Recording stops

[brantome]

Hi,

I've only just started using Vinyl Studio and it looks very promising. I have used various other means in the past (e.g. Totalrecorder, then processed in Audacity etc) to record some LPs from my Dunlop Systemdek/ Audio Technica AT1120/ Goldring Eroica turntable thru a NAD PP4 via USB into my laptop, running Windows 7 Home Premium, SP1. I normally then save the files as 48/16 FLAC files for playback thru my Linn SneakyDS.

However, I have a few questions re VS:

1. I'm hitting the 'recording stops' issue as described in a previous post http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=437.0
I haven't yet tried downloading ASIO4ALL or changed cables, unplugged line out etc, but is this still an acknowledged issue with Windows 7 SP1? I don't recall similar issues recording prior to my use of VinylStudio - maybe TotalRecorder gets round the issue like ASIO4ALL? Might uninstalling TR help even though I don't think it's involved when I use VS?

2. I'm recording at 48KHz/32bit FP although I know the NAD delivers 48/16 - should I record at the latter, or are there some benefits of using 32b FP? I think I read somewhere recording at 32b FP even if the target is eventually less allows better manipulation of the recording - or am I talking rubbish?

3. I have found my setup (mainly prior to VS admittedly) can result in some rather bright recordings - the original Buckingham Nicks album for instance. Is there some preset equalisation curve I could apply to counter the brightness, although I appreciate it might vary from album to album?

Thanks again for a well thought out and generally intuitive program

Cheers

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Hi,

1:  I would try a different USB cable and / or port first.  We do still see this problem from time to time.  Also, try unplugging the cable and plugging it back in again a few times to clean the contacts.  Do this at both ends of the cable.  Finally, please try increasing the 'Needle Up Timeout' setting.  VinylStudio sometimes detects the end of the LP side prematurely.

2:  Recording above 16 bits doesn't buy you anything with the PP-4.  Because of VinylStudio's 'non-destructive' editing features, no quality is lost during the editing process.  You might however save your tracks at 24 bit.  If you use any of VinylStudio's filters, this might have some marginal benefit, although I doubt if you can hear it.

3:  I would correct this in VinylStudio's Graphic Equaliser dialog, which you can reach via the 'Adjust Filter Settings' button in the toolbar beneath the waveform display in the Ckeanup Audio window.

[brantome]

1. Tried different (shorter) Usb cable and port to no avail. Recording seemed to stop (i.e. meters  dead, no further data written) at random times, partway thru different tracks, which I could record ok individually. Did the hot fix you discuss in your technet query make any difference? Did MS ever come back acknowledging it as a bug?
Strange, or maybe just fortunate, I had never encountered this issue before I started using VS - as I suggested, maybe TotalRecorder's drivers are doing much the same as ASIO4ALL, although I can't seem to use the latter in conjunction with VS from initial tries.
I eventually managed a recording after downloading ASIO4ALL (and disabling Totalrecorder's device drivers), although it felt a bit cludgy - I was on the point of throwing in the towel as I was getting pretty fed up hearing this album's second side for the umpteenth time!

2. Decided to stick recording WAV format at 48/16 - as you say, I'd be pushed to tell the difference so I'm best sticking at the best the PP4 delivers.

3. I'll have a play around with filters, I was just wondering if there was a 'unbrighten' preset already I also seemed initially to end up with very muffled, heavy bass output files, not knowingly have applied any filter apart  from declicking and normalising the recordings. After a few, more disciplined application of the software, undoing corrections etc first, I eventually ended up with clean output. Any idea why I might have ended up with very bass heavy output - does the order of removing clicks, normalisation etc - or indeed doing them multiple times if you weren't sure you'd done it already - matter? On that front, it would be useful to have an option just to save particular tracks so the output could be checked before having had to convert the whole album.

Thanks

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Hi,

No, we never got anything useful out of Microsoft and as far as we know the hotfix doesn't help.  Why VS should have a problem when Total Recorder doesn't i don't know.  We've checked our code for bugs, but as we cannot reproduce the problem here we can't look into it further.  But hopefully, ASIO4ALL will work for you.  It is a bit fiddly to set up, but once your past that you should be OK.

Your bass-heavy recordings might have been caused by enabling equalisation in VinylStudio's Check Level dialog.  This feature is intended for people with 'flat' phono preamps, or for recording 78s.  It doesn't matter what order you do the audio cleanup in, and by default, declicking a second time starts again from scratch.  As for the filters, you just turn them on or off.  Filtering is actually applied when you save your tracks.

You can save individual tracks from the SPlit Tracks window.  Right-click on the track you want to save (or Ctrl + click on the Mac) and choose 'Save Track As.

[brantome]

Many thanks. If the issue recurs, I might record using TR then import into VS for the 'nice bits', at least I'm well used to the former.

"declicking a second time starts again from scratch" - well, it would, wouldn't it?

Cheers!

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]