The limitations of digitising

[Smengy1]

Well I don't know if the way I did my vinyl was pure digital capture.
I ran my Turntable signal into a Yamaha AV reciever phono preamp. Then out from the preamp into a Nakamichi tape deck, then into sound card(aureal 8830)
I used the Nakamichi's input level and recording levels to adjust the
phonos input level (like a miking board)
I know It's not the top of the line stuff, this was like 7 years ago.

Anyways the real important step was the post processing. I used Diamond Cut Audio or DCart 3.2 I think that was the version. It handled up to 48 ktz, inside that program you can de pop it all, equalize it to make up for your cartridges sonic shortcomings, and then apply a virtual tube amplifier filter to juice up the signal.
I dunno I may not have had the best of equipment, but my digital captures sound fine to me.
The newest version of Diamond Cut Audio(7 or is insane!! Captures all the way up to 198, and has more filters than I can figure out!!! The de-popping filter is wayyyyyyyyy better now. And don't take alot of the
hiss out!!! Although CD's were touted as noise free, if you listen to vinyl
you know alot of prescience lives in the mild hiss. I would record with
Dolby C to get better signal to noise(tape deck) , but I would never
listen to the tapes with the bias and Dolby on. It just made the music sound like crap!!! And those cars with tape decks where it auto sensed the CRo2 and turned the bias on!!! Ahh I hated that!!
So i'd say look into DCART audio... can find it on isohunt (
cough cough) .

[Hanuman]

This is interesting:

http://www.digido.com/back-to-analog.html

The author seems to be Bob Katz, a mastering engineer of some repute. The basic essay is from 1997 with more recent edits. Interesting to get the perspective of a professional at the coalface.

There's a whole raft of other stuff here:

http://www.digido.com/articles-demos.html

[KurtW]

Nice link, thanks.

I attended a great event at the AES convention in San Francisco last November where Bob Ludwig and Doug Sax, two of the great mastering engineers, talked about quality mastering. Bob played a cut from a commercial CD that was released made from a high resolution digital file. He then played the same cut from a LP that he mastered from a copy of that same hi-res file. It was interesting to see astonished looks on the faces of everyone in the room, as the difference was huge. The LP sounded fantastic, and the CD sounded like crap in comparison. It proved to me Bob Katz's point that both digital and analog can be great but it isn't always. A lot of care must be used throughout the entire process, and digital conversion devices can make a big difference.

[KurtW]

Just to be clear, my comments were not to imply that LPs sound better than CDs, only that they can sometimes. I attended another session at AES that also had Bob Ludwig in the panel discussion and they talked about and also demonstrated how CDs are often compressed in order to sound louder, and that this is a trend that has been advancing for the last couple of decades. Bob said that Paul McCartney had rejected one of has mastering jobs because it wasn't loud enough, but was happy to see that one of Paul's latest releases has no compression. Since LPs don't need to appeal to a mass audience and generally don't have air play considerations, they often are mastered with high quality as a major consideration. Remember that most music these days is purchased as MP3s.

[dlaloum]

Hanuman - thank you for those links....

Now I need to find out more information about some of my software....

[SteveM]

Digi 002 vs Mytek 192

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... -here.html

Not a perfect test, read the whole discussion & draw your own conclusion.

[Hanuman]

Digi 002 vs Mytek 192

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-sho ... -here.html

Not a perfect test, read the whole discussion & draw your own conclusion.

Brilliant link! Thanks kindly for that. It takes all the guesswork & conjecture out.

I don't have to read the comments; I just heard the files. It doesn't take "golden ears" to hear the difference and make a choice either. The Digi is just dead at the top.

This obviously invalidates the original reference files and the listening tests based on them, if that's what the 002 did to the highs.

Mmmm.... This is obviously going to kick-start a project.

[Hanuman]

It doesn't take "golden ears" to hear the difference and make a choice either.

Nor a big Hi Fi rig. The difference is clear as a bell on the MacBook Pro speakers.

[Hanuman]

I'm pleased to see that he ran the Mytek through the Digi002 via S/PDIF because that's exactly how I'd want to do it.

The Gearslutz thread didn't have a conclusion regarding how the Stereo96 compares to the Stereo192 at the same sampling frequency. There's a suggestion the 192 should be better but nobody said it definately was better. That's the only remaining doubt in my mind.

[SteveM]

The Gearslutz thread didn't have a conclusion regarding how the Stereo96 compares to the Stereo192 at the same sampling frequency. There's a suggestion the 192 should be better but nobody said it definately was better. That's the only remaining doubt in my mind.

The best answer is buy both, test them & sell me the loser at a sizeable discount!

[dlaloum]

Nah not worth it - Canada is too far - the shipping cost kills it.... the unwanted unit could be shipped to Australia instead..... much more convenient.... (for me)

[Whitneyville]

Well, I ended up with an AVID video/audio card, and at 48.1Khz sampling rate, I can make DVD's with Dolby IIz 7.2 audio that'll nearly kill you. I do DVD format so I can video the album cover art, and the lyrics if printed, other wise, just the song title while it's playing. It's Fire-Wired into the 'puter, and TOSLINKED to the JVC receiver. If a DVD/CD doesn't have the dynamics(should be 20-odd times better 113 dB S/N on CD's vs 78dB on vinyl) then it's the fault of the equipment or operator. The "Redbook" Specs on "CD's" ARE NOT the original Denon Specs.The "Redbook" was printed and put into effect 2 years after Denon's patents had expired. No commercial "CD's" I know of match the Denon Specs (1976) I have right here in front of me. Denon called for a 92 minute playing time instead of 80 minutes. Why? Denon designed the CD around the longest single movement of any classical recording. That equals Mahler's 6th Symphony, NOT, NOT, NOT the third/forth Movement of Beethoven's 9th. That equals the playing time on a "micro-grooved" 33 1/3 RPM LP. Wiki has a bunch of BS on this talking about "SONY" DVD's. THERE IS NO SONY PLANT anywhere in the world! SONY(Superscope Of New York) is an importing company. My Sony Wega CRT TV says "Toshiba" on every single marked component. Toshiba invented and had the patent on the "impossible to make" totally flat screen CRT. Just like there was not a Datsun car /truck plant EVER. They were made by Nissan Heavy Industries and for 20-odd years imported by DATSUN. (At least my 1974 240 Fairlady was!) There is no Yamaha motorcycle plant in Japan. They are a division of Toyo-San (NOT Toyota, different combine, Dia Ichci, they made most of the airframes for the Mitsubishi type Zero fighter during WWII). I can read a few Japanese characters on the key of each. So these "discussions" are ALL based on "BAD DATA or information. Try looking at Wolfram.com under "Compact Discs". It's accurate.

[SteveM]

A high-end ADC review/comparison;
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/files ... 20ADCs.pdf
from;
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/conte ... s-Shootout

[dlaloum]

Thanks for the links...good articles...