Robin L
Master Contributor
I'm using Amazon Music. The digital stream from my laptop goes to a Topping E30 DAC. The sound is plenty clean. I could stream Spotify too, I just don't.
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Vinyl conversion to digital - because "ripping" just doesn't sound right.
- Thread starter Darth Bubba
- Start date
Robin L
Master Contributor
No, Click Repair is software that costs $40, works with a lot of editing programs, including Audacity.
AnalogSteph
Major Contributor
From what I remember, the best declickers actually un-RIAA the audio or even act before RIAA is applied at all, as apparently the resulting super fast transients are very easy to detect. (The RIAA / inverse RIAA needs to be minimum phase (IIR), Audacity's EQ is FIR based I think and as such not suitable.)
One aspect of note is that vinyl audio tends to be full of high-frequency nastiness that can challenge lesser anti-alias filters. Especially when dealing with consumer-level ADCs (typical stopband rejection ~70 dB) I would definitely recommend running those at 96 kHz, while higher-grade converters should be fine at 48 as well. The designation "consumer-level" includes not only early/mid-2000s consumer soundcards but also e.g. the CS4270 codec found in a number of USB audio interfaces to this date. A CS4272 (or CS5361, CS5381, AK5385A) should be more trustworthy, and ones with top-grade filters (e.g. AK5394A, CS5396, AK5393, AK5383) should be pretty much unfazed even at 44.1.
One aspect of note is that vinyl audio tends to be full of high-frequency nastiness that can challenge lesser anti-alias filters. Especially when dealing with consumer-level ADCs (typical stopband rejection ~70 dB) I would definitely recommend running those at 96 kHz, while higher-grade converters should be fine at 48 as well. The designation "consumer-level" includes not only early/mid-2000s consumer soundcards but also e.g. the CS4270 codec found in a number of USB audio interfaces to this date. A CS4272 (or CS5361, CS5381, AK5385A) should be more trustworthy, and ones with top-grade filters (e.g. AK5394A, CS5396, AK5393, AK5383) should be pretty much unfazed even at 44.1.
Unless you count convenience, no.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
I play them digitally in real time
OP
Darth Bubba
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Preamps w/phono sections are not a problem here! I can see seven of them from my chair as I type this
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Robin L
Master Contributor
Do you have or can you recommend a real-time digital de-clicker?
OP
Darth Bubba
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I'm retired, convenience is way down on my list of considerations
. Thanks for the specifics; I'm gonna pick up my PCIe sound card and magnifying glass and look at the ADC chips. I know it has 5532 op-amps on it, but there's no room for 12AX7s, sooo...Is it me or the clicks and pops are not really a concern once you're above low-end gear? I mean sure there are some but they're faint and kind of part of the experience.
I'm retired, convenience is way down on my list of considerations
there are some excellent ADCs reviewed on the site with almost all of them having a noise floor low enough for LP records. Just incase you wanted to feel more 'fancy' and 'pro'. Almost anything can work as an ADC for vinyl after a phono-stage.
OP
Darth Bubba
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Thank you; I just downloaded the trial version 3.5.2.
Robin L
Master Contributor
The issue isn't "low-end gear" nearly as much as the lack of quality control with the discs themselves. Clicks and pops are real. If one is buying/listening to LPs for musical content, clicks and pops are a problem. If one wants a collection of "demo discs", then one gets rid of noisy records. But if it's maximum fidelity for the music you want to hear, look elsewhere.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
The Puffin "Magic" feature does that.
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Darth Bubba
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The Puffin looks great, but I'd like to see a USB output for computers on it, too. Looks like they just dropped a firmware update last year, it's nice that they keep on improving it.
Did you see the review of it here?
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
It has Toslink or coax for digital out.
A standard interface should be able to deal with it.
Robin L
Master Contributor
Didn't measure too well.....
Robin L
Master Contributor
Yeah, but the real-time de-clicker just might beat out the lower noise floor and distortion of the Cambridge Audio Duo. The noise floor of the discs themselves is higher than the noise + distortion of almost any phono preamp.
True
wemist01
Active Member
Most of my listening is portable digital, so I do transfer LPs I enjoy.
Technics 1200 Mk II
Denon DL-103R
Pro-Ject DS2 USB (not using the USB right now, but I have been happy with the results)
Onkyo SE-U55SX2 (ADC)
I've run two tests to measure the accuracy of this setup:
1. Compared rips of 80's era vinyl to CD rips of the same material. Very close, sound-wise. Close enough for me to be happy with the results.
2. The Onkyo is a recent purchase (in a sense it is a vintage 24-bit ADC, dating from close to 2010). I tested it by streaming from the computer to a wireless receiver, sent that to the Onkyo and recorded the stream. So a D-A-D process where I was able to compare the starting file and the recorded one. I was shocked at how identical they files were. Bit for bit, waveform to waveform, they looked nearly identical. No noise from the Onkyo at all.
So to my mind the chief elements of this that define the character of these efforts are the cartridge and to a lesser extent, the noise floor of the Pro-Ject. Used to have it above my amp and there was more noise. I got it away from there and it is now very quiet.
Happy to hear any comments on this.
