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#11510 01/22/09 02:28 PM
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If I use winzip or winrar to zip a wave file, does the file at the other end come out exactly the same as the wav I started with?


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PapaMikie #11511 01/22/09 02:40 PM
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No.

This is why there are compression schemes designed for the task, such as Monkey's Audio, Ogg Vorbis, etc.


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Mac #11512 01/22/09 03:38 PM
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I made this test:

I took a 24 bit wave file and compressed it in WinZip. I then decompressed it into another folder.

I pulled up my sequencer and loaded the original file in track 1 and the compressed/decompressed file into track 2.

Then I reversed phase on track 2. If both files are identical they will cancel each other out.

Result: They cancelled each other out.


Now, however, WinZip etc. are not good solutions for compression because they don't compress the file much at all and they were not made for that purpose. There is hardly any savings for you to do it this way.

For lossless compression use ape, flac or wavepack. That's right .....get Monkey's Audio.
For lossy compression go with ogg, mp3 or wma.

I perfer ape and ogg.

YMMV


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D. Tuna #11513 01/22/09 03:53 PM
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Quote:

For lossy compression go with ogg, mp3 or wma.

I perfer ape and ogg.


Any opinion about wav to m4a using iTunes?

(Santa brought an iPod, and I'm planning to rip vinyl and cassette albums to WAV (probably with Audacity) then into the iTunes library. iTunes' direct import of CDs to m4a sounds ok to me. (Hope I'm not hijacking this thread.))

Thx, Ron

Mac #11514 01/22/09 03:59 PM
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Hmm, I took a slightly different approach to D.Tuna (whose post appeared while I was preparing this...):
=====

Quote:


No.
This is why there are compression schemes designed for the task, such as Monkey's Audio, Ogg Vorbis, etc.





With respect, WinZIP and WinRAR are lossless - hence you don't get great compression with wav files, which is where Monkey's Audio et al come in...

As an experiment and a comparison, I created a short .wav file, WinZIP'd and WinRAR'd it and then expanded it again:
Original .wav file - 5,511,212 bytes
WinZIP file - 4,479,742 bytes
WinRAR file - 3,129,249 bytes
Resultant .wav file (in both cases) - 5,511,212 bytes

A binary level File Compare showed no differences between the original and resultant (from both archive types) .wav files.


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rkl122 #11515 01/22/09 04:40 PM
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Quote:

Quote:

For lossy compression go with ogg, mp3 or wma.

I perfer ape and ogg.


Any opinion about wav to m4a using iTunes?

(Santa brought an iPod, and I'm planning to rip vinyl and cassette albums to WAV (probably with Audacity) then into the iTunes library. iTunes' direct import of CDs to m4a sounds ok to me. (Hope I'm not hijacking this thread.))

Thx, Ron




Hmmm..."I "perfer" LOL. Guess I should proof read more!

I think as long as you rip to wave initially (and this is the hard work) the rest is simple. Hard work in that if you record them individually and clean them up etc....well that's work.

At that point you can transfer into any format you want. m4a wouldn't bother me and is probably as good or better than mp3. Let your ears tell you.


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D. Tuna #11516 01/22/09 06:06 PM
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Thanks D. Yeah, gonna be tedious. That's why I want to choose the tools/formats carefully. I think Audacity can record continuously, say from a record side, then autosplit the tracks based on silence between them. It may have cleanup plugins, too, haven't looked into it yet.

Thanks, Ron

rkl122 #11517 01/22/09 06:36 PM
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G'day Ron,
Quote:

...I think Audacity can record continuously, say from a record side, then autosplit the tracks based on silence between them. It may have cleanup plugins, too, haven't looked into it yet.





I've done exactly this many times...


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Lawrie #11518 01/22/09 07:32 PM
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Thanks Lawrie, I was hoping someone would confirm! Now I just need to check whether all that vinyl stashed in boxes for 20 years still lies flat.

I think I know where the boxes are...

-Ron

rkl122 #11519 01/22/09 08:32 PM
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I've done it, and used PGMusic products all the way thru.
Their PGVinyl Tool is an exceptional tool for this.. so I just did everything in there.
I'm kinda fussy, so I did the editing manually by using the edit window.
Then I highlighted each song and copy/pasted to another track, and used the PGVinylTool on them. When I was done I exported each track to a wave file. I've used PT12 with very good results. I have a friend that DJ's and also really likes using the PGVinylTool for his transfers. He pays well for it
Can't beat Audacity's price tho, and if it makes it easier maybe some would prefer that route.


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rharv #11520 01/22/09 09:05 PM
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Hey thanks rharv! I didn't even realize such a tool was in RB! I see it plugs into Sonar also, so I guess it's a standard VST. Lots of options here.

Thanks for the tip! -Ron

rkl122 #11521 01/23/09 12:28 AM
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Don't forget when transferring vinyl, pay attention to what you're plugging your turntable into. A phono input on the back of a stereo amp has special circuitry to compensate for limitations in the cartridge. Some of the new external digital input devices have those inputs too like my EMU 1820M and I've seen others that have it. If you have an old stereo amp, you can plug your turntable into that and run the tape outs to your PC. There's software that does that but probably a hardware circuit that's designed just for that would be better.

Bob


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jazzmammal #11522 01/23/09 06:32 AM
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Quote:

If you have an old stereo amp, you can plug your turntable into that and run the tape outs to your PC.


Thanks Bob, that's my plan. Got a receiver and mixer set up near computer. Thought I'd patch tape outs into the mixer, but may compare that against a direct patch to sound card to see if these old ears make any distinction. I'll first try recording from the cassette deck (already patched into the receiver), to get hang of the process. Then dig out the old turntable and see if it still turns.

Thanks, Ron

rkl122 #11523 01/23/09 07:06 AM
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I have recorded many albums using this method, tape out to mixer in. I have found this gives me more control over volume and tone that going directly into the soundcard.

I record using Sonar (only because I’m so used to it) but you can use either PTPA or RB. Actually after recording all of one album side on one track I split that track into many tracks with each track containing one song. I then bring each song track into PTPA and use the PG Vinyl tool and sometimes also the Pg 10 band EQ. As Bob has mentioned the PGVinyl tool is an exceptional tool and it is the only one use to clean up old vinyl.

Good luck


Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.

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rharv #11524 01/30/09 06:09 PM
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Quote:

I'm kinda fussy, so I did the editing manually by using the edit window.
Then I highlighted each song and copy/pasted to another track, and used the PGVinylTool on them. When I was done I exported each track to a wave file. I've used PT12 with very good results.


This is great suggestion. I've been experimenting, and run into first problem. I select a single track (which contains one of the songs from the album) and do the export to wav with merge of FX. It creates the wav ok, but it's padded with silence at the end all the way to the length of the full initial recording (which is still on track 1, muted).

I think I've seen the answer to this, but can't find it. How do you get that single track export to truncate to the length of the selected material?

Thanks, Ron

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