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78rpm Records Digitized

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Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#11
post #8
post #5

The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. I’ve had some luck digitizing some of my collection with a DP-450 [0] and Ortofon Blue [1], but had higher end stuff end up sounding less interesting to my ears. This is the trouble with audio in general: people not only…

> The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. Would a scan done with a laser turntable[1] be better? The wikipedia article mentions that it produces a much better capture than regular tonearms, although they are much more susceptible to dust. [1] https://en.wikipe…

Here's a short video clip from ELP (Japan): https://youtu.be/W_4sooWCh_Y.

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#12
post #8
post #5

The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. I’ve had some luck digitizing some of my collection with a DP-450 [0] and Ortofon Blue [1], but had higher end stuff end up sounding less interesting to my ears. This is the trouble with audio in general: people not only…

> The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. Would a scan done with a laser turntable[1] be better? The wikipedia article mentions that it produces a much better capture than regular tonearms, although they are much more susceptible to dust. [1] https://en.wikipe…

I was wondering the same thing! For the dust problem, I’d like to imagine that the machines could be modified with an air pump to blow away anything ahead of the pickup. One probably wouldn’t want that extra noise in a listening room, but for archiving, it wouldn’t matter.

I guess when you can get a ‘good enough’ traditional turntable for a couple hundred bucks but an ELP laser turntable costs over $14,000[0] the economics just don’t make a lot of sense. I wonder how much the IRENE systems cost.

[0] https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=elp+turntable...

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#13
post #5

The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. I’ve had some luck digitizing some of my collection with a DP-450 [0] and Ortofon Blue [1], but had higher end stuff end up sounding less interesting to my ears. This is the trouble with audio in general: people not only…

not that is changes your point, but 78s are usually shellac rather than vinyl.

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#15
post #5

The trouble with digitizing analog mediums (especially vinyl) is how much your equipment can alter the sound. Given a different tonearm, cartridge, amp, etc, the same record can sound very different. I’ve had some luck digitizing some of my collection with a DP-450 [0] and Ortofon Blue [1], but had higher end stuff end up sounding less interesting to my ears. This is the trouble with audio in general: people not only…

You might be interested to dig deeper around the archive and see what they're doing. Each record is transferred using four different styli, and then an engineer at GB picks which recording to use as the example - but all four are in the archive.

They have a video up about the process too - https://archive.org/details/mass78rpmdiscdigitization

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#17

I wish I had not sold my 78's to Half Price Books a few years back. I had a couple hundred records, some of which had probably never been played. I found all of them in a house we bought right after getting married. They were a mix of old Country music, Broadway musical shows, Jewish songs, and Big Band stuff. I always intended to digitize them before selling them but my phonograph only played 33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm a…

> I wish I had not sold my 78's to Half Price Books a few years back. I had a couple hundred records, some of which had probably never been played.

How much did you get for them? I assume HPB puts almost all 78s in the dumpster.

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#18

Since the kids are all about sea shanties these days: https://archive.org/details/78_rio-grande_leonard-warren-tom...

Thank you for this!

I had a TON of classic Jazz 78s from my grandfather - unfortunately I couldnt find a 78 player at the time for the life of me - and I gave them to a friend who was a really accomplished Jazz drummer in SF - one of my biggest regrets - but they were so heavy and I didnt have space for them when I moved...

Re: 78rpm Records Digitized

#20
I try to understand how this is legal ? I mean: what is the difference between Archive.org and any other torrent website ?

Aren't they both preserving the culture ?

Archive.org is doing 20M USD in revenue, lot of people are getting paid in the process, and suppliers as well, it's not like they are working for nothing. They just don't have investors (but can have big salaries).

Genuinely wondering because I saw that you can download games there too (and some are still under commercial exploitation).

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