zingzog's Weblog

Simple Vinly LP to CD transfer

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 23 Jan 2008 21:37:38 GMT

There have been a few articles about transferring audio from "2 ounces of plastic with a hole in the middle" to CD recently. These include http://mrchuck999.my.nero.com/blog/7101388 for example.

An even simpler way, and not too expensive is to use a turntable equipped with USB.

Just Google on "vinyl USB" there are several type available from about $150 dollars. In principle a bit easier to set up than turntables, preamps, RIAA, soundcard, line inputs, cables, etc...

Also, a tool I find very good for removing pops and clicks, and for spliiting tracks is Wave Corrector (Google on "Wave Corrector"). You record the LP and Wave Corrector scans the recorded file for pops, clicks and track gaps. It makes a good job of ironing out the pops.

Once my tracks are ready I burn them with, you guessed it, Nero Burning ROM.

Have fun,

Zingzog

BTW: "2 ounces of plastic with a hole in the middle" was an album from the good old days of Rock by the Welsh band Man. Brilliant (if you can find it!)

Scanning thin paper

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 18 Jan 2008 17:32:29 GMT

For all you article archivists:

When you scan thin paper with text on the rear you can see the reversed letters bleeding through from the back in your scan.

You can remove it in a photo editor, but a simple way of reducing the problem at source is as follows:

Put a piece of black paper behind the article you are scanning instead of the white backing of the scanner. The black paper reduces the reflection back through the paper and blends in with the ink on the reverse of the article so that you don't see it.

I use a piece of the paper that you sometimes find in a picture frame, black one side and white the other. It would be handy if scanner manufacturers fitted the option to the scanner backing plate.

Have fun,

Zingzog

Converting 45rpm singles recorded at 33rpm to CD

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 10 Jan 2008 21:16:50 GMT

Hi, I've been away a while. I've been trying to record and restore some lovable old vinyl. It takes forever doesn't it.

Specifically, I have got some 45rpm records that I wanted to restore and record on CD.

However, I have got a turntable that only plays at 33.33333… rpm. Yeh, one of the fancy ones that doesn’t even take the needle off the record at the end!

If I play the singles at 33rpm they sound slow and the pitch is low. But I decided to record them at 33rpm anyway and find some way of speeding them up to shift the pitch back to where it should be.

I figured that if I recorded at 33rpm and 441000 samples per second (sps) it is like playing at 45rpm and recording at 59535 sps. ( (45/33.33)*44100 = 59535, about 60000 ish)

So, to get the sound back to the correct speed and pitch I reckoned that I needed to do the equivalent of converting them from as if they were 60000sps back to 44100sps.

I found a super utility called sr-convert (it can be found in sourceforge, it was developed by Edward Kiser). It can convert between various sample rates, 44100 to 48000, and many, many more. The only drawback is you have to build it to use it, there is no exe downloadable so I made my own.

I chose to convert from 60000sps to 44100 (about 0.7% error in pitch from the ideal), and it works fine. I guess I should compensate for the shift in RIAA equalization as well but it’s good enough. (The old vinyl doesn't sound so good, like me it's pretty well worn!)

Here are a couple of links to samples:

This is before p[rocessing:

members.chello.nl/a.chisholm/Sounds/60000Pre.mp3

And this is after processing:

members.chello.nl/a.chisholm/Sounds/44100Post.mp3

Have fun,

Zingzog

Economy of scale and airports

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 03 Nov 2007 17:08:16 GMT

Economy of scale is supposed to reduce cost and expense because it is cheaper to make or do many of the same things at once instead of a few at a time.

So: if there is economy of scale why is it that the largest airports have the most expensive parking, the most expensive food and simultaneously the most expensive and the worst coffee?

Have a good weekend

Make a playlist (M3U) for a directory

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 21 Oct 2007 19:23:35 GMT

Here is a simple way of adding a playlist to a folder so that all the files can be played, in order, with one double click of the mouse.

I like to backup each of my CDs as MP3s into a folder and to give each folder a playlist for the tracks in the CD. I number each track in the form:

01Artist-TrackOneName

02Artist-TrackTwoName

03Etc...

Then I open a DOS box (Press the Start button, select Run, type CMD and press OK)

CD to the directory where the playlist is needed and type the command

dir/b *.mp3>playlist.m3u

A file playlist.m3u appears in the folder. A double click on it opens the player and starts playing the MP3s in the folder.

The M3U file can be edited with Notepad if required.

Have fun,

BTW: You can even start the playlist from the dos prompt. CD to the folder, type playlist.m3u at the dos prompt and hey presto, it plays.

Changing the “favourite” application to play a file type

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 21 Oct 2007 07:23:05 GMT

Applications often associate themselves with a given file type and may override your favourite choice of application.

Nero is polite about this when it installs and asks which file types should be played by the Nero applications.

If you need to change the association of file to app at a later date there are a couple of alternatives.

Firstly, you can run your favourite application and use its options or preferences section to make the change. In this picture you can see the file association dialog for Winamp. Just select the file types you want to use and its done.

A second more general method is to go to Windows explorer, select a file of the type that you want to change and right click, in the list of options select “Open With”

You will get a list of programs from which you can select your favourite for the file type, don’t forget to select the “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” box so that the association is permanent.

Have fun,

Convert flash files to DVD or MP4

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 13 Oct 2007 08:51:27 GMT

Save web videos as DVD or MP4 with Nero Vision 5 in Nero 8 Ultra.

Nero Vision can now handle FLV Flash video files. This is the file type commonly used to display videos on the web. Simply load the FLV file into Nero Vision and either burn it as a DVD or use the Export button to convert it to MP4 to play on your phone/PC or whatever.

Web movie files are typically found in a directory something like C:\Documents and Settings\ZingZog\Local Settings\Temp (yours probably doesn't say ZingZog) and may have the .flv file extension or a name like fla5C.tmp. If you have just opened the movie in your web browser, it will be near the top of the list if you list the files on modified date in explorer.

Copy the file to some other place (it will disappear when you navigate away from the movie in your browser). You may need to use a tool that can copy open files (Nero Backitup can do that for you!)

Rename the file to something.flv and load it in Nero Vision as described above.

By the way, Recode doesn't do FLV so you will have to use Nero Vision for this.

Have even more Fun,

Extract/Export audio from a video file with Nero Vision

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 13 Oct 2007 07:35:18 GMT

New in Nero Vision 5, delivered in Nero 8 Ultra, is the option to extract audio from a video clip.

Open a project in Nero Vision (say Make Movie), and add the clip that you want to extract the audio from.

Press the Export button at the bottom of the application window, and in the options box top right (see the picture) you will find an "Export to audio file" option. Select it, browse to where you want to store the file and press "Export".

The file is saved as a WAV file and will be large (10MB per minute) so you will need a fair amount of free space. If you want a different file format, e.g. MP3, you will need to encode it (I don't know why WAV is the only option in Nero Vision because Nero knows how to convert to all kinds of formats).

To change the format start SmartStart, select "Create and Edit", select "Convert Audio Files", add your wav file and use the options down below to convert to MP3 or whatever. My favourite is Lame>Encode quality =0, Variable bitrate=0, Stereo.

Have fun,

Add CD Audio Text / Track Text in Essentials

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 07 Oct 2007 15:10:30 GMT

In answer to houstonpcguy , adding track and title CD text in Essentials is

essentially (ha ha) the same,.

From the symbols on the right of the Essentials StartSmart select audio-make audio CD.

Click add to add tracks or drag and drop them into the track list.

For each track; select the track and either right click and select properties, or use the properties button on the right. Fill in the text for title and artist.

When you are finished press next where you can enter the CD title and artist.

Burn and you are done.

Have fun,

Adding Artist and Song names to an Audio CD in Nero

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 29 Sep 2007 14:00:50 GMT

Hi, (in answer to makuta's question) this missive shows how to add CD Text to an audio compilation it uses Nero 8 but the same applies to Nero 7...

First, open up a Nero Burning Rom and select CD as the medium type and Audio CD as the project type. You will see the Audio CD tab appear:

Enter the CD title, artist, etc. into the details on the tab and click new.

Drag and drop tracks into the compilation and double click on the track name in the compilation window. Up comes this dialog:

Here you can enter the track name artist, etc. You can also adjust the pause between tracks and using the other tabs (Indexes, Limits, Splits, and Filters) you can add special effects and all sorts.

Burn your disk and you should see all these details on your CD player.

I never use bought CDs in the car, I don't want them stolen, so I make a copy of new CDs for car use. I always add text details and end up with a better quality product than the original. It amazes me how few commercial CDs have CD Text. (But then they just want your money. They don't want to work for it.)

Have fun,

By the way: This was the best band of all time, Cycle. Which is your favourite?

Simpler Audio CD navigation

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 15 Sep 2007 06:37:55 GMT

Have you ever found yourself winding through a long track on an audio CD to try to resume listening to the last few minutes? Then your finger slips and you have to start all over again from the beginning? Some players don't let you simply go to the end of the last track and fast wind backwards.

I record radio programs to play in the car to pass the time in my favourite traffic jams. Sods law declares that there will always be five minutes to go at the end of the CD every time I have to stop listening. And when I borrow my car back from my daughter in the morning you can bet that the CD won't be in the last position that I left it (I'm lucky if it is still in the player!).

To make navigating long CD tracks easier I always (when I remember) add a three second silence track at the end of the CD compilation. You can then skip to the silence track at the end of the CD and wind back from there.

To make a silence track use any recorder (Nero WaveEditor, SoundTrax, even Windows SoundRecorder). I dont think the format matters, nero will sort that out. My track is silence.mp3 (51kB). Just drop it in as the last track on your CD.

(I would have attached my silence file but I don't know how! Suggestions?)

Have fun,

Am I lazy or do I just like an easy life? (Barbecue mods)

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 14 Sep 2007 21:30:41 GMT

Hi,

I love good food. "Me too!" I hear you say. I also like a bargain. What do you think of this barbecue mod?

I bought the model without the large ash catcher, saved money! And added this super big ash cacher thanks to a friend in my local espresso joint. Bigger and better than the "Gold" model and I only have to empty it every ten barbecues.

Anyone interested in vegetarian (or other) barbecue recipes?

Adding a custom icon to your USB key

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 14 Sep 2007 21:08:53 GMT

Hi,

I have several USB keys and two USB drives that I use regularly. They all look roughly the same when they are plugged into a PC but it is possible to add a drive icon so that you can see instantly which one is which. In the attached clip from my folder list you can see, the E: for eye drive (a CD) has an eyecon, the F: drive is F for Fender Jazz Bass, the "n" for nero is a USB stick that I got from Nero, and the H: MyDrive icon is a picture of me.

All I am saying is you can choose any subjec t you like if it fits in 16x16 pixels. I have found that this works with Windows XP and with Windows 2000 most of the time. It works with USB stick, USB hard drives and the eyedrive is actually the same technique but applied to a CD (burnt with nero of course!).

So, how does it work and how do you do it?

If you have a file named Autorun.inf in the root of the USB drive or CD, Windows looks at it when the drive is mounted. If you have an entry for an icon Windows will look for the file and load it as the icon for the drive.

First make your custom icon (.ico) file, this is just a very small picture file and there are loads of bits of software that can help you do that, try Googling on "ico icons edit". For example, I used the freeware IcoFX to make a 16x16 icon with Trucolor for the eycon.

Create a directory in the root of the drive called Autorun and put the icon file in the directory. (It is a good idea to make the directory read only and hidden to prevent it inadvertantly getting changed.)

Now create the Autorun.inf file in the root of the drive. It should contain something like the following where MyIcon.ico is the name of your icon file.

[autorun]
ICON=AUTORUN\MyIcon.ico

The next picture shows the contents of the file for the example icon file shown above.

With these in place the next time you mount the drive (insert your USB stick) it should show your customisation.

Have fun,

Converting a video to play on a SmartPhone, e.g. Nokia N73, with Recode2

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 07 Sep 2007 17:59:44 GMT

This tip shows you how to make a video for a phone that can play MP4 format.

First open up Recode 2 and select Recode DVDs and Videos to Nero Digital.

Next click on Import Files and select the file you want to encode from the browser.

You can use various kinds of source files, e.g. DVD files, video camera files, avi, mpg, mp4, etc.

Double click on the file name or press the Add Title button then close the browser or add another file to the compilation.

Select Nero Digital in the Nero Digital Category drop down and Portable as the Nero Digital Profile.

To reduce the amount of phone memory needed: uncheck “Fit to target” and move the Video quality slider to the left until it shows between 280.0kbps and 320.0kbps. The higher the number the better the quality, the lower the number the smaller the file and the less memory you will use.

Now to prepare for the screen size of the phone. The N73 has a screen with 320 pixels wide and 240 pixels high. To change the resolution press the “Video” button and select the Resize tab. Click on Custom Resize and enter 320 wide and 240 tall.

Recode removes blank borders from your video automatically (Cropping). Sometimes you can do an even better job by selecting the Crop tab and Custom Crop and making adjustments yourself.

When you are finished making adjustments click OK

If you have unwanted video at the start or end of your film use the Trim button to remove it.

Now, you are all set to burn, click Next to go on to burning the file.

Under Burn Options choose Hard Disk Folder and browse to where you want to save the video.

Under Nero Digital Settings select expert mode and under Quality/speed change Performance/Quality to Normal.

Now you are ready to burn. When you are finished you can cancel saving the log, click next and view your creation in Showtime

Nero in VMware

MyNeroUserWithNicknamezingzog@nero.com (zingzog) — 04 Sep 2007 21:22:54 GMT

I installed Nero in a VMware virtual machine yesterday and finally got round to trying it out this evening. I have used VMware CD devices for reading CD before (not surprising) but, I wondered how I could make use of a DVD drive for writing.

I was successful in using a CD device connected to a Plextor PX-712A DVD writer to write a DVD but it seems to work better (faster) if connected as a SCSI device.

Remove the DVD writer as a CD device and connect it to the VMware machine as a generic SCSI device as follows: from the main VMware menu choose VM>Settings>Hardware>Add - Generic SCSI Device - CdRom0.

The device appeared in Nero as itself, i.e. Plextor etc.

I played safe by recording slowly (4x) but was surprised to see the verify running at 5x at the start to 11x at the end (always the fastest), so I may have been able to get away with a faster burn.

The files I used were on a VMware share and were cached by Nero before the burn. It would probably have been better to have had virtual disk space available and properly defragmented before I started (there was a lot of hard drive activity during the burn) but never the less all went fine and the verify was good.