[78-L] Record transfer question, was 78-L Digest, Vol 24, Issue 27

[J. E. Knox]

Greetings from FixitLand!

Dennis Flannigan wrote:

> *A question for the audiophile restoration folks*. <snip>
>
> That said, on to my question. In recording 78s and then using  
> Audacity for
> speed correction, have I found more than just taking the warp away,  
> do I
> improve the final quality in any other ways? I have some really  
> hammered
> Black gospel and R&B records I got recently. Should I record those at
> a slower speed and then convert
> to 78 rpm? If 45 rpm is good, is 33 rpm better? In short, does  
> slowing the
> speed enhance the quality of the final digital recording?

45 is good. 33 is too slow, and will likely cramp the resulting low- 
frequency response.

You'll also need to transfer with flat equalization, or at least  
reverse the "RIAA" EQ before speeding up the recording. To convert  
from 45 to 78.26, adjust speed (pitch and tempo linked) by a factor  
of 173.91%.

Since my transfer turntable (Technics SL-1200 MkII) doesn't run at  
78, I *have* to transfer at 45. The process works just fine: Play the  
record with an appropriate stylus and flat EQ into the computer  
("stereo," to get both groove walls); remove the worst clicks and  
pops manually in the audio editor (I use Sound Studio on my Mac;  
Audacity is fine also); then I run the file through ClickRepair  
(shareware that I highly recommend, and cross-platform too) for de- 
clicking and de-crackling, and through Spark XL's de-noiser (software  
is no longer supported, unfortunately); then back into Sound Studio  
to mix to mono (which removes a bit more noise, oddly enough), speed  
up to the correct speed, then apply correct equalization (which can  
vary widely; Sound Studio has a Fourier spectrum analysis function to  
determine it), normalization, and finally add a label scan and  
discographical data (ID3 tags). I've been posting stuff on the Yahoo!  
Groups BigBandJazzMusic and GlennMillerFans, for anyone who cares. My  
results won't rival that of "big boys" like Pomeroy, JRTD or our own  
Mr. Lennick, but they're vastly better than just playing a 78 with  
RIAA EQ.

Take care,


Joe
—
Cats: I've got 'em right where they want me.