78's to pc ..How?

[Dubbya Are]

I just found out that our family has a bunch of old 78 recordings of my uncles, aunts, mom and dad and we need too know the best way to get them on our computer .... I'm thinking movie camera or I do have an old Tascam DR-03 recorder ... any help or thoughts would be much appreciated, Thanks ... WR

[saxonblue]

You're lucky they're still in the family. My old man used to have a stack of 78s about 2' high. Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, the Duke, all the stuff wartime era he was passionate about as a teenager (He played trumpet & cornet in a Coogee Beach youth group band where he grew up in Sydney).

Down at my parent's place on the coast a few years back & asked where they got to. Mum said they went to the tip. I was gobsmacked, she said we don't have a player that'll work for them so what use are they? I looked over at Dad & he was hanging his head like a beaten favourite.

Sorry, it doesn't help with your question, it just triggered a rant on my part .

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Dubbya Are

I just found out that our family has a bunch of old 78 recordings of my uncles, aunts, mom and dad and we need too know the best way to get them on our computer .... I'm thinking movie camera or I do have an old Tascam DR-03 recorder ... any help or thoughts would be much appreciated, Thanks ... WR

First a way to play the discs.

Then a way to amplify and adjust the output of the player.

Then a way to store the result.

Sounds like you have a player. And a preamp of some kind? Or an integrated amp or receiver or ??

Your recording will be much higher quality if you connect the output of the preamp/etc to the line in of the DR-03 rather than using the mics of that device, so you'll need cables and adapters to make that connection.

If you're at all handy with a computer and your computer has line in connections, you can go straight into that.

After you've captured the recordings you'll probably find it useful to pull them into your computer and tweak the clips by trimming heads and tails, adjusting the level, perhaps processing for some noise reduction, and so on. Audacity is free, runs on many computer platforms, and has a support forum with plenty of discussions of digitizing old vinyl.

Fran

[Bob Womack]

HERE is an inexpensive method to do it: The Crosley Keepsake USB Turntable with software to archive your discs.



Goes right up to '78 RPM.

Bob

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Dubbya Are

I just found out that our family has a bunch of old 78 recordings of my uncles, aunts, mom and dad and we need too know the best way to get them on our computer .... I'm thinking movie camera or I do have an old Tascam DR-03 recorder ... any help or thoughts would be much appreciated, Thanks ... WR

I use an AudioTechnica TT and an ION cassette to USB converter here at my studio for clients, but you can get just an AT turntable with USB out. It's 33 1/3, 45, and 78. If you want to take a look at just the TT, Here.

BTW, 78rpm record grooves are about 8 times as large as a 33 rpm groove so you need a 78 rpm cartridge and stylus as well. I suggest getting the shell so you can mount the cartridge and swap it out with a quick twist of the wrist. That was about $130.00

I bring the audio into Adobe Audition 6.0 via USB. The very cool thing about Adobe 6.0 is you can put stereo tracks on the timeline with crossfades (segues). Put a marker at the beginning of each new cut and then click a few buttons to copy the markers, drop the markers into the burn window. The markers convert to track ID numbers.

My first career was as a DJ at various rock stations and we really enjoyed the art of the cool segue. With Adobe 6.0, I'm really enjoying doing that again and making custom personal CDs. (but not for sale)

Regards,

Ty Ford

[moon]

"The best" got me thinking about expensive, high-end turntables, phono preamps, and mastering-grade converters. That would cost a lot of money and doesn't make a lot of sense for one job - although you could probably get most of your money back if you buy items second-hand and stick to well-known products. If they're in demand you can sell them on again easily.

Recording is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you don't clip and save master copies in a lossless format like wav or flac.

One thing which often catches people out with digital media - HDDs, DVD, etc - is that none of them are suitable for a permanent archive. The only way round that is to keep multiple copies of important data - at least two backup copies (I've had backup disks fail on me as well as the main HDD copy). A copy on HDD, DVD and cloud storage is a good mix.

If you plan to store data on decadal time scales you need to do a review every few years. One day, sooner than you think, DVD's will go out of fashion and there will be nothing left to play them on. The same could happen with common file formats like wav and flac. Every once in a while you'll need to copy the masters onto new media or translate into new file formats.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by moon

"The best" got me thinking about expensive, high-end turntables, phono preamps, and mastering-grade converters. That would cost a lot of money and doesn't make a lot of sense for one job - although you could probably get most of your money back if you buy items second-hand and stick to well-known products. If they're in demand you can sell them on again easily.
...

perhaps 'the best' way might be to find a service that has all the high end gear and use them to make digital copies.

[Dubbya Are]

Thanks for the help everyone, looks like a do'able deal.
Saxonblue ... I hear your story and I too thought these old recordings were long gone but a cousin told me yesterday she had them at her house (WOW) we just need to get this done as all of us are now in our sixties.
Again, Thanks a bunch for all ya'all's wisdom ... I'm now thinking the best thing we can do is use Bob's ideal with the Crosley Keepsake.

[Dubbya Are]

Originally Posted by mc1

perhaps 'the best' way might be to find a service that has all the high end gear and use them to make digital copies.

We will check this out first ... but the expense might be a problem and there will probably be several that aren't clear enough to keep .... and I like the idea of all the kids that are left getting together and and spending a day or two with some old stories and photos.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Dubbya Are

We will check this out first ... but the expense might be a problem and there will probably be several that aren't clear enough to keep .... and I like the idea of all the kids that are left getting together and and spending a day or two with some old stories and photos.

the expense may be a problem. i had some old movies converted years ago and it was reasonable and very professionally done. one nice thing about the service is they may be able to clean up the recordings a bit.

even if you get a service to do it you could always get everyone together to review the old discs, listen to the new versions, and relive the past. let us know what you do and how it works out.

[Dubbya Are]

Originally Posted by mc1

even if you get a service to do it you could always get everyone together to review the old discs, listen to the new versions, and relive the past. let us know what you do and how it works out.

mc1 ... I'll try and post some info after we get this done .... I'm real excited about this, when my cousin was here yesterday I had ask her where her moms old guitar was and she still has it and even knew it was a Kay guitar ... I clearly remember our moms and dads gathered together singing and playing .... I'm hoping we can use some old pictures and make a movie with the recording in the background .... like in my footer.

note ... I even get to try my luck at getting the old Kay playing again :-) ... now, where and what was my uncle's guitar. ;-)

[Bern]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

HERE is an inexpensive method to do it: The Crosley Keepsake USB Turntable with software to archive your discs.



Goes right up to '78 RPM.

Bob

Very cool, Bob...I'm thinking Christmas present now.