Your Vinyl Transfer Workflow (sharing best needledrop practices)*

Instead of just following what somebody on the internet says, experiment. Create your own workflow. Create your own style. Yes, I know who Barry Diament is. I'm just saying, as much as I/we respect him as an expert in his field, he's still only one person with an opinion. Take what he says as advice or a guide, but be your own person.

The best software does not make it easy for you as selecting an option and hitting an OK button. They should only be starting points. As a user of software, you are expected to learn how to use them on your own terms. You can even use tools not for their intended purposes. Experiment. Play around. And, you may even find that the original files was best. But, the point is that you learned on your own instead of just copying what someone else said to do. That's the fun part of this audio thing. There really are no rules. These days, it is fashionable to even clip, or soft clip your audio, and make it sound clean. Companies make audio tool just for this if you are so inclined.

Now, I know most of us here are not doing commercial projects, but engineers are still making loud music, and they are getting better at it all the time. You don't have to, of course, but just know that you can. Sometimes, I like trying to get older, quieter CDs up to modern levels and retain that natural, original sound. I can do that with RZ/Ozone.

 

Any idea of what's improved/new in RX11 that's coming out next month?

 

Speaking of fades, I wish RX allowed custom fades like Audition does/did. I also wish RX allowed for elaborate crossfades like Sound Forge does.

Sometimes, I still wind up using two or three DAWs for special purposes. For some reason, I can't get some of my plugins to work in RX, so I have to use them in Sound Forge. like my beloved Studer A800 tape deck emulator. I use it quite a bit. It's amazing what running a song through a GP9 tape at 30 i.p.s. and tweaking the EQ can do. I've got compressors and plates.

 

No, but I can't wait! I'm hoping they'll port some of the restoration tools from the Advanced version to the Standard version so I can afford them.

 

If the Studer plugin is VST3 and you're running RX9 or older, that is why. Only VST2 is supported.

 

Glad to hear of someone else that remasters their vinyl recordings similar to what I do, but I have no arguments against the purist approach either. We should always use our own custom workflow that brings about the greatest personal listening enjoyment. I absolutely love listening to music in the car and sometimes just go for a ride not to get anywhere but for listening to favorite songs while I cruse through country scenery. Both Maximizer in Ozone and Clip Gain editing in RX allow me to lift the lowest level sections of the track just a little higher to suit my personal taste and get better clarity when there is a bit of background noise like in the car or kitchen when I’m preparing and cooking all our meals. I have never paid any attention to LUFs at all because for me I just don’t see the point to it, but willing to hear a compelling argument for it.

 

Checkout the Oxford Inflator plugin. I just tried it on some electronic music I got off an old Windham Hill vinyl the other day and was happy with the improvements it made. Will very likely use it again on the right kind of program material.

 

There are certain types of music or situations that will not allow boosting the volume. And, if you don't want to use compression/limiting of any kind, there are still little tricks you can use. Zeroing in on stray transients and simply lowering them by a few decibels. Just make sure that this doesn't reduce the intended impact.

I use limiting on even things I listen to critically. As I said, the tools are here, and they are much, much better than what was available a few short years ago. All you need are critical monitors to be able to hear what you're doing.

 

This is what's on iZotope's blog.

RX 11 Elements
The next generation of Repair Assistant – Clean up tracks faster than ever with deeper levels of control. With new machine learning tech that tackles both dialogue and sung vocals with ease, and more exposed parameters so you can make your final tweaks, this assistant goes from trusty helper to lifesaver.

RX 11 Standard
Includes the overhauled Repair Assistant, and…

Two new tools for releasing tracks with confidence – Here’s where industry-first tech makes a real splash. You’ve put time and effort into polishing your sound, now you'll know how your music will sound on streaming platforms before it leaves your studio. These game-changing tools will help you ensure that your tracks sound great, so your release day will have no surprises.

RX 11 Advanced
Includes the overhauled Repair Assistant, new tools for releasing tracks with confidence, and…

Real-time dialogue isolation – For RX 11, we’ve introduced a cutting-edge neural network that provides a more natural separation of noise and reverb from voice recordings. Plus, a new high-quality processing mode unlocks new possibilities for recovering dialogue in vocals captured in less than ideal conditions.

 

Doing a Cassette copy of Olivia Rodrigo's guts with a cdpower TDK type2, great tapes

also testing out capturing it on my computer with the power director.

I much preferer the cassette workflow. this computer coping is not enjoyable. feels like work.

 

Looks like Izotope, Native Instruments, or whatever, has decided that they are going to cater to the movie and podcast crowds. Adobe went down that route once they acquired Audition.

 

Different strokes, and all that. I enjoy the work involved with using computer software.

 

I've been away for the last week or so, but thank everyone for chiming in. Now I need to read all that has been put forward to sort it out. But thank you!

 

Not sure how to search for this to see if it has been addressed before but does anyone have a method for eliminating or significantly reducing the scratching effect of a bad pressing?
I picked up Dolores O'Riordan - Are You Listening? on record store day and side B is completely wrecked with 'scratching' through the whole side.
Using iZotope RX 10, I'm able to 'fix' the gaps between songs with a combination of 'Spectral De-noise' and 'Spectral Repair', but when it comes to fixing the scratches prevalent during the quiet sections of some of the songs, I'm finding that the spectral repair effects the music as well.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, bad pressings are part of our reality, so I was just seeing if anyone has a method for eliminating noises like this.
I cleaned the album ultra-sonically so that's not gonna help and there were only 600 copies of the album made so getting a replacement is also not an option besides, I've seen others complain about the same issue with this pressing.

 

One of my hobbies is recuing old vinyl which has scratches and noises. Perhaps some of these tips might help. I have several audio editing programs. Izoptope, Audacity, Magic Audio, and Sound Forge. I found the same program , such as click repair, acts differently under the different programs. Sound Forge may not totally reduce the clicks while Izotope does. Also, most click repair programs lets you select the type of click. If one doesn't work, use another. Some pesky clicks are removed using single band instead of multiband. Some removed using discontinuities instead of click. I've found Izotope usually handles all the spectral repair needed. Click repair is a catch all utility. I've used it on clicks, scratches, and strange noises. Once again Izotope covers the bases. I also have Click repair which is very good but Izotope seems to have a slight upper hand. On some persistent noises I have used click repair on the same noise area more than once. You need to be careful that you aren't removing music. I've found several passes of click repair will remove scratchy noises. I'll try different programs for stubborn noises. I use spectral noise repair on the offending noise. I have saved samples of "noise" and incorporated them into the programs. Some are white, pink, brown noise samples as well as intertrack noises. They are in a folder that can be accessed by all the programs.

Also, all noises are not meant to be removed. I've worked on several noises only to find they are in the original recording or release. Key chains rattling, soda being popped won't easily come out. Why they were released that way I don't know.

Finally, you might want to publish the noise on the forum and see if anyone can remove it then let you knowhow it was done.

Good luck.

 

Thank you!

Right now, I use a combination of Izotope RX10 and Adobe Audition. I've used Click Repair in the past so I'll try reinstalling if I can find my purchase code and play with it.

How would I do that? I was going to post a screen cap to show the offending noise but wasn't sure how to share it.

 

Easiest way is post the noise to your Google drive or to Dropbox. Make sure you give a timestamp where the noise is so it is easily found. Post the link here and hopefully some one will take a look and have an answer.

 

In the past, I used Click Repair, Click Fix, Sound Forge, and Waves, along with Cool Edit Pro/Audition, along with some other small, funky apps.

Today, my primary de-clicker is Izotope RX 9 Standard, and all of its tools. I still use Audition at times, and may re-install Click Repair. I also have Sound Forge declicker on standby, but, the main one is RX. Sometimes, i've even just cut clicks right out of the wave if they are small enough.

 

This is a clip of my file that features the noise I'm talking about.
After I rip an album side, I have a batch process that includes some 'de-humming' and overall click repair via Izotpe... here is where I am now...

DO Samp.wav

 

Could you post the unaltered sample as well? The squeaks some like click remnants

 

Before I forget, Have you tried playing Side B wet with distilled water? That will usually take all kinds of noise away.

 

I've always wondered how to do that and if it's bad for the stylus?

 

OK. Here's what I have. I went through the sample. Since you didn't have issues with side one or any other LP I take it the noise is on the recording. I went through the recording and applied various programs ensuring music wasn't touch. If it's OK let me know. Nice selection by the way.

Dropbox - DO Samp 2.wav - Simplify your life

 

Using water on a record drop is a very infrequent occurrence for me. I've used it since 1974 with no issues. I've heard the needle will fall apart, you'll always have to play the record with water, and too much water killed the dinosaurs. Maybe these things happened but I and others have not had issues. The water usually removes clicks and really reduces intertrack noise. I haven't had it take away from the audio.

Using water to do a needledrop is easy. Clean the recording. Move your stylus brush if so equipped to the upward position. This way it's just needle touching the vinyl. Spay the record side. I have a 4oz atomizer bottle filled with distilled water. To record and lower the needle. You'll notice the water beads up after the stylus passes. The sound should be pretty clear. Process the recording appropriately. Don't forget to dry off the record using a terry cloth towel you wiped your face with the night before. ( I used to put stuff like this in correspondence I sent out to see if anyone actually read it. Ahh memories.)

You may find a dirt build up on the stylus after recording a side. A stylus brush takes care of that. But more importantly is why is the dirt there? Take a look at your cleaning procedures. Rinsing and the time the cleaner is on are usually insufficient leaving debris.

It's work for me. Your results may be different. But that's all right.

 

I hate to criticise someone else's work but the noise reduction has removed a lot of the upper mids.