Backing Up Vinyl

[admin_exported]

First I thought I'd share a little project I've started with all of you.

I'm sure I'm not the first to do this but I've started to back our vinyl collection up onto HDD and CD. (CD so that the music is portable and can be used on other system, in the car etc.) I've used a simple freeware programme called acoustica to do this and recorded the files in a lossless (WAV as it happens with each LP using about 500Mb) format. I've done a tiny bit of cleaning to remove some surface noise and rumble from the files but tried to keep them pretty much intact. (So far a small benefit is that Windows media player has fairly accuratly catalogued the files on the HDD of the PC. BTW so I can listen to more music as I type this.)

So I now have a growing collection of CD's taken from old vinyl. Some things that have struck me as I've done this. I'm amazed at the level of imperfection we clearly used to accept from vinyl pressings. I'm not talking recording quality here but manufacturing defects ("Sleeve marks" as we knowingly called them in the old days). Allowing for this how good the copies sound up against a lot of my "proffesionally re-mastered" jazz CD collection. (There is another subject here about how poorly some old stuff is "remastered")

Now a question has arisen - I'm going to run out of disc space soon enough and HDD being less than infallible devices I'd like to get a backup drive of about 500Gb or more that will stream my files directly (line level - not ethernet or wireless) to my sound system. It would be great if the Mag was planning a review of such devices soon but in the meantime does anybody have any thoughts on a suitable device? There is a nice little TEAC device I've seen but it's not sold in the UK nor is it planned to be according to TEAC.

 

[the record spot]

Have a look at the Maplin website - they have a Seagate (I think it is) external 750gb HDD for £50 or £60 (can't recall precisely). It's an extremely good price and worth catching IMO. Might get one for myself before too long.

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:Have a look at the Maplin website - they have a Seagate (I think it is) external 750gb HDD for £50 or £60 (can't recall precisely). It's an extremely good price and worth catching IMO. Might get one for myself before too long.

That's not what I was looking for. I want the drive to deliver the files directly to my Hi Fi system. I think they call them media servers. - thanks anyway.

 

[fr0g]

The Popcorn hour will do it.

...and what's the problem with ethernet or wireless. I can see that wireless could be prone to the occaisional dropoutplaying high resolution files, but ethernet is perfect.

(I am using squeezebox over ethernet).

 

[Anonymous]

fr0g:The Popcorn hour will do it. ...and what's the problem with ethernet or wireless. I can see that wireless could be prone to the occaisional dropoutplaying high resolution files, but ethernet is perfect. (I am using squeezebox over ethernet).

I am not expressing myself very well today. I don't neccessarily want to have the whole network up to play some music I've stored on an HDD. The drive will mainly be for back-up purposes to hold the files I've made from the vinyl. However I have heard of some media drives that will give you direct access to the files on the drive by connecting the line out on the drive to an amplifier line in. They also connect to the TV to give you some sort of file browser. I thought it would be useful, if having a party, to have have this type of drive to be able to create a playlist for the evening. (If nothing else it might be a bit greener.) Although I agree that streaming the files over ethernet would also do what I want and something like a Squeezebox would do the job.

 

[Pike900fish]

I too have recently purchased a software package for uploading my minidisc collection onto CD but I have done this via converting to MP3 files then burning onto CD for the car. It's not Hifi but for the car with some slight tone adjustment it's alot better than commercial radio and means I'm playing a lot of my old 7" singles which are now buried in the loft somewhere...Best £8.95 i've spent in ages..Good luck with your hardware quest and sorry can't help you with it.

 

[Clare Newsome]

welshboy:
Now a question has arisen - I'm going to run out of disc space soon enough and HDD being less than infallible devices I'd like to get a backup drive of about 500Gb or more that will stream my files directly (line level - not ethernet or wireless) to my sound system. It would be great if the Mag was planning a review of such devices soon but in the meantime does anybody have any thoughts on a suitable device? There is a nice little TEAC device I've seen but it's not sold in the UK nor is it planned to be according to TEAC.

Sounds like you need a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device! We did a round-up review of a selection of them in our September issue - you can find all the reviews online here.

 

[Anonymous]

" Sounds like you need a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device! We did a round-up review of a selection of them in our September issue - you can find all the reviews online here."

Hi Claire - yes I thought about NAS but as I said to a previous poster it means keeping the network powered up and you still need something like a Squeezebox to access the NAS. Im talking about something like the TEAC HD35 Movie see link here http://dspd.teac.de/index.php?id=1832&L=1

We are talking cheap alternative to Linn Majik or similar. Further research suggests both Lacie and Freecom have the type of device I'm thinking about. It's basically a HDD with a built in DAC and a simple system to allow file browsing/access via connection to a TV. (Bit like DVD recorders or PVR's with HDD have)

 

[Anonymous]

Appologies for bumping this but I am still hoping for an answer from smeone who has bought this type of kit.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Have you thought of looking at an Apple TV? They have their own 40Gb hard disk inside, will work with a NAS over wireless or wired networks (and the NAS can then be shoved somewhere inconspicuous), you can control them from a TV, and they have line-level outputs. And they are only 200 notes.

But to answer your question directly, I'm afraid I haven't used the type of item you are talking about. Sorry!

 

[professorhat]

Sounds like you want a Media PC, but they're not particularly cheap. I'm not aware of any device which has just a hard drive and a line out.
EDIT - scratch that, just done a quick search - how about this. They also do a 500Gb Version.

 

[professorhat]

I'm on a roll now, here's another.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:Sounds like you want a Media PC, but they're not particularly cheap. I'm not aware of any device which has just a hard drive and a line out.

EDIT - scratch that, just done a quick search - how about this. They also do a 500Gb Version.

Spot on Prof - the Freecom device is just what i'm talking about. Lacie do one as well as do Iomega. I think buffalo might do one also. I was hoping somebody might have bought one and could comment on it.