how do i adjust these

Special Interest Groups Recording Techniques
1

hi fellas

while using audacity i was suggested by a friend to adjust the tracking and the bias…how do i do these things?i am using 78s on a turntable i believe a usb.

lenny

2

swoosh WOMH
WTF is he talking about?
tracking of what
bias of what
and then ask him why you are doing that

bias is for advanced magnetic tape recording to match the tape oxide
makes no sense to me for what you are trying to do here

if you are recording 78s to digital via audacity
make sure you use a needle for 78s so you dont damage the records and play them on a TT that plays that speed to save extra work

then you need to remove the RIAA compensation that is built in your preamp to handle 33s and make them sound flat (unless that usb TT has some really advanced options - and your TT software may just do that for 78s)

if you played them at 33 instead of 78 you will then need to adjust either the timing to sound right or by raising the pitch

you may want to find out what preemphasis if any was used on the original recordings and then apply that to get the best resulting copy
or
you could use the EQ to adjust the frequency response
if you know the material and use the analyse plot_spectrum you may be able to see what adjustments could help and then EQ it as needed

then you can save the result and burn a cd


some TTs allow you to adjust the speed to ensure they are exactly 78 or 33.3 or 45 or whatever. And if the original were recorded at a slightly different speed you could adjust (“pitch correction”) to make them sound correctly. i doubt that a usb TT has that adjustment.

RTFM - it may be better to record with the software that came with the usb TT and then use audacity later

look here for more info

… tutorial in the Audacity manual… on the recording and processing of 78s with Audacity. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph … pm_records

3

The terms “Tracking” and “Bias” in relation to turntables relate to 2 parts of setting up of a turntable. The turntable user manual should tell you what setting up you need to do. Probably the most important steps are to check that the turntable is absolutely level, and that the “tracking weight” is correct (the weight of the cartridge and tone arm that presses on the record through the stylus).

There is an overview of setting up turntables here: http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ttadjust.html
Not all settings are available on all turntables - check the manual for your turntable.

4

thanks guys…

lenny