Click Removal Tool

[waxcylinder]

Pat,

Since you are producing an archive I would recommend that as well as burning CDs that you also back up the WAVs to external disks. I create two separate backaups on two separate 1TB USB disks of each WAV file that I create frome tape/LP or even a modern off-air FM capture. The work involved is sufficiently great that I don't want to go back and do it all over again. Some folk also back up copies of both the raw capture WAVs and then also the production ones produced after editing. 1TB disks are relatively cheap these days.

Note carefully that the CDs that you burn with your PC are produced by a totally different method to commercial CDs. Your home CDs are produced by a photo-chemical process - so just like printed photos thay can fade and decay over time. So make sure you keep them away from heat and light as much as possible - (as an experiment place a piece of tape over a blank disk and leave it in the sun for a few days and then remove the tape).

BTW have you seen the set of tutorials in the Audacity manual for LP/tape transcription to digital? You may find them usefil/interesting. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... iscs_to_CD

WC

[ignatz]

Pat:


I don't know what your intentions are or what your playback/listening circumstances are, but I've decided in the last few years that my primary music playback method will be from a PC hard drive---not CDs.

In the last 6 or 8 years, I have burned perhaps 60 CDs containing some of my very favorite songs, but they do not get used other than in a car. So far, none have failed.

For at home playback, I use nothing but a PC, which is connected to a common stereo system through ordinary RCA cables. I typically use "shuffle play" on my playback software, but can also make playlists of certain styles of music or certain artists. This effectively does away with the need for CDs. The only downside is that my PC must be running.

I've never understood why the stereo hardware equipment makers like Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha, etc have not made a simple hard drive based MP3 playback component that would connect directly into a home stereo system, just like a cassette deck. That would eliminate the need for a running PC for playback purposes. All it would need is some sort of a USB port on it through which you could "inject" MP3s.

I don't own a portable MP3 player, but I see that there are hardware "docks" that allow these portable devices to be connected to a sound system. As far as I know, that is the only way to play back mp3s readily on a home stereo system without a PC, but it has obvious drawbacks.

[waxcylinder]

I've never understood why the stereo hardware equipment makers like Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha, etc have not made a simple hard drive based MP3 playback component that would connect directly into a home stereo system, just like a cassette deck. That would eliminate the need for a running PC for playback purposes. All it would need is some sort of a USB port on it through which you could "inject" MP3s.

And I've never understood why Apple hasn't produced such a device which will synch with my iTunes linbrary and plug into my hi-fi - av
sort of mains-powered large format iPod. And also a similar device which would fit into a standard car radio slot and be removable to synch with the iTune library <sigh> ...

WC

[patcurci]

WC - Thanks for the advice regarding backups. Actually, I have a couple of computers with rather large hard drives and I am backing up the Audacity files themselves. I will run out of room eventually but no current worries. I am not aware of the USB 1TB external data disks, but will certainly look into this option. Also, I didn't know about the difference in CD production, but will pay attention when CDs end up in the truck. I really appreciate your gems of wisdom. As I say, this is a whole new world for me and a lot to learn just to do an adequate job.

I've found that Audacity has put together an extraordinary amount of tutorials and help files to make this process less exasperating. I probably should get off my fanny and make a donation to the Audacity group.

Ignatz - My sound system - Sansui 9090 amplifier/tuner, Duel 601 turntable, TEAC A-170 cassette tape deck, Yamaha CDC-755 CD player, JBL L-100 Century speakers. All this is in another room from the computer, so connecting is not easy. I do listen to music on my stereo system because it works so well. The difficulty comes with the turntable (it's dying), and tapes.(they're deteriorating) so would like to make CDs since they're just plain easier to play and I can listen in my truck too. An MP3 player is probably not in my future either.

The process of hooking up the sound system and computer has been a bit of a challenge, but Audacity tutorials and help files has been a big help. I was able to move the tape deck to the computer for the current job of transferring tapes. I've even had to learn how to "bake" the tapes to revive them. But I'll have to run cables from the stereo to the computer for the LP phase of the job. My wife will only put up with cables running through the house just so long.


Again, my thanks to both of you (and Gale Andrews) for all the valuable help.

Regards, Pat

[ignatz]

Pat:

For $30, you can get this gizmo:

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UFO202- ... B002GHBYZ0


It's the Behringer UFO-202 USB sound card, with built in phono pre-amp.

Assuming your PC has a free USB port, you can plug this thing into the port and then connect your turntable directly to it to transfer your LPs to PC---without any connection at all to your stereo system. That might be more convenient than running cables from your sound system. The USB sound card will also let you record whatever you are hearing on your PC (typically a sound file on the Internet) onto your hard drive using Audacity.

[patcurci]

Thanks ignatz. I'll take a look at the gizmo. I've got plenty of USB (v2) ports. I've already ordered the cables to do the job and also really cheap.

Regards, Pat

[VAL6602]

I have a "click removal" problem - sort of - but in reverse.

I have an audio of a live "piano bar" concert. It's one big audio file that I have edited into individual song segments. The are no "clicks" on the original audio.

I made a CD without 2 second gaps between the tracks so it will "flow" properly, but I can now hear "clicks" at exactly the point where I know I edited the original audio and added title labels. I cannot hear these clicks when I play individual clips in Audacity, but I *can* hear them in Windows Media Player, CyberLink, Nero and on the CD I burned.

Is there any way to keep the individual tracks but avoid the annoying clicks?

Thank you to anyone who can offer assistance.

[steve]

I made a CD without 2 second gaps between the tracks so it will "flow" properly,

Did you use Nero for that?
Does your Optical drive support DAO and did you have that selected in Nero?
Do you hear clicks if you play the CD in a standalone audio CD player?

[VAL6602]

Did you use Nero for that?

No. I used CyberLink. It was my intention to use Nero but the show is 87 minutes and I couldn't find an "overburn" option in Nero. CyberLink let me select the (90 min) disc capacity under Project/Preferences. If Nero will burn a "long playing" disc, I can try that. Do you know how to push Nero past the standard CD capacity?

Does your Optical drive support DAO and did you have that selected in Nero?

Novice here. Not familiar with the term DAO. If you'll explain, I can let you know. (Again, I didn't use Nero.)

Do you hear clicks if you play the CD in a standalone audio CD player?

Yes. I've played it on the computer, the big 5-CD machine, the little clock/radio player, and my portable device. I can hear a click at each edit. I do not hear the clicks at the beginning/end of the individual tracks when I play them in Audacity. I do hear them on the CD itself, which I burned w/o gaps between the tracks.

Since this is a concert there really isn't any "silence" so I'd like to have the edits as unobtrusively as possible where the applause for one number is fading and before he starts talking, introducing the next song.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.

[steve]

and I couldn't find an "overburn" option in Nero.

I think there is one, but I don't have a copy of Nero handy to check - it may only be available in the full version and not "Essentials" or "Lite" versions.

Not familiar with the term DAO.

Disk At Once (as opposed to TAO - Track At Once). Some CD burners have it and some don't but it is required for true "gapless" CD burning.

Another option would be to burn with CDBurnerXP - it runs on all versions of Windows, supports DAO (as long as DAO is supported by the drive) and gapless audio CDs and is free.