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by llungster
WhiningDog.NET
12/10/2002
Introduction
I took out some LPs one day to show my kids; they
had never seen an LP before. It made me feel a little old thinking that
my kids only understand CDs and cassettes tapes. How long has it been
since the CD became ubiquitous ? I tried to explain the simplicity of
the LP - a long spiral groove cut in a piece of vinyl. They thought it
was weird. Oh well.
Once nice thing about good music is that it's timeless.
Many of my LPs, no matter how scratched and distorted, still sound wonderful
to my ears. Unfortunately, my turntable ("dad, what's that THING
?") isn't even hooked up anymore and truth be told, I have no room
for it on my shelf. So rather than have my LPs sit about collecting dust,
why not back them up to CD-R and play them as I would my CD collection
?
The simple truth is that today, CDs are more convenient
and turntables have all but been forgotten in the mainstream audio market.
Visit your local hi-fi store and you'll find many receivers don't even
have a phono input. Sad but true. If you have LPs and are interested in
converting them to CD-R but need a little help getting going, this article
is for you.
Overview
Like most things in life, there are different ways
of accomplishing the same goals. In this article, I will attempt to:
- give general guidelines suitable for use on any
platform and software tools;
- give specific examples using Sonic
Foundry's Sound Forge XP Studio 5.0;
- mention some alternate or additional steps that
may also be performed;
What I describe is what I've done. I've been very
happy with the results but it is by no means the only way to perform this
task. If you decide to follow my steps, keep an open mind and alter the
steps to suit your needs.
Disclaimer
I guess it's prudent at this point to mention that
copying music should only be done under fair use. It is perfectly legal
to copy your own LPs and burn CD-Rs for your own
personal use. I do not condone the copying of copyrighted materials outside
of fair use.
I also want to note that I don't care to debate
the faults and virtues of analog vs. digital audio. The web is full of
such debates and all parties involved are set in their ways, making any
rational discussion an effort in futility. I happen to enjoy both forms
of audio; but more importantly. I enjoy the content and really
couldn't care less about the "medium" debate. If upon reading
this article, you disagree with a statement I make regarding your favorite
medium, I suggest you take a deep breath and go listen to your favorite
recording. It'll do you a lot of good and avoid a religous debate that'll
be for naught.
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