Good audio recording. What do you use?

[oldfart13]

Was thinking of running from my Sony 860D Betamax to my Pioneer 650 and taking the HDMI output and recording that through the HDPVR 2. I'm not sure what kind of audio that will give much less the 1080 up conversion of old tapes c. Mid to late 1980s. Sounds like an interesting experiment though...

Any thoughts? What are others using?

[PuzZLeR]

Sounds like pure overkill to me, and sounds like you have too much time this weekend my Friend.

Audio capture from sources that old is real simple (as I was saying in an adjacent thread). Get yourself a simple composite-to-3.5mm cable, and capture through your onboard sound card. Use 48K/16bit/stereo if from video (assuming it's for DvD), or 44.1/16bit/stereo if for CD. You won't need high end cables, or a high end sound card, or any capture device for this. And you can use free software like Audacity. (In video capture, for the audio part, I actually bypass the capture device on VirtualDub and send it straight to my sound card.)

I do have a Behringer Xenyx 802, and I'd say that's all you need in the chain if you're feeling ambitious with audio from sources of that era. But after a while, meh, I stopped using it. Nice product, but too much work.

Also if you use such items in the chain, the 802 or your 650, you risk clipping if you're not careful.

As for 80s tape video through HDMI for capture? That's super overkill IMO and likely counter-productive.

[Cornucopia]

+1

[oldfart13]

See the bottom of this page for what I'm up against:

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11296

Between the 860D and the 650, there are so many controls for every aspect of audio and video, clipping would be the least of my worries...

I'm also up against this:

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=23851&hilit=DVD+recorders&start=20

Thanks for the suggestions though....

[JVRaines]

Actually, clipping is your greatest worry if you want good audio. I sent off some rare CV tapes to one of the few places that transfers them and what did the guy do? He ignored audio levels and sent me back ruined sound. So keep the audio chain as simple as possible, but make sure you have level control.

[Hoser Rob]

Actually, clipping is your greatest worry if you want good audio...

+1 to that too. Digital audio does not work well when clipped. If I remember correctly, it'll just spit out massive and certainly non harmonic distortion at MSB level. Just frakking horrible sounding.

And as mentioned you certainly don't need high end 24 bit for this application. In fact there's a study published by the AES that found under proper double blind tests, subjects couldn't tell the difference between SACD and CD.

I use a Behringer UCA202 as an external USB DAC, but Behringer is a pro audio company and it's actually marketed mostly as a USB sound card for recording. It sounds excellent as a DAC ... I was actually flabbergasted at how good it is. And it was $35CDN.

[Cornucopia]

Your strongest worry is non-optimized GAIN STRUCTURE. This encompasses both the high end of dynamic range (and the worries of clipping distortion) as well as the low end of dynamic range (and worries of noticeably high noise and/or quantization distortion, due to low level, limited DR).

The chain needs to be optimized to maintain as much "room" on both ends to avoid both pitfalls. One of the things that helps in this area is using 24bit when capturing. Though not so necessary for final playback (as mentioned by Hoser Rob), using 24bit on the recording/capturing side is VITAL to giving you the cushion you need to optimize your gain structure. Then downrez to 16bit once optimized.

Scott

[oldfart13]

I looked at the Behringer UCA202 and the UFO202. Those would be great to digitize my collections from various media. Thanks for the suggestion. I do have a Vinyl Forever adapter that I had intended to use to transfer my old mono reel to reel and audio cassette media as well as old vinyl collections but never used it. I might try that first.

I'll take a look at the clipping issue for sound from these old tapes. Recording in 24 bit seems like a good idea as well.

Thanks for the info and tips...

[PuzZLeR]

I'll take a look at the clipping issue for sound from these old tapes.

You can easily see this visually when loaded in software, like Audacity, when it has a flat head for an audio file that's not meant to be flat. Then again, you don't need some image to convince you of clipping - your ears will be the first to complain.

[snn47]

Increasing use compression, even close to clipping, for audio seems to be the trend in CD. Heise.de (c't paper) noted this repeatedly, when they compared compare older and newer editions of the same music. Others seem to follow that trend.

For audio I am primarily worry that I will not have any hum due to difference in potential between the source and recording device. I have been thinking to use my Notebook on battery only and without any external devices that ground the NB (Intel Lynx Point PCH - High Definition Audio Controller). I would prefer a purely battery powerd "floating" capture setup. For more quality and other benefits I have the Creative Sound Blaster E5 on my wishlist using my old HP6910 as notebook for storing the captured audio

[snn47]

PS.: doyou own the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus (01503/01498) with 5.1Sound support.
Did you try recording 5.1 and did it work?

[newpball]

Was thinking of running from my Sony 860D Betamax to my Pioneer 650 and taking the HDMI output and recording that through the HDPVR 2. I'm not sure what kind of audio that will give much less the 1080 up conversion of old tapes c. Mid to late 1980s. Sounds like an interesting experiment though...

Any thoughts? What are others using?

At home I use the Steinberg UR22 or I go through the BlackMagic intensity pro.

[oldfart13]

PS.: doyou own the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition Plus (01503/01498) with 5.1Sound support.
Did you try recording 5.1 and did it work?

No, i have the HDPVR 2 non gaming edition. 5.1 audio can be recorded with HDMI. I have done this many times when recording from satellite TV. It also includes the optical input which I believe is missing from the gaming edition. I've never used it though...

[oldfart13]

Was thinking of running from my Sony 860D Betamax to my Pioneer 650 and taking the HDMI output and recording that through the HDPVR 2. I'm not sure what kind of audio that will give much less the 1080 up conversion of old tapes c. Mid to late 1980s. Sounds like an interesting experiment though...

Any thoughts? What are others using?

At home I use the Steinberg UR22 or I go through the BlackMagic intensity pro.

Seems to be a mic preamp. Nice that its 24 bit. I think the Behringer is only 16, so I don't know if it will work to capture audio in 24 bit unless that's unrelated. Seeing lots of problems/complaints with using laptops. I do want to get a newer i7 desktop later this year but for entirely different purposes. Have an Asus i5 laptop for now.