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Author Topic: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)  (Read 2382 times)

redmodred

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MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« on: September 19, 2015, 08:42:26 am »

How about a new feature for MC 21 for "easier" vinyl playback?  I rip all my LPs to digital.  I typically rip them as "Side 1" and "Side 2."   

It would be Really handy if there was a Fast Forward or Skip to Next track that would roll forward until it hit silence.  Where silence level & duration are user defined.  (yes I could cut up "Side 1" into individual files and label 'em all, but, breaks up the playback and is a lot of extra manual effort....)

I think I had an old cassette deck way back when that had this function  ;)

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dtc

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2015, 02:32:23 pm »

Most vinyl software lets you eliminate the time between the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2. You pick the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2 and it eliminates the part in between.  It should be a very quick manipulation. I use Vinyl Studio which makes the task extremely easy and also allows you to split tracks easily and to set the length of silence at the end of one track and the start of the next one.
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bblue

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2015, 06:12:19 pm »

I do a lot of vinyl transfers to digital, and one thing you learn very quickly is that on that medium there is no such thing as silence between tracks.  Depending on the quality and alignment of a playback turntable, there can be very low frequency content well below 30hz or 20Hz (if you're lucky) that is almost as high a level as the track audio. 

If the record is very clean and perfectly flat (virtually pristine), it will usually be a general low level LF waveform of around 10-15Hz to 30Hz, but if it is slightly out of round, or uneven there can be considerable content in the 4-10Hz range.  For a full range transfer, those are issues you try to minimize by choice of equipment and a record flattener.  However, other choices include various amounts of LF filtering below 20-30Hz.  But even then, the 'silent' waveform recorded is far from silent.

In an audio editor (and usually after the fact) You could set up some sort of frequency selective monitoring automatiion with various plugins that only 'hears' the frequencies from say, 50Hz and up, but that doesn't maintain a particularly high fidelity to the LP.  It would probably do a decent job if you're not too picky about the results.  The automation would manage the fade in/fade out between tracks based on higher frequency signals.  Certainly not foolproof, though.

I almost never try to fade out/fade in tracks on a side because it's often quite audible and distracting.  But merging side two audio to side one is fairly easily doable, and can be completely 'invisible' to a very minor transition, depending on the technique used.  Usually without total fades.

--Bill
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Vocalpoint

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2015, 12:01:35 pm »

It would be Really handy if there was a Fast Forward or Skip to Next track that would roll forward until it hit silence.  Where silence level & duration are user defined.  (yes I could cut up "Side 1" into individual files and label 'em all, but, breaks up the playback and is a lot of extra manual effort....)

I rip a ton of vinyl and if cutting the tracks to individual files is "a lot of manual effort" - I would like to know what it is you are doing. Cutting a "side" up into it's tracks should take about 5 seconds.

And for my rips - the whole point is to get those tracks liberated and into the MC library so one can enjoy them with maximum flexibility. Kinda pointless to rip an entire album side into a 22 minute huge file and then never be able to just hear track 3 (easily).

I may as well just put on the record and listen to it in its true state :)

VP
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bblue

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2015, 12:11:10 pm »

Of course, simple cutting is a no-brainer.  But if you then listen to the individual tracks on a quality, full range system, you'll be acutely aware of the LF noise (which appears as out-of-phase between Left and Right Channels, since it is comprised mostly of vertical stylus movement).

To cut as invisibly as possible (which is different from track to track) you follow-fade the track tail to take out the LF content without it being drawn to the attention of a listener.  Likewise for beginning of the next track.  How to start it without noticing the LF fading in.  It's often several tries to get it 'right'.  These steps increase the time on each album, and when you transfer professionally, are of utmost importance.

So for my own use (not a client) I just do 'needle drops' and leave the time between tracks alone.  On a good transfer it's not bad.  You just wouldn't do it that way for a re-master.

--Bill
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Vocalpoint

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2015, 12:48:24 pm »

But if you then listen to the individual tracks on a quality, full range system, you'll be acutely aware of the LF noise (which appears as out-of-phase between Left and Right Channels, since it is comprised mostly of vertical stylus movement).--Bill

For all my projects - I apply a custom LF filter EQ using iZotope Advanced to all tracks. There is no hint of any possible LF noise on any track via any system.

VP
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bblue

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Re: MC 21 Suggested New Feature (for vinyl playback)
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2015, 02:47:14 pm »

For all my projects - I apply a custom LF filter EQ using iZotope Advanced to all tracks. There is no hint of any possible LF noise on any track via any system.

VP
When I get past the needle drop stage, I most always apply a 25k low pass, and sometimes high pass above 20-30Hz depending on musical range in material as seen in RX4.  But for a simple needle drop, I reserve the extra passes for later.

--Bill
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