Moving Analog to pc...

[rhd1953]

Currently planning to move 1/2 track "playlists" reel to reel tapes to my refurbished Dell Precision T3600 pc. I just purchased a refurbished Otari MX 5050 B2HD deck (1/4"tape, 1/2 trk, 7 1/2 and 15 ips, 10" reels-3600') to play my library of reel to reel tapes.

I recorded these tapes in the 1980's (1/2 track, at mostly 15 ips, Teac A-7300 RX reel to reel, no noise reduction, Grado Signature TLZ cartridge, Athena turntable, AR SP-9 preamp). I copied them to audio cds and then ripped them to various pcs. Analog to digital conversion has improved exponentially since then.

I just played one tape thru the Otari via xlr cables to a Carver CT-17, to a behringer Ultra Link Distribution Splitter DS2800 (xlr cables), to an Anthem AVM 20 pre and a temporary Crown XLS 1500 amp driving my CLS IIs. The sound was very good. One reason I recorded "various artists" compilation tapes was to highlight the distinctly different "sound fields" of those various artists. FYI, I monitored the taping using Stax SRD-4 head phones, anything that sounded poor thru the Stax would sound poor thru the CLSs.

I would like to copy directly to a DAC and to my pc (not using the pc sound card). I'm going to try a Schiit Modi 3 D/A Converter for now, providing usb into the pc. Eventually I would be transferring from the original records, after retirement in a year or so.

I have been home streaming music from my various pcs for several years now, and good recordings always sound best on the CLSs. There is a lot of remarkable music on youtube now, some of which simply can not be purchased anywhere, some of which can't be heard anywhere else either.


Anyone else moving analog to pcs?

 

[18000rpm]

I believe the Schiit Modi converts digital audio from the PC or other source to analog, not the other way around. You won't be able to use it to record analog audio to your PC.

I have a Xonar Essence STX II which can accept line in and record it at up to 24-bit/192kHz.

You also get the additional benefit of amazing quality audio from your PC and ability to play bit-perfect high resolution audio. I have mine connected straight to a Bryston 4B SST and into Prodigies and Descent. It sounds phenomenal. Check the specs, it's a really good card.

Essence STX II | Essence Hi-Fi Audio | ASUS Global

 

[amey01]

Why would you bother? Analogue is not analogue if it's digital.

You either enjoy the analogue, or you would be better off just to download the digital files if that's how you'd prefer.

 

[JonFo]

That Xonar 1800rpm recommends looks really nice. Other options, if you can't host a PCIe X1 card, would be Pro USB audio Interfaces, like this one from PreSonus https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxUSB96--presonus-audiobox-usb-96

I have an older Tascam USB Interface I mainly use for acoustic measurements, and it's great. Current model that would fit your needs is the US 1x2 Amazon.com: Tascam US-1x2 USB Audio/MIDI Interface with Microphone Preamps and iOS Compatibility: Musical Instruments

If your original LPs had surface noise and Clicks/Pops, there are some pretty effective denoisers/pop removers available as plug-ins for various DAWs.

 

[18000rpm]

That Xonar 1800rpm recommends looks really nice. Other options, if you can't host a PCIe X1 card, would be Pro USB audio Interfaces, like this one from PreSonus https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioBoxUSB96--presonus-audiobox-usb-96

FYI the PreSonus' DAC has a 105dB S/N ratio (AudioBox USB 96 | Tech Specs | PreSonus), the Essence STX II has 124dB. That's over 8X improvement. It's really a very special card and sounds amazing with high-end gear.

 

[rhd1953]

JonFo-I have licensed CoolEdit2000 for wav file editing...yes pops and clicks if any, mostly leading/trailing silence and adjusting sound levels. I compile most of my music...nothing is recorded at the same level. Digital is the worst, at least on a record you can see where the loudest part is.

amey01-number one is tape deck maintenance is very expensive and hard to find, tape is very expensive, and I prefer to listen to "playlists" rather than a single album at a time. 3,600' of tape (1/2 trk) at 15 ips is only 48 minutes you know. I fully expect to "rip" my best records to digital after I retire. Some of my records are simply not available digitally.

I've been ripping my tapes and cds using EAC mostly. I have a Galaxy Audio RM-IRD Streaming Internet Radio Player (it also plays digital sources and flash drives) it's providing music to an Anthem AVM30/classDaudio power amp/Magnepan LRS speakers.

The Magnepan LRS clearly surpass my CLS1's and CLSIIa's and they only cost $700. I've been going thru my complete music collection to hear everything I didn't realise was missing or weak with the CLS's. I'm not talking about "audiophile" recordings, but simple pop classics from: Whipped Cream(Herb Alpert), Peter, Paul & Mary (1st lp), Henry Mancini-Experiment in Terror and Charades, Robin Trower, Ten Years After. I'll not be renewing my CLSIIa speaker panels that's for sure.

The LRS's are not very demanding on positioning and sound amazing even when listening way off from the center spot. They don't sound like small speakers, they're not bass weak, they just reveal the recordings' details. I'll be purchasing another pair for sure...upgrading to a larger Magnepan speaker is a definite possibility (for less than $5,000 a pair).