need to convert some records to MP3

I'm not sure how far you want to go with this, e.g. how much time, effort, & $ you want to spend... maybe you can take something from this that you can use?

To play the records 1st step of course is the turntable, where more mechanical aspects [tonearm, turntable drive mechanism etc.] matter. The cartridge matters too, but you may be able to save some money if this is a one-off by not worrying about how long the cartridge will last. I'm skeptical you'd find much quality in or with the usual USB turntable affairs for converting a record collection, or all in one units for that matter, & would suggest a regular turntable for home audio or perhaps one of the DJ models.

Optional but I think worth it if you had a home audio turntable, a small mixer can take the signal from the turntable, amplifying it as necessary, & provide the output signal to your PC/laptop. I think many DJ turntables might be designed to work with your PC/laptop already. Using the mixer you could make sure the signal was as high or loud as possible without overwhelming the PC/laptop audio electronics [e.g. clipping], allow you to adjust bass/treble &/or provide an equalizer, might have added filtering &/or FX, & would have a separate jack(s) for headphone monitoring of the signal going into your PC/laptop.

Alternatively you can always mic your stereo speakers -- using a mic to record what comes out of the speakers has been around a long time. You'd still have to have the turntable, but maybe you'd have use for the microphones when this project was over?

For the actual recording, if you wanted the least amount of noise your best bet might be an external recorder -- the electronics inside a PC add interference noise whether you're using the PC's on-board audio chipset, a sound card, or some USB audio. Otherwise look up the specs of how much noise whatever hardware will introduce & compare -- when it comes to digitizing the analog signal you probably won't find a whole lot of difference, so it's more about how much noise brand X will add vs. brand Y. You may well find that on-board chipset is as good as many add-ons, & probably better than some.

When you're recording line-in [the mono or stereo signal] the recording software itself isn't going to really effect the recording quality -- all it's doing is taking the ones & zeros your audio hardware gives it & writing that to a file. Higher end stuff lets you add FX on-the-fly, maybe lets you record more than 2 channels, may play back an existing track(s) while it records & so on. If your hardware supports higher bit depth & sampling rates you may need better software to use them, but that's more an oversight on the part of any developers who've left that out, & when the final goal is MP3s, probably irrelevant anyway.

You will probably want to record to .wav using your hardware's internal sampling rate [look it up but probably 48 rather than 44.1], then use a noise filter to try & get rid of most of the noise associated with vinyl records. Optionally you might want to do other processing, e.g. normalize, then convert that to MP3. If your MP3s are going to be 44.1 & you recorded at 48, look for software that can use dithering for that resample step. Audacity or Wavosaur should do what you need, but places like Musiciansfriend.com often have home versions of bigger name audio apps on sale -- if you can get the job done during the 30 trial check out Sony's Sound Forge.

Found at random, a link to generic instructions on converting audio tapes to MP3 files:
http://lifehacker.com/222394/alpha-geek-how-to-digitize-cassette-tapes
http://www.englishstudio-net.com.ar/2011/05/dont-throw-away-those-old-tapes-turn.html

Also review the audio card's Help instructions and check the sound settings on your PC (recording / playback levels; primary audio device; selected input on the mixer panel)...

Wavepad (free version)

Audacity

Have Bench radio with inbuilt cassette Audio recorder and need to convert some records to MP3. Any suggestions please. Bought one piece converter and software but unfortunately can't get it to work. There is no support available from retailer or software developer.

Any suggestions please.

Jim

It's somewhat common nowadays for PC/laptop makers to disable recording from the speakers/headphones -- you can record from the mic &/or line-in jack(s) only. As far as I knew, when/if you had that problem you could either try using a patch cable to connect input/output physically, try to enable recording by editing the registry or using alternative drivers, add hardware without that DRM limitation, or add a virtual audio driver. I found another solution called Freecorder that, while still less than ideal, may work best for some folks...

Since the days when I hooked a record player's speaker wires to an amp & later a cassette recorder I've found that sort of thing just didn't always work as well as I had hoped -- the voltage levels weren't always ideal for input. With a PC/laptop you also loose your ability to monitor the sound when plugging in the patch cable means unplugging your speakers/headphones, or when using the output jack your laptop might turn off the internal speakers. A headphone splitter can help, especially if it has built-in volume control(s) & maybe even an amp, but that's more hassle than some people want to bother with. Virtual [fake] drivers OTOH may conflict with your hard & software, may not always work, & being drivers, they may even keep Windows from starting when things go wrong.

Freecorder is a collection of stand-alone apps including a minimalist audio recorder that doesn't need hardware or virtual audio drivers installed. It only records MP3, & then you can only set the bit rate. In testing it will record audio playing in the VLC player, as well as recording the audio portion of protected & non-protected video playing in Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Chrome. It detected when one stream ended & another began, ending one recording & starting the next -- because of that you have to have it running before the audio [video] starts playing or it'll wait for the next stream to start (& not record what you're after). And it will run & record alongside Screen2AVI, a free video screen capture app -- recording separate streams however you *might* be more likely to encounter sync issues [much depends on your PC/laptop, what you've got running, as well as the frame size & fps you're trying to capture].

Installing Freecorder isn't too bad, but you do have to watch out not to install the included browser toolbars etc., there's an advert at the bottom of the program windows, & you have to click Cancel when messages pop-up to buy better software. Along with the audio recorder you get a video history app that keeps track of video downloaded & viewed in your web browser -- it's a bit like the Nirsoft videocacheview, & like that Nirsoft app will not work with a lot of protected video, but in testing it seemed to be easier to use & did work automatically with Internet Explorer, FireFox, & Chrome.

As far as add-on hardware as a fix goes, good luck... I run Creative hardware & have put up with an endless stream of driver issues for over a decade. When I've tried something else, I've always wound up with whatever company stopping driver development once they sold their fill, so again driver issues, but just of a different sort. To try & mimic the situation so many were encountering, not being able to record playing audio, I picked up a USB audio device for $3 or $4 -- I could set up the XP Mode VM to use only that, & it seemed to be a decent method of testing until today early evening... I just sent off a RMA request for the melted lump of plastic that's left. Luckily it seems I caught it in time & there doesn't appear to be anything else damaged [knock wood], though obviously that sort of testing has come to an end, least for the next few weeks or month or whatever it takes to receive a replacement. [I think I'll make use of that time to get a small bucket filled with sand & run a USB extension to it from a disposable $2 hub before I try any replacement though. :-) ]

Thanks, Goody. Gonna email you.

(Guess we can say that now...instead of alluding to those Magical "Admiral Seeds". :) If not, will looking forward to an message from TPTB. LOL)

if you are working in MPEG2, Womble Mpeg Video Wizard DVD given away September 19th 2009 would do just dandy. Just remove the part of the audio track not wanted, insert new one, export. Fast, even.

For a home-built dvd, something as ancient as SmartRipper 2.41 would suck it off the polycarbonate just fine.

Wouldn't have to re-encode any parts of it that didn't get changed.

now, doing it as .AVI would be more time-consuming since it has to all be run through the codecs, but if he still has the disc... and you have womble (OK, it was just called mpeg video wizard dvd, but that's who it's from) that's the combo to use.

Sort of like Better JPEG does for images. Been on dslreports lately? haven't heard from you in a while...

thinking more on .AVI, not sure what other video editors have been given away lately. That aren't of the 'cut audio-video together' type. I got a copy of cyberlink PowerDirector through an offer on dottech.org, it didn't like my OS. you want it, you can have it. no good to me.

freeware... I think VirtualDub could do it, but talk about learning curves... Gordian Knot? auto gordian knot, nope... but GK bare probably. If you could write the script for it. Been a while since I did video editing that didn't just need time chops..

Well, it is starting to be "that time of the year". The hubby is either fishing, playing games or messing around with videos and DVDs etc. because of the weather.

He wants to remove a song from the beginning of a DVD(he has converted it to AVI because he figured it would be easier) and replace it with another song. I have about 50 programs or more from GOTD and I have been through most of them. For the life of me, I can't figure out what program to use. I am sure I have one but....

Anyone got any suggestions or good programs they use?

My preference is Audials one. I think it is the greatest all around media program ever. Not only does it convert music, it will take off drm or find drm if you want it. It will also find the artwork and music of all the music you have and if you let it, it will take the jumbled mess and put it under the cd label it should be under with othr songs you have from the same cd. It also Has a built in burner for audio cd formatted just for cars.

On top of all that it has video functions, were it records youtube, msn, hulu. It also has radio internet built in.

Most of those are free, this next one tunebite is not free, but is one a pretty awesome feature. It is best to look up what it does for a description. I would just mess it up.

Here is link to their website. The trial has the free version built in.
http://audials.com/en/audials/audialsone/start/inspire_your_new_world_of_free_entertainment.html

this link takes you to the description of their freeware.
http://audials.com/en/audials/audialsone/music.html

download link
http://mirror.audials.com/audialscomplete/download.php

How to geek reviews breaks most of it down pretty well, but there is so much.
http://www.howtogeek.com/reviews/audials-one/

I have purchased this yet, but I will. Probably next month, just the video features are worth the money.

The AudialsOne freeware enables you to convert music, podcasts, audiobooks, ringtones, voice recordings and lots of other audio files. The converter has MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV, FLAC and WMA pro as source or target formats at its disposal.
Receiving 40 songs for free is part of the demo functions.

Thanks.

W.R.

Back masking started in the 60s. I used to do a little radio. The Beatles, for one, put bacward messages on certain cuts. Revolution #9 and I Am the Walrus are the most famous examples. They didn't do it because of the subliminal scare which started in the 50s. They just did it as playing/experimenting with sound and as a joke/reaction getter. The latter is why some of the metal bands in the 70s/80s started to do it. They got their rocks off partly in knowing that some religious zealots were playing them backward, desperately looking for the "Satanic" messages. In fact, the Satanism of some metal bands was primarily just a front to attract an audience and get some bad boy publicity (which, of course, turns out to be good). Back to the Beatles, Lennon was particularly amazed at the crazy ideas fans got from their lyrics. That, and the backwards messages, helped fuel the absurd "Paul is dead" conspiracy theories. Which is particularly ironic, since Paul may outlive them all. On the other hand, I don't believe "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" had anything to do with a picture Sean drew. (For those who don't know that one, but together the three captial letters in order.) LOL!

ibwebb...."I think all of it was really a scam to get you to buy more record needles" lol....yep, you're probably right about that.

It's the same now with video and online games. Sadly I do have a friend whose daughter is all wrapped up in "World Of Warcraft". She started out neglecting the house, then her daughter and husband, then skipping work, now it's gotten to the point where some days she can't get out of bed, she's actually become like an anorexic from not eating. My hubby said if she were his wife he'd pull the plug on that pc of hers (so I guess I know what will happen if I get too involved in something......bye bye my faithful pc friend...... lol).

@Buckleysmom:
Oh, I am sure of and have read about some that have gotten 'too involved' or lost track of reality with some of that stuff. I just dont think it is fair to blame it on those things. I believe there had to be more too it or something else going on.

BTW.. Queen's "Play the Game" on the backside is a song called 'Dont Try Suicide'. Good song.. if you run it backwards it VAGUELY.. repeat VAGUELY sounds like the accused "Smoke Marijuana". When that came out I had to see. BTW I think all of it was really a scam to get you to buy more record needles.. all of it I ever heard was a stretch of the imagination and always had to "Speed up here and then slow down and then jiggle it a little and spin fast!" kind of directions.

Now I have read a lot about the subliminal messages and KMart (I think they are Big KMart now) admitted using it. That strange ongoing piano/elevator music you heard as kids in there had messages of not shoplifting and obey the law in it. Dont know if they still do, but they admitted it in the 90s. Of course we all know about the theaters getting busted for it...hehhe sneaky punks.

ibwebb

You guys are funny....lol

Yeh, I remember them saying things about hearing satanic messages when you played certain records backwards....but I never knew for sure if it was true. I just figured that stuff all went to the wayside and wondered why anyone would want to play a wav backwards. Like I said...just curious.

My personal belief is that some of those songs and games CAN lead one into the world of satanic things, but I also know there are people who, like you ibwebb, are not affected by it. Also, speaking of fairy tales....I think a few of those can lead a young mind down the wrong path too...and some of them can scare the be-jeebers out of you. I was scared to death to take a walk in the woods after the first time I heard Hansel & Gretel. LOL

"Don't think I am bad mouthing your Pastor or any religion"

Ibwebb, don't worry...I don't think that, at all. I remember the KISS one, too. My older son and I were discussing that when he was home on leave, once. I pointed out that there are no ...between the letters. Also, we found out by researching, how they got their name. I think I have one of their CD's around here - the one with Detroit Rock City on it. Shoot, if that pastor heard some of the music I listen to, now, he would surely think I had 'back slidden', and was 'going to He!! in a hand basket'....lol. We're talking Evanescence, Kidd Rock (clean version, only), Aerosmith, and RUSH, to name a few. 'Course I also enjoy Enya (thanks to W'abbit), and Sarah Brightman. :D

Sue - who will be 'cranking up' one of the above, a bit later when she's ready to get busy with her current sewing project...:D

Steve.. great website and pictures. That's exactly what I like doing.. taking pictures of anything and everything in hopes of getting some great shots. By the way, were you driving while taking all those shots or was someone else? Whenever I say that's a neat picture, hubby says, he'll drive, and I can snap to my hearts content.

By the way, have you tried Photo Story 3 For Windows with those 'photo stories'? It's free:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx

@Sue
Thank you.. I have been trying so hard to think of that. Back Masking.. There was a lot of that going around. Don't think I am bad mouthing your Pastor or any religion but I remember hearing a lot of that stuff about everything and anything kids liked. I was/am a huge Kiss fan.. I got to hear about how it stood for Kids In Satan's Service. I was/am a huge AC/DC fan and I got to hear it stood for After Christ Devil Comes. I played and loved Dungeons and Dragons...got to hear about how it was the devils way of entering your soul. You know if you think about all the stuff that was so horrible when we were kids and look at what the kids are doing now.. we were doing stuff in G and PG movies. I lived just north of Cincinnati and I remember that they banned George Michals 'I want your sex'. It was honestly about monogamy if you look at the lyrics and exploring that, but anyway Cincinnati banned it from the air waves. Now it is like listening to Mother Goose tales to the stuff out there. The first time I heard Ludicris's (?sp) 'Whats your Fantasy' on the radio I was honestly shocked.

Oh, well, enough wandering and sorry for the long ramble
ibwebb

Steve - you're welcome! Hope it works out for you.

"in the 80's/90's there was a lot of talk about messages in the LPs"

It was called back masking. The rock groups were reportedly the ones who were doing it, and (according to my former UPC pastor) it was for 'bad'/evil messages. 'Course, then again, that pastor also once referred to The Beatles as "those bugs from England". I remember sitting in church when he said that, and thinking to myself..."Huh...bugs from England; what/who is he talking about?" Then he said their name, and I thought, "Oh, them" - not in a bad way, but in a 'okay, now I know who he is talking about' way. And I also thought, I am a Beatles fan, so I'm not going to diss them, and refer to them as he did...lol.

Sue

Ah yes Ibwebb, I remember vinyl. When albums came with sleeve notes that you could read without a magnifying glass.
Anyway Audacity will let you play mp3 and wav backwards. Load a track, highlight the part you want and select reverse in effects.
(also todays giveaway, Advanced Audio Recorder, has a reverse effect as well)
(I use it to make a different music quiz at my local pub)

@ Steve:
I have wondered that as well and just never think to ask..so thanks!

@ Buckleysmom:
Not sure why Steve wants it but if you remember in the 80's/90's there was a lot of talk about messages in the LPs (for those that are confused .. the big plastic discs that you need a needle and turntable. LOL) and I was talking to my girls about it. I hate to mess up a needle to show them examples, but if I play/record it then I can play it backwards to show them. That is why I was thinking about it. BTW, there are a few songs that had something said if you go backwards, but for them most part it seems to me that you have to stretch the imagination to get what some were accused of.

ibwebb

Hi Steve......just out of curiosity......why would you want to play it backwards? Also, nice website.....I'll be reading more.

BK

Beautiful! Thanks Suze. I never knew that. I think I saw that option there lots of times but never realized what it was for, and therefore never tried it. I'll give it a try when I get home.

Also good to know about increasing the maximum recording time. That's always been a strange thing.

Hi Steve: there is a free program that comes with Windows XP called Sound Recorder. It records in .wav, and one of the options is to play an already recorded clip in reverse. It works -- to test it, I just played in reverse a 2-minute presentation I had already recorded.

Sound Recorder's default only records 60 seconds at a time; however, here's a link that explains how to increase the maximum recording time in the Sound Recorder utility:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/82215/en-us

I hope this works for you ~

Since they're giving away audio software today, I thought it might be a good opportunity to ask this question I've had for a long time:

I've looked around a little, and cannot find an easy way to play audio (especailly WAV) backwards. Does anyone know a good way to do this. Of course, free is high on the desired list, too! :-) easy and free. :-)

Thanks. Both tips look like they will be a big help. I have been completely lost on this project but it looks like I may be able to make the system more. I have not been able to get anything out of the GPS decoder manufacturer - looks like I came to the correct spot to find the help that I need.

I found the name of a multi-converter in yesterday's Giveawayoftheday comments section ("Super"). "Super" appear to be something to keep in mind for other projects (audio and video) and I might have in the future.

I can make the maps stored on the decoder quite large. If I can upload topographical map files to the decoder, I can relive some hikes and camping trips that I used to enjoy.

I was an instrumental, minor contributor but still instrumental, person in helping choose the pathway for portion of the of the Natches Trace Parkway through a section of middle Tennessee. The original Trace took different routes depending on the particular season of the year.

Having written the original Trace on horseback many times, I knew each of the sections used by early travelers well. While I was a frequent rider on the old Trace, I did not use it during the times that it was heavily traveled by explorers, salesmen, settlers heading both south and west out of Nashville, and highway men preying on all of the above. I came a little later.

Hi Bigun,
The two green question marks on this page will probably answer your first two questions. It looks like you'll need a converter that can handle .wma to .mp3. Both are common file types, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a freeware option by searching for "wma mp3 convert freeware". Hope this helps.

Hi Renegade,
I never noticed that TechGuy has a forum. Thanks for the link!

Regards,
Lan

Hello Bigun - Give this site a tryout. Your Welcome

http://forums.techguy.org/

Renegade

I have a question on audio converters that I hope it is not too far off topic from what we regularly see on this forum. In light of the fact that today's Giveawayoftheday is a video to flash converter published by Mediavigor-Software, perhaps I will not raise too many hackles. My question does concern a converter. I have tried to find an answer to my question on my own for several weeks. I have not been successful. I am now going to go to where I know that there are experts on converters ........... the readers of this forum. If there is a more appropriate place to go to find answers to my question, please direct me there.

Several weeks ago I bought a secondhand GPS decoder to play with the maps on it and because it was advertised as containing a MP3 and audio book (Audiobook) player. I assumed that the MP3 and audio book (Audiobook) player were one in the same. I am probably wrong about that but I do not know. The decoder is a Tom-Tom 720 color screen GPS decoder. I have not been able to find anything in the online instruction manual that says anything about the style of the MP3 files that it will play. I think that there is a difference between an iPod MP3 file and MP3 files played by other brands. If that is true, my guess would be that this decoder is not iPod compatible.

Virtually nothing is said about audio books in the instruction guide. The paragraph under the heading "Playing Music and Audiobooks" says only the following concerning playing audio books:

"When you listen to Audiobooks, you will see buttons for going to the next and
previous chapter. When you stop listening to an Audiobook, your GO
remembers where you stopped.
To find out more about Audiobooks, go to the shop area in TomTom HOME."

That is it. Nothing else was said about audio books in the instruction guide or on the Tom-Tom store home webpage. I am assuming that Audiobook as it is used in the instruction guide is a brand name. I make that assumption because it does not seem to recognize the audio book format that I am able to download through our library (WMA Audiobook). I do not know if
1. The format of audio books I have access to through my library is not the same as the format that the GPS decoder will play
2. I do not know how to correctly load the WMA Audiobook file into the GPS decoder
3. There is a converter that I can use it will make the WMA Audiobook file compatible with the GPS decoder

I would gratefully appreciate any and all help I can get on this matter. My eyes are good for about 20 minutes when reading the font used in most (even the large print) books. My library has gotten rid of almost all of its supply of "books on tape". The librarians have told me that they are phasing out buying "books on CD". This format is and will be books in the MP3 format. MP3 players available through the library do not start back up at the point that you leave off listening to a book. You have to go back the better part of a chapter to return to a book and not miss anything.

Again, while my question is on audio converters, if there is a more appropriate place to go to find answers to my question, please direct me there.