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Vinyl recordings - best methods

Hi there
I would like to draw your attention here:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/audiophile-recording-and-playback-tascam-da-3000/post?highlig...
Maybe, now, there are even better recorders, out there.
Yet a big part of the picture is, do the best with what you have.
We need more discussion with updates on how to do the best recordings.
Oystein

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abraxas49
10 posts
 
I did a lot of tries with several combinations. The final satisfactory system is as follows:
- A good turntable with an accurate pitch control if you want to have a duration consistent with the one announced of the LP. Mine is a quartz controlled Hitachi HT-800 (motor only). There is a HT-840 with a plinth and tonearm. Very rare now.
- A cartridge having good specs. Your recording cannot be better than the source. Mine is Benz Micro ACE SL for stereo and Audio-Technica AT-MONO3/ LP for the Mono (my turntable has three arms). This latter must have a load of 100 ohms to prevent harsh sound on DECCA ffrr recordings.
- A good phono pre-ampwith RIAA. Mine is Ray Samuels F117 phono stage. A REAL KILLER better than higly priced phono amps.
- The front end for AD Conversion is the Apogee Duet 2. There is a flaw in this hardware that have a very good sound in the A/D stage; however I have a turn around (If you are interested let me know). If you have more money the Benchmark ADC1 is a very good option.
- The software to capture the flow: IZOTOPE RX5. This software is the top to do the job of declick, denoise, de-hum, de-hiss and more. The Standard edition is OK. The Advanced edition is not required for the job. This software allows also to cut the recording in tracks. The Batch Processing function which allows to concatenate several processing tasks saves a lot of time because you can run these overnight. The declick process is OUTSTANDING; never saw something so performant.


bondmanp
1,824 posts
 

I was at Dave Garretson’s yesterday and was fortunate to hear some of his needle drops. To say I was impressed would be a vast understatement. I don’t think I have heard better quality from digitized vinyl. Now, besides the fact that Dave knows what he is doing, he also has top-notch gear at his disposal - excellent ’table, arms, carts, a great system, and the means to really clean his records. Plus, he doesn’t need a computer for the digitizing. I have been doing CD-R needle drops using my much more modest vinyl rig and a prosumer Marantz CD recorder. I like the results, bu they are nowhere near what Dave was getting with his DSD TASCAM machine.


I am one of the beta testers for the Sweetvinyl Sugarcube-2, a Linux based one-box turn-key solution for declicking, digitizing, adding metadata, and track splitting (all automatic, no computer editing needed). I started a thread here on the SC-2 where I will post my impressions once I take delivery (estimated to be some time in August). This device will provide digital files up to 24/192, so no DSD, but I am hoping it will both produce better-sounding files and be more convenient than my current setup.

dgarretson
2,603 posts
 

@bondmanp

Thanks for visiting on Sunday for the demo. I’m taking another step with the Tascam DA-3000 by ordering an external Antelope Liveclock. The Liveclock will provide a 44.1 word clock to the Tascam as appropriate for DSD128 recording. The Antelope will also synchronize itself to the 10Mhz SRS PERF-10 Rubidium clock that I’m using with the Esoteric K-01X. Spec sheets suggest that this will increase clock accuracy to the ADC by an order of magnitude to .01ppm. I can also power the Liveclock at 12Vdc from the Hynes SR7. It’s a $1K gamble, but so far the experiment of recording vinyl with the Tascam has been worthwhile at every step.

dgarretson
2,603 posts
 
An Antelope LiveClock is now 44.1kHz external word clock for the Tascam.  LiveClock is synchronized to the SRS 10mHz rubidium clock.  I haven't yet compared the SRS clock to LiveClock's internal oven controlled oscillator. Both ADC ad DAC sections of the Tascam sound much improved.  It's a pleasant surprise that the wall wart that Antelope includes with the LiveClock is a linear power supply.  Next step is to build a DC umbilical to connect LiveClock to the Hynes SR7.        
dgarretson
2,603 posts
 
BTW, Tascam specs the DA-3000's internal oscillator at 1 ppm precision, as compared to .02ppm for the LiveClock.
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