OFF: Re: Advice wanted: PC CD Writers.

[Paul Mather]

On Thu, 17 Sep 1998, M Holmes wrote:

=> I'm giving some consideration to buying a CD-writer for a home PC. I'm
=> likely to use it for offline storage of data. However I'd also like to
=> get some of my old LP's moved onto CD. I know next to nothing about the
=> technology so I'm looking for advice as to what criteria to use for
=> selection of the hardware and recommendations and what other kit I'd
=> need to support the hardware. I'll be buying something to mount
=> internally in a tower unit.

Main criteria for CD-R hardware selection: does it support disc-at-once
recording!!  (Crucial for mastering live CDs with no gaps between
tracks; luckily, most models do support this.)  Other than that, it's
just a case of general reliability, and speed, IMHO.  I've heard good
things about the Plextor models.  However, I strongly recommend checking
out the CD-R FAQ at http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/, which contains a
section on specific models with known pros and cons and caveats of each.

Also, most CD-R software is biased to work with SCSI hardware, and so
you may like to think about buying a good, bus mastering SCSI controller
for your machine, if you don't already have one.  Using SCSI wherever
possible reduces the risk of making coasters.

=> Also, since I will be dealing with LP's I'm looking for advice as to
=> which software would be useful for such a project. Software which
=> allowed some sort of filtering/editing would be useful if it could take
=> out hiss from cassettes and pops and click from LP's without too much
=> manual effort. Also I'd like to be able to properly index tracks, even
=> when tracks are sequed on the LP. Obviously there'll be some freeware
=> out there to do such stuff but I'm willing to pay reasonable prices if
=> it gets me better software or software that requires less hands on to do
=> filtering.

I've found that good software is all-important (more so than the
hardware, IMHO!).  If you're using a Mac, I'd recommend Adaptec Jam for
this work.  For a PC clone running M$-Windoze, I'd recommend Sonic
Foundry's CD Architect (along with Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge 4.0, if
you're going the whole hog:).  Both of these allow full subcode editing,
normalisation, non-destructive effects such as cross-fading, trimming,
etc., which means they can master just about any type of audio CD you
want.  (In fact, they are designed with professional mastering in mind.)
They also have tools to aid in cleaning up old analogue recordings.

Alas, I don't have either of these, but I know folks who have used them,
and swear by them.  Their only downside is price.

For digitising LPs, cassette's, etc., you'd also need to buy a
high-quality sound card.  The names Roland and Turtle Beach always seem
to crop up in this regard.  Remember, the better your ADC, the better
your results will be (since all processing introduces artifacts into the
sound).

Lots of CD-R harware comes bundled with Adaptec's Easy CD Creator, which
includes a component to make CDs from analogue sources such as LP and
cassette.  But ya gets what ya pays for (and EZCDC doesn't allow
subcode editing, which means you can't perform fine control over the
pregap, etc.)...

(A "freebie" solution can be had by combining CDWAV with CDRWin, but
that still leaves finding some "freebie" noise reduction/cleanup
software, too.  And I've had 2 for 2 coasters using CDRWin so far,
since it always aborts the burn near the end with a "SCSI bus reset
detected"---anyone know how to cure this???)

Remember to check that the software you use can write in disc-at-once
mode!  (Not all can, e.g., Adaptec Toast for Macintosh.)

=> Being able to write Mpeg files of music would also be useful.

You can get freebie programs to do this, especially if you're using
M$-Windoze.

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD-R: Gov't Mule, _Dancing Across the Water_ (made using CD Architect
                and Sound Forge)

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix