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ADC + toslink for digitizing tapes etc

Discussion in 'Tech talk' started by YonWalk, Aug 21, 2017.

  1. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    Hi,
    I'm looking for a good ADC to transfer some old media to my PC. I'll be using this with a variety of devices including a WM-D6C, a DCC player, DAT, MD etc. I already have a Rega RIAA with USB-out, so I won't be needing one with Phono support.

    However, Toslink in would be very useful for the old digital formats. And high quality line out for recording tapes from the computer.

    I've been looking at the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD. This has a nice combination of the features I need for a decent price.

    Any thoughts on this? I can't find any reviews that go into the recording quality in any degree. I don't want to overspend on this, but I want one that is good enough for any analogue medium without loosing any sound quality.
     
  2. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    You may want to check the similar thread going pretty active right now at Audiogon forum, under Analog.
    One of the posts mentioned that even at 196/24 ripping someting is being "lost in translation", that is why I am just watching such threads while doing nothing...
    I have all Dead Can Dance albums as LPs, SACDs, and original 4AD CDs, vinyl sounds the best to my ears. Maybe sound quality will always suffer from digitizing?
     
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  3. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    I'm hoping this thread does not turn into that kind of debate. But I'll have a look at the thread to see if there are some good recommendations mixed in.
     
  4. lxndio

    lxndio New Member

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    You could also look for a sound card to put in your PC. I have a Creative SoundBlaster Z (which isn't the best model available from Creative). The DAC and ADC however are both pretty good both in terms of the specifications and the actual sound quality.
    As most of the Creative cards do have TOSLINK in and out, you could also add a seperate ADC if needed at some point.
     
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  5. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    Is the Soundblaster Z much better than the X-Fi HD? The X-Fi is an external sound card and will be more flexible for me as I've got a laptop that I want to use for capturing as well.
     
  6. lxndio

    lxndio New Member

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    I guess they are pretty similar in terms of the technical specifications.
    I did a research on USB sound cards over the last hour. There are not many of them out there and probably none of them is rated for hi-end audiophile quality (probably there is, but I'm assuming you don't want to spend over a thousand euros).
    However, the H-Fi HD should be pretty okay. The reviews of it are quite good and it is possibly the best choice for you.
     
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  7. Middachten

    Middachten Member

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    If in your opinion vinyl sounds best, don't expect anything decent from any of the AD converters you mention. The CD version of these records will have mastered from the original tape with much higher quality A/D converters than mentioned here.
    Some close to that kind of quality would be a Prism or DcS converter. And even then you will lose most of the charm (which is a certain quality as well) that you like from vinyl in the conversion process.

    My advice: save the money on de A/D converter, buy the CD releases instead and rip them. And continue to play the vinyl version whenever you want that real analog enjoyment of sound.
     
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  8. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    Thanks for the input. I'm going to be using this for some items that can't be had new, or that I won't be getting new. I prefer digital myself, but I also have old vinyl and some tapes. Most of the tapes are home recordings etc that don't have much quality in themselves.
     
  9. Middachten

    Middachten Member

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    Maybe my approach was a bit too puristic for some purposes.... I'll try to give a bit more helpful response for applications as mentioned by YonWalk.
    - I would take an external (USB) device
    - for low budget / reasonable quality applications I would advice the Behringer, they are excellent value for money (EUR 65)
    - For high quality the real significant next step would be something like a RME Babyface Pro (EUR 649) There is no significant difference with equipment in between that.

    Make sure that you use the right recording software. Some software out there just samples everything down to a fixed rate (like 24bits/48kHz). If you want to burn CD's it might be worth investing in something like Wavelab Lite. It has excellent functionality and even comes with some restoration (noise, clicks/pops) plugins.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2017
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  10. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    Thanks!
    Behringer look nice. Is it the UFO202 you wold recommend?
    I'll be using Audacity for recording initially. Haven't really decided what to use for further processing.

    I think I might still go for the Sound Blaster as it gives me the TosLink input so that I have an all-in-one solution for grabbing from digital sources too.
     
  11. Middachten

    Middachten Member

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    I meant the UMC202HD.

    Audacity is a perfect quality recording tool. It follows the native resolution you select. No messing with the samplerate here.
    I'm just not such a big fan of the user interface....
     
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  12. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    Thanks,
    The UMC202HD looks like a steal at the price.
    However, I don't have any XLR cables, so a regular phono input will be easier for me.

    I'll try the Creative. I have 30 days to return it if I'm not satisfied. But it should suffice for my level.

    The Audacity interface is a bit of a chore, yes. But I'm proficient enough with the basic things I need and it takes me back to the "good old days" of featuritis-ridden applications.
     
  13. walkman archive

    walkman archive Administrator Staff Member

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    I use my Creative X-Fi Elite when I want to digitize anything, although something is missed in the translation. some life...
    If you prefer an external USB device, I'd go for something like the Behringer. something that can capture at 24/96.
    The software is also important. Audacity is nice and free but it's not free from distortion, as ANT audio explained at Tapeheads. I'd go for a commercial software. I use Audition by Adobe, which comes from the old good Cool Edit Pro.
    The rest is stuff related to how you play the tape (azimuth, levels, freq. response, dolby decoding...). In case the tapes are Dolby encoded, I'd suggest a Yamaha deck with Play trim to finely adjust the decoding.
    Carefully clean head and rollers and adjust the azimuth to get the best treble response (forget a calibration tape in this case, as what you want is the best play response of that tape)
     
  14. DutchNick

    DutchNick Member

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    I digitized my entire vinyl and tape collection using minidisc. The rationale was: it's cheap; it used gear I already had; it's much easier adding track markers to a MD than to a digital stream or a real-time recorded CDR Audio (the likelihood that the CD Recorder would get it right was pretty small!); absolute sound quality wasn't the bottom line. While digitizing to MD, I used an A3 scanner to scan the album covers then printed custom labels for the MDs. The scans were also useful for printing the CDR Audios that I eventually created from the MDs. Finally I imported the whole lot to the laptop using Sony Sonic Stage (and yes, it does work on Windows 10 64-bit and I found drivers for the MZ-RH1 which was the import source machine). Just my 2c worth! Cheers, DutchNick.
     
  15. YonWalk

    YonWalk New Member

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    I converted a lot of vinyl to MD once upon a time with my Sony MZ-R50. Most of that has become available on CD later.
    I transferred all of my MDs to my computer with my Sony MZ-RH1 when that come out. However, after reinstalling Windows, all of my original captures were locked by DRM and were lost and I was left only with some mp3's I had exported. So I never got around to exporting to a lossless format. I've converted all of my CDs with dbPoweramp. Love the new PerfectTUNES.
    I find that splitting tracks with Audacity is even easier than with SonicStage. You can find the tracks easily just by looking at the waveforms, except for some Prog and classical music.
     
  16. DutchNick

    DutchNick Member

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    Ah! The classic MZ-R50, a legendary machine. I confess I still own 4 of them and they, along with 3 MZ-RH1 machines and about a zillion MDs, are the enduring legacy of a long love affair with the format (until their drive belts go).
     
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