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#1

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by Andy Morris - Today at 09:55:09 AM

Another 'light-bulb' moment! Thank you so much for turning it on.

I have been using Audacity, on and off, for decades - but in that time I never made the effort to understand what normalisation does, and so never used it. Instead I wasted my time re-recording at a different level.

Just goes to show the difference between 'n' years of experience and n times 1 year of experience.

I did do quite a lot of LPs in audacity before I realised. 

#2

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by LateJunction - February 10, 2026, 11:19:21 AM

Do you put DSD in the same category?

I'm afraid I can't comment - having never used DSD and probably never will. The additional information captured in such recordings is not detectable at my age (60+ years past peak hearing acuity) and on my 'scrooge-grade' consumer audio equipment.

#3

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by LateJunction - February 10, 2026, 11:13:41 AM

That's what normalization does - after recording

Another 'light-bulb' moment! Thank you so much for turning it on.

I have been using Audacity, on and off, for decades - but in that time I never made the effort to understand what normalisation does, and so never used it. Instead I wasted my time re-recording at a different level.

Just goes to show the difference between 'n' years of experience and n times 1 year of experience.

#4

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by Indy33 - February 09, 2026, 08:08:04 PM

I have compared vinyl recordings digitized at 24 bit, 96 kHz  and at 16 bit, 44.1 kHz on my home equipment, to the original disk in front of the lead violinist for a major UK Orchestra. His view was that the difference between the digital versions was barely discernible to him, with a very keen ear,

Interesting test. I hear what you are saying, but somehow I have a problem  recording a less than DSD128 for my masters. Do you put DSD in the same category?
.

#5

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by Andy Morris - February 09, 2026, 01:57:22 PM

I understand the issue well - wasted many hours of recordings over the last decade or so because of this scenario. The ideal solution would be to use an interface that has adaptive gain which works a bit like the exposure control on my camera, which uses an algorithm to switch between changing shutter speed versus changing ISO depending how much the light is less than ideal. So in an ideal audio interface an adaptive gain control should function depending on how large the change in sound level is and at what level it starts.

That's what normalization does - after recording

As an experiment, using audacity:

• I took a track that I had recorded and converted to MP3 at 267 kps ( as track 1).
• Copied it to a new track 2
• I amplified it at -24db
• Exported it as a 32 bit wav,
• deleted track 2 in audacity 
• Reimported it as track 2
• Amplified it by +24db back to original volume 
• Compared it to the previous version, by inverting track 1, mixing the two track to a new track
• I had to amplify the difference track by over 120db to get an audible noise. 

Which probably shows that I'm being silly worrying about aiming to record at -6 db. 

#6

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by LateJunction - February 08, 2026, 07:57:24 PM

All I need to do is record the output coming off the turntable. I could also need a phono amp, then connect that to the ADC.
Going above my stated budget I've been considering the RME ADI-2 Pro SE, but nobody has one now that it's been discontinued.
.

A quick look on Ebay UK shows a range of 3rd and 4th gen. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interfaces (which provides all the inputs you need, I think) , in fine condition, in the price range of (equivalent) $100 to $200. Your budget range would only be exceeded if you were seeking to be able to capture 24 to 32 bit samples at greater than 192 kHz - which is the sort of specification of a high-end professional recording studio might think of doing - and then they would have a budget in the $5K to $10K range for such an interface. Your stated budget should also cover a comparable level phono pre-amp, certainly for an MM cartridge and, used, a good MC cartridge.

I have compared vinyl recordings digitized at 24 bit, 96 kHz  and at 16 bit, 44.1 kHz on my home equipment, to the original disk in front of the lead violinist for a major UK Orchestra. His view was that the difference between the digital versions was barely discernible to him, with a very keen ear, while neither were quite as good as the analog original with its additional complement of surface noise, etc. So, for my personal use-case, I can see no justification for acquiring a super high-end audio interface.

#7

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by Indy33 - February 08, 2026, 07:07:17 AM

Bearing in mind this is a forum aimed at users of VinylStudio, which is not designed specifically to handle audio mixing, my answer to your original post did not consider this requirement.

All I need to do is record the output coming off the turntable. I could also need a phono amp, then connect that to the ADC.
Going above my stated budget I've been considering the RME ADI-2 Pro SE, but nobody has one now that it's been discontinued.
.

#8

General Discussion / Re: Possible to re-record a si...

Last post by Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft) - February 07, 2026, 11:51:00 PM

Hi,

You can get away with just recording side 2, but not just the one track.  The procedure is:

1.  Truncate your existing recording, which you can do in the Cleanup Audio window (right-click on the waveform display and select 'Truncate Recording at Cursor').

2.  Re-record side 2 (as side 2).

3.  Touch up your track breaks before saving your tracks again.

If VinylStudio won't let you do #1 (not all recording formats can be truncated), you can adjust the track break markers to elide the unwanted audio.  Hold down the Alt key to drag them as a group.

#9

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by LateJunction - February 07, 2026, 09:26:02 PM

Are those kinds of audio interfaces geared towards someone that is mixing sounds.? I will take a look them.

Assuming you have enough inputs (there are professional audio interfaces that can take as many as 18 inpts will still being affordable by an enthusiastic consumer) and a suitable DAW to do the mixing, then yes.

Bearing in mind this is a forum aimed at users of VinylStudio, which is not designed specifically to handle audio mixing, my answer to your original post did not consider this requirement.

#10

General Discussion / Re: ADC's With USB Input

Last post by LateJunction - February 07, 2026, 09:19:21 PM

I'm tempted to move from a Behringer to a proper Interface, mainly because I'd like to record at a higher bit rate, if only to avoid the thing where you set the levels from the first track and then buddy really rocks out on the last track of side 2.  I know I could record at slightly lower, but it niggles me.

I understand the issue well - wasted many hours of recordings over the last decade or so because of this scenario. The ideal solution would be to use an interface that has adaptive gain which works a bit like the exposure control on my camera, which uses an algorithm to switch between changing shutter speed versus changing ISO depending how much the light is less than ideal. So in an ideal audio interface an adaptive gain control should function depending on how large the change in sound level is and at what level it starts.

I know of no such hardware aimed at the consumer market.

The immediately more practical solution is, as you say, to record at a lower level (mine are almost always too high by about 3 to 5 dB) and the use a level adjustment in a post-production audio editor, of which there are many.