1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

[rhaley]

These records are very good with excellent artists. I'm not having much luck, however, achieving a clean sound without distortion. Should I try a different stylus, remove RIAA curves, etc. to get a really good source file? I'm using a nice Rega turntable, Sony DAT, H.H. Scott preamp, Gina sound card. Right now, the original source is on DAT.

[Craig Maier]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

Tell us more about these records. I do not know of them. Are they LP's or 78's? Are they transcription recordings made on acetate? On what lable were they recorded? What size stylus are you presently using to transfer these? Please advise.

[rhaley]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

These are old LPs. I plead ignorance on transcription recordings on acetate. I'm using a relatively high end cartridge labeled AT440ML with OCC below that. It's a moving magnet cartridge. Concert Hall Society is the label. These are classical music recordings; chamber music and solo recitals.

[Craig Maier]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

Is the distortion on the source recording, or is it introduced or amplified during some process after the transfer of the recording to DAT?

[rhaley]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

There's virtually no difference in listening to the album than to the DAT recording. The transfer is good. I think most of the distortion ( and I don't know if this is really the right term) comes in after a few passes of the Impulse noise filter. Also, the continuous noise filter is problematic. Sampling a half second of non musical noise then running the filter either introduces some serious artificats or if you lower the threshold doesn't do much at all. I've been trying to clean this recording for months and have had unsatisfactory results. I've probably bitten off more than I can chew....

[Craig Maier]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

You are probably being too agressive with the impulse noise filter. If you think that, by magic, all clicks and pops will be removed by virtue of the algorithm, then you are underestimating the creativity of the source material. Typically, folks try to get all clicks on the first pass. That is not possible on classical material. Read the users manual on this topic - - use several runs with different settings to get optimal results with the impulse filer. As for the the Continious Noise Filter, it can produce a "NO NOISE" output. But not without sacrifice. The sacrifice is transient response and artifact production. You must carefully balance the relationship between noise reduction and artifact/transient response of the final product when using the contious noise filer.

[Beautman]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

Are you doing all that you can to minimize noise before running the filters so that you don't need to use them any more aggressively than necessary?

If it's not too much trouble or expense, you should try a 1 mil stylus and at slightly higher tracking force that the ca. 1.5g you're probably using with an AT440 for a 1953 LP. You might get much better signal to noise on the transfer, and sometimes also richer tone. I doubt that's an option with an AT440. You'd probably have to switch to something like the new Grado (unless 1 mil has become available again for Stantons).

Before running the CNF, have you blended the file to mono? With a mono source, this can make sometimes make a big improvement with no trade-offs.

I'd also see if the recording permits rolling off the frequency extremes without losing any program material (post-impulse filter).

When I'm having artifact problems with the CNF, I keep the "dots" fairly high, but set the attenuation very low and raise the attack time.

And as Craig suggested, you needn't aim to eliminate all of the noise. Moderate levels of noise are less irritating than unnatural computer-induced distortions, which I even hear on some commercial historical releases. The Best can be the enemy of the Good.

[DougMac]

Re: 1953 Concert Hall Society Recordings

Are you using the Multi Filter? Here's a paste from another post that I have found very helpful. Using the multifilter has many advantages. It saves a tremendous amount of time and cuts down the opportunity of introducing artifacts by transforming the file over and over again. Thanks to Jason Begley for this tip:

A few suggestions from my own experience are as follows;
1. Use the Multifilter with TWO Impulse filters, One set as follows; Threshold of 1, Size of 30, Tracking start at 50 and move it down (until you reach the point of distortion and then back up). The Second set as follows; Threshold of 1, Size between 7 to 14, Tracking start at 70 and move it up until distortion stops.

2. Another thing to try is record your audio in at a lower level, effectively giving the filter a "bit more room" to play with