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recording MD from PC/MAC

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MichaelHill

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So, what do you guys use nowadays to record MD's?

 

When i connect a (sony) cd player to md my deck, it will sync rec and do autogap and stuff.

 

It's difficult to get some modern (not meant for windows 98) software to do this the same way.

 

i have NET-MD, but once i found out sonic stage is lowering the bitrate even with SP, i stopped using it.

I only record through optical.

 

What do you recommend? 

I manly use a mac (optical out), but a pc is also available.

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Mac/iTunes > opt.> MD generally results in no track marks.

IDK yet about Win/SS or Win/iTunes > coax > MD as far as track marks go.

You'll likely get the same results in SQ using PC/Mac > opt/coax > MD. So you can use either platform via optical. It's often said that some audio s/w -will- create track marks, but not sure which and as I mentioned, don't know about SS in that regard just yet, but I will be checking it out soon.

Mainly I record from CD > MD as you do, via optical. However, I have much use of SS even at the reduced bit rate: temporary music MDs and also audiobooks.

I am SP/LP all the way and have no Hi-MD.

HTH in some way.

 

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PC / Windows (any version) + foobar2000 + good audio output DSP (KS, Wasapi, Asio) for foobar2000 + good internal or external sound card. Old version sofwares can be found here : www.oldversion.com.

I record my MDs in real time SP mode with FLAC lossless tracks - even 24 bit / 96 kbps ones* - using the optical PC out and I create marks between tracks (if needed) using the "Post-track silence" plugin (would be Wincue if you use Winamp) to create 2 seconds silence tracks between the long time tracks. I edit my recording using a Net-MD connection so I can edit and name the MD and each tracks with Sonic Stage (very useful to delete simply all silence tracks created with post-track silence if they have been created). 

(*) Resampler (Sox) can be use to get 24bit / 48kHz, recording and listening mode accepted by modern MD recorders.

I add also this text I former write in this topic : http://forums.sonyinsider.com/topic/29142-problems-when-editing-on-a-mds-je-330/

Let me explain how I proceed after a real time recording done from my PC using foobar2000 as a player and my JB980 as my recorder.

I can be forced to use the Post-track Silence plugin the separate correctly the tracks (sometime it work perfectly).

Album : Verve Jazz Club / Mods / Various Artists - Jazz For Lovers

I can get this after the recording after connecting the deck to the PC with Net-MD and Sonic Stage :

01. [                    ] 2:43
02. [                    ] 0:02
03. [                    ] 3:12
04. [                    ] 0:02
05. [                    ] 3:01
06. [                    ] 0:02
07. [                    ] 3:37
08. [                    ] 0:02
09. [                    ] 2:24
10. [                    ] 0:02

.../...
36. [                    ] 

Many additional silence tracks as being added. Number of tracks could be double.

Sometimes you can get this :

01. [                    ] 2:43
02[                    ] 0:02
03. [                    ] 3:00
04. [                    ] 0:12
05. [                    ] 0:02
06. [                    ] 3:01

The second track has been divided by two tracks. That could happen for several tracks, creating a big mess. How to correct that ? By getting good tags to the good tracks first. I create a list of tracks (foobar2000 : album selection, right click, utilities, text tools, advanced...) : for example with the track pattern [%tracknumber%. ]%artist% - %title% %length%, I get this :

01. Dinah Washington - Unforgettable 2:43
02. John Coltrane - Nancy (With The Laughing Face) 3:12
03. George Shearing - The Nearness Of You 3:01
04. Laura Fygi - Dream A Little Dream Of Me 3:37
05. Stan Getz - Moonlight In Vermont 2:24
06. Sarah Vaughan - That's All 3:29
07. Shirley Horn - Do It Again 2:57
08. Ella Fitzgerald - My Melancholy Baby 2:57
09. Erroll Garner - Misty 2:46
10. Louis Armstrong - We'll Be Together Again 4:04
11. Clifford Brown - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 3:13
12. Monty Alexander - For Sentimental Reasons 4:01
13. Nina Simone - What More Can I Say 2:49
14. Chet Baker - The Touch Of Your Lips 2:40
15. Ben Webster - My Funny Valentine 3:23
16. Blossom Dearie - Lover Man 2:45
17. Billie Holliday - April In Paris 3:03
18. Oscar Peterson - Dreamsville 2:58

I just copy + past at least 18 times the "artist - tiltle" part of it. I MUST COMPARE VERY CAREFULLY THE LENGTH OF TRACKS. So I get this :

01. [Dinah Washington - Unforgettable] 2:43
02[                    ] 0:02
03. [ John Coltrane - Nancy (With The Laughing Face)] 3:00
04. [                    ] 0:12
05. [                    ] 0:02
06. [George Shearing - The Nearness Of You] 3:01

Stephen (sfbp) will add X in silence tracks and for example C (for combine) :

01. [Dinah Washington - Unforgettable] 2:43
02[X ] 0:02
03. [ John Coltrane - Nancy (With The Laughing Face)] 3:00
04. [C] 0:12
05. [X] 0:02
06. [George Shearing - The Nearness Of You] 3:01

 

This is a rather long job if your track list is a long one. After this first tagging, I can delete X files (funny Stephen) in Sonic Stage. I get this :

01. [Dinah Washington - Unforgettable] 2:43
02. [ John Coltrane - Nancy (With The Laughing Face)] 3:00
03. [C] 0:12
05. [George Shearing - The Nearness Of You] 3:01

I prefer then to come back to my JB980 and combine the tracks 02 + 03. I get this after TOC writing :

01. [Dinah Washington - Unforgettable] 2:43
02. [John Coltrane - Nancy (With The Laughing Face)] 3:00
03. [George Shearing - The Nearness Of You] 3:01

 

 

 

 

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On 12/12/2015, 5:40:57, sfbp said:

I think and hope that a mac recognizes pclk-mn10. However i don't know this. If it does, I think the PClK has the right  smarts to drop the signal altogether thus forcing a track mark.

That would be a real game-changer for me. The issue as I see it is whether MacOS would be able to run the PClk's software. If it is just a matter of sending a bitstream to the device (which we hope would be recognized by the Mac) and then having the PClk do the real lifting...why yes, sign me up.  Maybe I will poke around a but to see if it's possible.

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You don't really need the PCLK control part for the dongle to act as a nice USB sound card. In fact I run it this way with W7 even though I know I cannot control anything with the PS/2 connector. Provided the Mac understands generic PC sound card (USB) dongles, it should work.

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This a question I have in my head since a long time : 

I still don't understand what is the utility of a PCLK-MN10 nowadays.

with

- a Net-MD recorder

- a good internal or external 24bit / 96kbps or 192kbps in the PC (real time recordings)

- and Sonic Stage

What does it bring more ? 

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  • 5 months later...
On 13/12/2015 at 3:38 PM, PhilippeC said:

PC / Windows (any version) + foobar2000 + good audio output DSP (KS, Wasapi, Asio) for foobar2000 + good internal or external sound card. Old version sofwares can be found here : www.oldversion.com.

I record my MDs in real time SP mode with FLAC lossless tracks - even 24 bit / 96 kbps ones* - using the optical PC out and I create marks between tracks (if needed) using the "Post-track silence" plugin (would be Wincue if you use Winamp) to create 2 seconds silence tracks between the long time tracks. I edit my recording using a Net-MD connection so I can edit and name the MD and each tracks with Sonic Stage (very useful to delete simply all silence tracks created with post-track silence if they have been created). 

 

Interesting PhilippeC, I never considered using NetMD to correct the rogue track marks.

I'm curious though, have you found a reliable solution to recording via PC AND getting reliable track marks? I use the optical out built into my motherboard.

I'd be happy with track marks put in place, even double marks right next to each other as long as they accurately let me skip to a particular track. I also dont care about titling the tracks either.

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1 hour ago, Arr-Nine-Hundred said:

Interesting PhilippeC, I never considered using NetMD to correct the rogue track marks.

I'm curious though, have you found a reliable solution to recording via PC AND getting reliable track marks? I use the optical out built into my motherboard.

I'd be happy with track marks put in place, even double marks right next to each other as long as they accurately let me skip to a particular track. I also dont care about titling the tracks either.

No reliable solution, that is why sometimes I use a plugin to create those silence tracks to be sure. Just after I always use SS and a Net-MD connection to correct false tracks, cut or join tracks and finallywrite titles. Long work but I have time. About analog vs optical, I have never tested with a PC an analog recording so I don't even know if ypu can get a problem with silence between tracks.

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