Sound Recording

This is a little off-topic, but I am trying to make MP3 files from an old record. Does anybody know of a good sound recording program that accepts microphone input? The built-in Windows recorder is useless, and things like RealJukebox only work for CD's.

I like CoolEdit (I use both the 1.53 16-bit version and CE96). Their current version is CE2000, but is over four times as big as CE96. I understand that CE96 is still available at some shareware sites.

I'm green here - but does the line in work as a recording input.

On an SB Live, line-in works terrific as a recording source, and much less "noisy" than mic-in. I'd assume that would be true for other cards as well.

Blair, you might look at www.tracertek.com, they've some inexpensive products specifically for recording and cleaning up old vinyl in preparation for making your own CD or MP3.

Good Luck,

Sue

If you are recording line levels, then the "Line In" is what you should use for input. If you are using one of those 1/8" plug microphones, that should be plugged in to the MIC input.

Thanks. I will try these out and see how well they work.

Could you indicate on what kind of media is your "good old days record"?
Depending on the source, you will have to choose the mic input or the line Input, may be through your HIFI system if its a vinyl record.
If it's a vinyl record, you could benefit from the use of specialized recording software like CD Spin Doctors. This application is part of the Adaptec Easy CD Creator "DE LUXE" Suite, usually delivered with a lot of CD recorders. It includes an automatic track separation utility based on the silence between tracks and also an optionnal "scratch" removing utility, specially intended to clean old records. You need free disk space as it first records to memory, then performs track separation and cleaning before saving to .wav files. You would then need to download from the web an .wav to .mp3 converter.

Good luck
Bruno

I am using an ordinary vinyl record. Is it better to use the line out from the tape deck, or the mic? And can I get the software you mentioned without owning a CD recorder?

Assuming you have a magnetic (aka "dynamic") cartidge on your turntable (most do), you'd be best off taking the signal from your "Tape out" or "Record Out" outputs from your stereo, and feed into the line-in jack on your audio card. The reason is that magnetic cartidges have to be equalized to give the proper frequency response.

You'd get sound by running the magnetic cartridge directly into the mic input, but the frequency eq. will be all wrong; it'll sound excessively bright and tinny, no bass to speak of.

If you don't have a CD burner, you can still record the wav file, edit it/ noise reduce, etc. and convert to mp3.

Here is what I do:

I connect the turntable to the proper input on a stereo receiver, then use the tape output (which is a line level) to send the signal to the Line In of a sound card. The stereo balances the turntable input, and usually provides the necessary ground terminal (I assume you have a 3-wire out from the turntable).

That makes sense. Now, to find the right software to remove the crackles and pops.

If you have $100 to burn, you might check out DARTPro 32 (http://www.dartech.com). I've used this and it's great for pops & clicks. I've had some trouble removing low-level surface rumble (not hiss), but I don't know if there's *any* software that handles that well. They also have a $50 package (DART CD-Recorder Version 3 Plus) with many of the same features, which would probably also serve, and a $400 product (DART Pro 98) that has a lot of cool things you probably don't need.