VinylStudio FAQ

Welcome to the VinylStudio FAQ, where we have gathered together some information which we hope you will find useful. You might also find our Guide to Digitizing Vinyl Records and Tapes worth looking at, although it is a lot longer than this FAQ.

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1. I already have a turntable; how do I hook it up to my computer? You may just need a cable. At most, you will need something called a phono preamp. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

2. What Kind of computer Do I Need? Any reasonably modern PC or a Mac should do the job, but you do need plenty of hard disk space. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

3. Will I get Satisfactory Results Recording Through my Computer's Sound Card? Probably, but some sound cards can introduce background noise so beware. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

4. Can I use a Laptop? You can, but you may need to buy some extra bits for it. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

5. I threw my turntable out years ago; what should I do? You can either buy a conventional, separate turntable and hook it up via something called a phono pre-amp or you can now buy turntables that plug directly into a USB port. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

6. Can VinylStudio record from USB turntables and other USB devices? Yes. VinylStudio can record from any device recognised by Windows, and has a 'Monitor Recording' facility which lets you hear what you are recording through your computer's speakers as you record it.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

7. I want to record 78's It is essential that you get hold of a suitable stylus. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

8. I want to digitise tapes; how do I go about it? Hooking up a tape deck is usually easier than connecting up a turntable. More details in the VinylStudio guide.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

9. How much disk space will I need? About 500MB (i.e. 1/2 GB) per album, unless you record to MP3 format in which case this falls dramatically, to about 85MB per album.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

10. Can I / Should I record directly to MP3 format? You can, but it is better to record to WAV format unless you are very short of disk space. MP3 files are very good, but you can sometimes hear the difference and it's nice if your 'master' recordings are made with the best possible fidelity. On a bit of a sidenote, MP3 sometimes gets a bad press because most encoders don't use the most effective encoding options. VinylStudio uses something called VBR format, which gives the best results for a given file size.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

11. Can I tackle the job in stages? Definitely. VinylStudio keeps your recordings organised in a collection (by album artist and title) and keeps track of any work (such as splitting tracks) that you have done so far, so it is easy to pick up where you left off. You can also come back to a recording later to, for example, try your hand at declicking it.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

12. How do I create CD's, once I have recorded my music onto my computer? In VinylStudio, it's all taken care of. Burning CD's is an integral part of the program.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

13.Will I be able to Play my Recordings on my Computer or Media Centre? Absolutely! VinylStudio produces standard MP3 files which will play virtually anywhere. On the Mac, VinylStudio can also produce MP4 files (which are technically somewhat superior) and, at your option, will add these to your iTunes Music Library automatically when you save your split-up tracks.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

14. How do I copy tracks to my MP3 player or iPod? VinyStudio takes care of generating MP3 files, one per track, and copying them to your MP3 player [screenshot]. To copy files to an iPod, use iTunes. On the Mac, VinylStudio (optionally) adds saved tracks to the iTunes Music Library automatically.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

15. Will my home-brew CD's play in my car's CD player? They should do, although most in-car players will only play audio (as opposed to MP3) CD's (what's the difference?), which is a bit of a shame. A few players seems not to be able to play CD's burned on a computer at all, but this is rare.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

16. Can VinylStudio find trackbreaks automatically? Well it can but it's not something we make a great song and dance about, simply because this is never 100% accurate. We do offer a 'Scan for Trackbreaks' feature, but if you want to be certain to get it right you should reckon on positioning trackbreaks by hand [screenshot]. It takes very little time, once you get used to it. VinylStudio can also look up track listings over the Internet [screenshot], and if the data retrieved contains track times (which it frequently does), then VinylStudio will put the trackbreaks in roughly the right place automatically. You can then tweak them by hand for pin-point accuracy.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

17. Does VinylStudio tag MP3 files? Yes it does. It puts in album title and artist, track title and artist, genre, release year and any comments you have entered as 'album notes'.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

18. Can VinylStudio locate album art and embed it in my MP3 files? Yes it can. You can either try retrieving album art directly from the various databases that VinylStudio supports or you can often find stuff via Google images. If all else fails, you can even take your own snapshots and import them into VinylStudio.  [ Top ]  [ Back ]

19. Can I edit my recordings outside VinylStudio? Yes, although we hope that it is not something you need to do often. VinylStudio has file import and export facilites and the recordings it creates are in a standard format (WAV or MP3). In particular, audio files can be exported from VinylStudio containing the results of any use you have made of the audio cleanup tools and then re-imported after editing in another program.   [ Top ]  [ Back ]

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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact us through our website: www.alpinesoft.co.uk/contact_us.aspx and we will be pleased to add them to this FAQ.

To download a free trial copy of VinylStudio (record upto 5 albums, no time limit) please go to www.alpinesoft.co.uk/VinylStudio/download.aspx.

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