The fact that you mentioned the overall cost of everything is taken as an accusation on my behalf. I work hard for what I got and see no reason why a reply as you posted was necessary. If you didn't want to help and answer any of the questions, a reply was not necessary from you.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:49 pm

No one is going to tell you how to do anything because you obviously stole your software. The software that you have is regularly available on file sharing networks. How come you don't have any software or plugins that are dongle protected or not available as warez?

The story about you getting together with a couple of guys to purchase this software is b.s. because did you not ask before you bought the software what types that you needed for your purpose? Why the hell would you purchase all those plugins? A normal person would start out with one or two pieces of software, and then slowly add to it as they got experienced and learned what they need. That's like me walking into a car dealership, and buying 12 of their most expensive cars without even looking at them. I assume you started up Kazaa and downloaded every program and plugin that you could get.

Myself, I own Logic Audio and Cubase, but almost all of my plugins are freeware (available free from the developer) or were included with Logic or Cubase.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:50 pm

djtrixxx30 wrote:

I am a Hip Hop DJ and in the process of copying over my vinyl songs to CD.

Umm... well one thing, if your actually transfering alot of your old stuff from records.... and if your intention is to actually want it to sound good.... your probably going to want to do some processing which is going to be very laborious. I started doing this myself, as I have a stack of 300 old records... and I didnt get very far.

Your going to need noise reduction plugins which will help to handle the removal of clicks and pops and things of that nature.. Alot of the programs you mentioned dont have really good plugins as part of the core package.

For example, in Sound Forge, if you want to do click and pop removal, Sony makes you buy their "Noise Reduction" plug-in package (cheap bastards at SONY....cant even do something as simple as removing 'clips' without making me pay extra for it?)

ACID I use alot for laying tracks.... but never for plug-in processing... so I dont think that program either has much in the way of restoring vinyl records to help put them on CD.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:55 pm

Oh, right. And where did you buy Acid 4 and 5 at the same time? LOL! You're telling me that not only did you buy Acid 5, but you also bought Acid 4 "just for kicks' or something? Hahah.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:12 pm

Thank You Nemesys for your response.....

We each purchased different software. Just because I did not post any questions about what software to use on this forum does not mean I stole it. There are a a lot of other forums and this one was just recommended to me from a DJ forum I use frequently. You cannot accuse someone of stealing from them posting a question. I did not go onto Kazaa or any other downloading website to get my stuff. Maybe you are right, maybe I jumped into a big picture without learning the basics first, but from what I heard on other forums the bundle I purchased included all the other bundles so I purchased it all at once. I had the money and the opportunity to get it and did, just the way I am. So if you feel you do not want to help becuase you believe I stole it, then fine, just don't respond. I see no reason in you taking out the time to respond if you have your beliefs.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 5:16 pm

If your approach to recording/mastering is anything like your methodology when stealing, um I mean "buying", software, then god bless and f**k off.

The best, and ONLY, place to start when learning how to master songs is the exact same advice Massive Mastering gave to me a few weeks ago: Read the books.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 5:23 pm

F**K Off???????Your replying on my post. Is someone jealous that we can afford things you can't? Only reason I can see for you replying and cursing and everything. Me being more professional than you, I will not stoop to that level and continue this conversation with you. I know what I have and know it's legit. I would not be able to get tech support from Steinberg, Waves or anyother one of those companies if I did not have legit software and registered software.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:15 pm

Nemesys wrote:

Umm... well one thing, if your actually transfering alot of your old stuff from records.... and if your intention is to actually want it to sound good.... your probably going to want to do some processing which is going to be very laborious. I started doing this myself, as I have a stack of 300 old records... and I didnt get very far.

If you want it to sound good then get a good converter and record the signal as loud as posible with as few as posible overs and then burn an audio CD directly from the file recorded.
One of the best ransfers I've heard from vinyl was made by using a slightly modified Pioneer CD recorder(internal converters was used).

This is the absolut best method of doing it... if you start using plugins or simply start calculating in your DAW(by moving faders and etc.) you are damaging the original sound from the LP!

Best Regards,

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:50 pm

Thanks for the info Ammitsboel....

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:52 pm

Ammitsboel, do you recommend any specific CDR media to use for Audio, HHB, Mitsui, Taiyo Yuden, etc...? 74 or 80min?

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:03 pm

I use Quantegy gold, HHB was the second best in my test.

Best Regards

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:22 pm

Very much appreciated, Thanks......

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:24 pm

Ammitsboel, what is the difference between branded and unbranded CDR's? Which Plextor CD burner is the best for burning audio?

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