Restoring old vinyls

[JuFav]

Dear Craig

My name is Julian, French-speaking Belgian dentist and 60 years old since a couple of weeks.
I started using DCART 32 in the year 1998, went over to DC Five in 2002 and DC 7 in2007.
I started buying vinyl

[Craig Maier]

Hi Julian,

Here is a comparison between your proposed method and the one that I use. BTW - I use DC8 because it has improved noise filters compared to DC7 - - - the software is always evolving in a positive direction (I hope).

Anyway, here is your procedure:

-Flat phono preamp directly in the sound card, no speaker monitoring
-Record at 96,0 khz- 16 bit
-Virtual phono preamp with personal tone settings
-Expert impulse filter “x” time (First pass, large clicks, small clicks, first-second-third pass with HQ mode)
-Continuous noise filter or EZ clean for hiss & rumble
-Dynamic processor to de’ess if necessary
-Paragraphic EQ to reverse the RIAA phono curve
-Change sample rate to 44,1 khz
-Gain normalize


Here is my procedure:

-Flat phono preamp directly in the sound card, no speaker monitoring
-Record at 96,0 kHz - 16 bit
-Virtual phono preamp and apply the correct EQ Curve (no personal taste in terms of tone controls injected here)
-Apply the EZ Impulse Filter
-Continuous Noise Filter or EZ clean for hiss & rumble
-Dynamic processor to de’ess if necessary
-Change sample rate to 44,1 kHz
-Sometimes, I add some enhancement here (VVA, P&C, Overtone Synth, Sub-Harmonic Synth, EQ, etc. or a combo thereof)
-Gain normalize scaling to -1.4 dB
-Find and Mark Silent Passages
-Quantize for CD Audio
-Break File into pieces
-Burn CD

Much of this I automate using the Batch File Editor which is a very powerful time saving tool.

There are many ways to do this and I do not claim that my method is the best, but it is the one that I use.

Hopefully, others will share their process too.

Craig

[Craig Maier]

On a Philisophical Note - - -

I guess it can be disturbing that the work done 5 years ago will not sound as good as the work done today. It is a double edged sword in a sense. The good news is that the technology is always improving allowing for better sonic results in restorations, but the bad news is that you can get down on yourself about your older restorations. Personally, I just live with my past work and enjoy them for what they are, except in very rare cases. But, I am thrilled that the results that I do get today are better than the results that I was able to achieve five years ago - - - it is very rewarding to me that way - - - and I do not worry about what the technology will bring five years from now.

Craig
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[JuFav]

Craig,

Many thanks for the quick answer and for the philosophical help.
You're right: everything is improving and it happens quite a lot that, after listening in my car to some old records I restored many years ago, I come home, give a kiss to my wife and open DC7 to get a better result than the former one. Music it's like a passion that never end.

Julian

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

Curious...why did you normalize to -1.4 dB, rather than 0 ?

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi Marc,

I normalize to less than full scale output because some A/D converters fall apart (become non-linear) when they are operated close to full scale. I do not know why, but some do. I guess it is a design flaw with some A/Ds. Normalizing to -1.4 dB avoids clipping distortion when using those systems.

Craig

[mikeebb]

I usually normalize to -0.5 but sometimes -1 if the record has lots of sharp peaks. If I try to push it higher DC7 will sometimes clip on the highest peaks. On the meter the normalized file seems to peak around 0.25 db higher than the normalization setting. Not sure why. But -0.5 is more than high enough to be as loud on playback as a commercial CD unless I'm trying for the Modern Radio Station effect (dynamic range of approximately 0 db AT 0 through the magic of modern compression).

[kimtp]

Thank you, Dr. J and Craig for your analysis and response to a vexing situation and that is how to. Now there is a standard (putative) that this rookie/amateur/newbie can use to restore vinyls. Hopefully, others with different experiences will build on this procedure.

[Craig Maier]

Hi Mikeeb,

The Diamond Cut Clip LED indicator intentionally lights at slightly lower than full scale output. Our thinking is that onece the clip LED lights, it is already too late so we set it around 0.5 dB below full scale output. That is what you are probably seeing.

Craig

[Craig Maier]

Hi Kimtp -

Let us know how either of those procedures works out for you.

Craig