Steps in Transferring Audio to CDs 1. Recording Source Material into the Computer - Analog sources such as records or tapes - Digital sources such as standard.

Steps in Transferring Audio to CDs

1. Recording Source Material into the Computer

- Analog sources such as records or tapes- Digital sources such as standard CDs

2. Editing and Cleaning the Sound Files

- Removing noise (tape hiss, 60 cycle hum)- Removing clicks, pops and scratches- Trimming starts and ends

3. “Burning” the files to CD-R or CD-RW

Alan Hansen July 2004

Transferring Audio Into Your Computer

Computer

Line In

Mic In

Line Out

Speaker Out

MIDI/Joystick

Turntable

Tape RecorderY Cables

(see below)

Stereo Y Cable (from Radio Shack)

3 connections(like Walkman headphone plug)

Stereo Amp or Receiver

INPUTSTapeOut

AU

X

Transferring Audio Into Your Computer

Computer

Line In

Mic In

Line Out

Speaker Out

MIDI/Joystick

TurntablePhono Pre-Amp

INPUTOUTPUT

Computer Speakers

Setting Up Computer for New Audio Source

Speaker Icon in Taskbaraccesses Sound functions

Right-Click on Speaker Iconto Open Volume Control Panel

Left-Click on Speaker Icon to open Master Volume Control Slider (same as Volume Control on panel above).Can also Mute sound by clicking Mute box.

Master VolumeWave

Soundsfrom Disk

Ensure thisSlider is on,

and not muted

Recording Audio

- Windows provides a basic Sound Recorder utility. It will record to the computer hard disk whatever sound the computer is playing.

- These files are written in .wav format.

- Sound Recorder can be used to play back .wav files of any length.

- Sound Recorder will only record files up to 1 minute long.

Recording Audio

.wav files can be recorded with a widevariety of formats...

Highest quality (CD equivalent) is 44,100 Hz,16 bit samples, in stereo.

To save file space, these parameters can bechanged - the sound quality will start tosuffer.

+32768

0

-32768

Standard CD and Digital Audio Recording

16 Bit sample (= 65536 total steps)44,100 times per second (~ 1 sample every 25 uSecond)

172 kBytes / per sec (for stereo)~ 10 Mbytes / min (for stereo)

+16384

0

-16384

“Degraded” Digital Audio Recording

8 Bit sample (= 32768 total steps)22,050 times per second

43 kBytes / per sec (for stereo)~ 2.5 Mbytes / min (for stereo)

Recording Audio

Most sound cards comewith software to recordsound.

This is Creative WaveStudio, bundled withCreative Labs’AWE32 Sound Card.

Allows setting of .wavfile parameters; volumemeters; ability to editthe sound files.

Note that you still usethe Volume ControlPanel to set levels.

Recording Audio

Sound editing programs(like WaveStudio) allowbasic editing and soundmodification, such asvolume level, addingecho, fade-in and -out.

If the sound files to betransferred are “clean”,this level of programmay be all you need.

If you intend to transferold, scratchy records, orhissy tapes, a moresophisticated programwill be needed.

Some CD Burning software includes basicfunctions for cleaning uprecord clicks and scratches.

Editing Audio Sound Forge (now fromSony) is a sophisticatedediting program.

Includes extensive editingfunctions; Equalization,time expand/compress;pitch shifting, etc.

More importantly, it hasoptional plug-ins forClick Removal, NoiseReduction, and VinylRestoration.

Does an excellent job ofcleaning up old audio -HOWEVER, it can alsoremove wanted sound ifnot used carefully.

And no program can repairsound that has been toobadly damaged.

Editing Audio

Sound Forge has an optional featurecalled Click Removal, that can beset to automatically detect and removeclicks and scratches (see left) in soundfiles.

You can also manually overwrite thescratch.

Depending on the quality of thesound file, you may use either method,or both if needed.

Sound Forge optionalplug-in for Noise Reduction takes asample of the noisein a quiet spot (forexample in the groovebetween songs on arecord), and thensubtracts that noiseprintfrom the music.

This can also be used toremove hiss from atape, or 60 cycle hum.

Includes the ability tolisten to what’s being removed, to ensure nowanted signal isincluded.

Editing Audio

Burning the CD

Roxio’s Easy CD Creator oftencomes bundled with a CD-R (CD ReadOnce) or CD-RW (CD Re-Writable)drive.

Controls burning of either audio disks(for playback in normal CD players)or data disks (for high-volume storageof PC data).

Blank CD will hold approx. 75 minutesof audio or 650 MegaBytes of data (newer disks now offering 80 minutes).

A CD-RW disk can’t be read byaudio CD players - but a CD-RW drivecan burn a normal CD-R blank.

Easy CD Creator has a “wizard” toguide you through the steps of burning either Data or Audio CDs.

Burning the CD

Upper half of screen showsFile System and Directorycontents for source material.

Simple “click and drag”to lower panel to assemblelist of tracks.

Color bar at bottom showsaccumulated time, estimateof remaining time on disk.

Burning the CD

Typical problem on older/slower PCs iscalled “buffer under-run”, when thehard disk cannot supply data to the CDburner as fast as needed - CD blank willbe wasted. Easy CD Creator allows you to run a test first, and to adjust the writespeed down from the fastest, to ensurethe hard disk can keep up.

Disks can be written all at once, or additionaltracks can be added later. In order to playan audio disk on a standard CD player, youmust “close” the disk, which writes a directory of all tracks and prepares the diskfor play.

Burning the CD

Easy CD Creator provides information on thestatus of the burn - how many tracks written,how many bytes remaining on the track beingwritten and % completed.

A full CD (i.e. 74 minutes of audio, or 650megabytes of data) takes about 19 minutes toburn at a 4X speed.

CD-R drives are spec’d (for example) 4X / 20 X, for Write at 4x normal speed (writes a 74 minute CD in 19 minutes) and 20X maximum read.

CD-RW drives (for example) are spec’d8X / 4X / 32X, meaning 8X write once mode / 4X re-writable mode / 32X read max.

A Few General Thoughts

- Simply copying records to the computer and burning CDs can be a relatively simple and inexpensiveprocess. Doing extensive cleanup of the files can become expensive and time-consuming (but veryrewarding).

- Costs involved (for system demo’d today):

- CD-R drive - < $100- Roxio (Adaptec) Easy CD Creator software – (included with drive) - purchase price < $79- Creative Labs AWE32 Sound Card - approx. $90 (newer models now available)- WaveStudio software for recording to computer - bundled with sound card- Sound Forge sound editing software - $ 399- Sound Forge noise reduction option - $ 279- Blank CD-R disks - << $1 each- Check E-Bay for used/discounted/down-rev products

- System Requirements:

- any reasonably current Pentium machine should be able to handle the process. Demo machine used today is nearly 3 years old, Pentium 1.3 GHz, with 256 Meg of RAM- Best to have large disk space in which to prepare all files prior to burning disk - at least 750 MegaBytes- Turn off all background processes, especially screen saver - best to devote full processor resources to the burn process- Avoid computers with on-the-motherboard sound functions - cheap design that can introduce noise into your files. Look for mid-range or better cards, like Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live 5.1, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, etc.

A Few General Thoughts

- There are other software products available to do the same thing, for example:

- Dart XP ($99) or Dart XP Pro ($199) can record, clean and burn direct to CD- Look for “Lite” versions of software – they may have fewer features, but may fit your needs and budget- Many companies also offer evaluation copies over the web - eval versions will be limited, and usually won’t let you save the edited file, but are a good way to try out functionality

- Good resources available on the Internet:

- www.sonicspot.com for links to eval software, other resources- www.cdrecordingsoftware.com for purchase, eval copies, links- http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/ for Sound Forge software- www.dartpro.com for Dart Pro software- www.protools.com (to Support, Dowloads) for free 8 track audio mixer s/w- http://us.creative.com/ for sound cards- www.voyetra.com and/or www.turtlebeach.com for Turtle Beach sound cards- www.emusician.com for on-line version of Electronic Musician magazine- do a general search on ‘recording sound to a computer” or similar phrases