h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

RE: F19585?thread=101117&show=20&skip=18620#p42549883

On my setup I got a cable with a mini-jack at each end - one end goes into the headphone socket on the stereo and the other the line input on my soundcard, I found recording with the volume set to about 2/3 of max gives an MP3 volume similar to when I rip CD's.

As to Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ , I use the Linux version but I am assuming the Windows and Mac versions are pretty similar. I record one side of an LP the apply the click removal filter *gets rid of small clicks and pops), I then apply the noise removal filter (just select some "silence" between tracks as a sample of noise). If there are still any significant clicks I zoom in on the spike on the sound wave and redraw the curve of the sound wave minus the spike. Then I cut and paste each track into a new audacity window and export it as an MP3. There are a few Audacity tutorials out on the net it might be worth doing a bit of googleing.

It is a lot simpler than I just made it sound

I don't doubt it is... honest!

I really appreciate you dropping by and explaining how its done.

I don't say I understood much of it myself, but then, thats because I'm a complete technophobe and still amn't over certain between the difference between up loading and downloading. Let alone ripping and sound cards!!

I've *heard of them... I'm just not quite got the hang of which bit is which. Yet

But the bit about sticking a jack in the sterio socket and connecting it somehow into the sound card bit of the PC tower did make sense.

What I'll do is, I'll get my sons and a couple of more technically minded friends to read the message, and they'll translate it into Ev Speak, for me and once I've bought all the bits I'll smile nicely at the really clever PC Bods and ask them to install/set it up for me as a birthday present, I think

I've got around a yard and a half of vinyl sitting there begging to be put onto CDs - some stuff is so "old" - or at least, so obscure I don't think they've ever been Cd'd as such.

Thanks ever so much, Happydude. Thats me sorted out with something practical and fun to do in the manky evenings ahead!

When you do get it set up, give me a shout if you have any problems

Oh...don't worry - I coitenly will

Does this link/programme actually omit or even repairs *biggish jumps in the records, by any small chance? If its as I understand it, it sounds a bit like the same principal my techie friend used when he repaired my Restore Discs for the PC - sort of electronic polifilla, as such? I wasn't really clear on how the lad did it, but the Restore Discs worked fine afterwards, so thats all that really matters, in the end, I guess.

If not, never fear - I can think of a more prosaic way around the problem - usually a couple of 5p pieces blu tacked onto the stylus head play over most surface scratches on the vinyls.

(One of the reasens I don't play the real oldies very often)

Some are seriously old, believe me. (One is an original Monkees LP I And its that really thick, heavy vinyl from the 60s, and apart from one big "jump" where I inadvertantly sat on my record player (we had "Record Players" in those days, nothing as fancy as Sterioes it's still in reaseanable nick, really.

I know MP3 Players are the way to go, but honestly, I'm still only really coming to terms with those funny little CD jobbies that are going to be out of date within the next few years

Or so my sons tell me....

"repairs *biggish jumps in the records"

For a big click which would appear as a spike on the sound-wave, one would select the magnifying glass icon in Audacity and zoom in on the sound-wave and then select the pencil icon and redraw that section of the wave minus the spike (and I use 2p's myself).

The nice thing about MP3's is that you can use your PC as a big jukebox (of course you will need another cable to connect your PC to your HiFi to get the best sound quality )

http://www.edhsonline.org/other/audacity/index.html

>>The nice thing about MP3's is that you can use your PC as a big jukebox<<

Thats as mebbe, she says darkly, but you can't hold the music; and my file management is absolute pants!

Also, my PC has a distressing tendancy to go Splurtle and die if I put so much as a few pages on word, so I think I'll stick to transferring the vinyl onto nice, tangible CDs - there;s something *real about them

And yes, ONE day I'll learn to put all my stuff from Word onto the memory stick my friend Sue-the-Computor gave me for Christmas last year. Honestly One day soon. You know the concept of a Friday Afternoon Machine? Well... thats my PC. Over the years I've replaced most of the major bits, with a little help from my friends, but I don't think I'll ever get the hang of the technical language.

I've book marked the tutorial (thanks!) and I'll go thru it in stages.

First things first tho - I'll have to read, inwardly digest and then get the bits and bobs I need for this venture.

It could be fun

good luck