This tutorial explains the steps required to record from a turntable, restore the audio, and split the recording into tracks so it can be burned to a blank CD.
Unless your turntable has a built-in amplifier or a headphone output, you'll need an external amplifier, receiver, or preamp to boost the turntable output. The figure below shows all the connections required. You may need two RCA cables with male connectors and a RCA to 1/8" mini-plug stereo Y-adapter cable.
If you have not connected your headphones or speakers to your computer, do so before proceeding.
Step 1
Connect the turntable output to Phono-in on a receiver or to the input
of a preamp, as shown.
Step 2
Connect the receiver or preamp audio output to the light blue
Line-In socket on your computer. It is marked with an arrow pointing
into the rings, as shown.
Make sure you connect to the correct socket on your computer. If you accidentally plug the receiver/preamp output into the computer's speaker socket you may damage the hardware. Connect your speakers or headphones to your computer first.
Step 1
Take some time to thoroughly clean the album and carefully inspect and clean
the stylus.
Also review the information about avoiding Noise.
Eliminating noise before it is recorded saves a lot of restoration
work later and gives much better quality in the end.
Step 2
Run GoldWave, then press the F11 key or use the
Options | Control Properties
command, then select the Device tab. Make sure the correct
playback and recording devices are selected. A "line" or "input" recording
device should be selected. Make sure that a microphone
recording device is not selected.
Step 3
Select the Record tab on the Control Properties
window, then check the
Monitor input on visuals box. This will activate
the visuals on the Control window so you can adjust volume levels
without having to record. If you cannot hear the input, turn on
recording monitoring in Windows.
Step 4
Adjust the recording volume on the
Device tab
(see Step 2 above) and go to the next step.
If you are using DirectSound mode, use the Volume tab to select and adjust the source volume. Make sure the correct Volume device is selected. It should be the same as the recording device on the Device tab. Check the Select box for the Line (or Line In) item. Make sure the volume level is at least 50 initially. Make sure no other items are checked as they could be a source of noise. Choose OK to close the Control Properties window so that all new settings are used.
Step 5
Play the album on your turntable to ensure that all the connections
are good and that the input level is set correctly. The Level Visual
in the Control window should occasionally touch the red region (see the
"Target" area on the horizontal meters in the figure below). If you
find that the Level Visual goes too high or never goes above the green
region, then adjust the volume as explained in step 4. The small rectangular boxes
on the far right of the Level Visual should not light during recording,
otherwise some clipping distortion may have occurred.
Note that the volume fader on the Control window changes the playback volume only. You must adjust the recording volume in the Control Properties window explained above.
If you get no activity at all, check all connections, make sure your receiver/preamp is turned on, and make sure the correct recording device and volume source are selected as explained in steps 2 to 4. Check to see if your amplifier or preamp has an output level control that needs to be adjusted.
Step 6
Set the duration of recording.
To have more control over the channels and sampling rate used for recording
and to stop recording after a certain amount of time,
use File | New to
create a new file with the channels, sampling rate, and duration required, then use
the Record Selection
button instead in the next step. Note that the recording device may not
support the sampling rate or channels you've selected.
Step 7
Click the red Record New
button or press F9 to start recording in
GoldWave. Start playing the thoroughly cleaned, dust free album on
the turntable. Press the red Stop Recording
button to stop recording when done.
Step 8
Play the recording to see how it sounds. If you are not satisfied with
the quality, make volume adjustments, re-clean the album, check connections,
etc. Close the file to discard the recording.
If you created a new file and used Record Selection, use Edit | Undo to undo the recording and start recording again.
When the quality is satisfactory, continue to the next step.
Step 9
Trim any leading and trailing silences by selecting the entire file with the
Edit | Select All command,
followed by the Edit | Trim | Silence command.
Depending on how noisy the recording is, a threshold of −30dB or greater may
be needed. Start with −40dB. If you still see flat areas on the ends of
the waveform, increase it to −30dB.
If the recording is very noisy, manual trimming may be required. To do that, use View | 10 Seconds. Right-click on the waveform to set the start selection marker to a position a second or so before the music begins. Click on the time line to start playback to check the position. Scroll to the end of the recording by using the scroll bar below the waveform. Right-click to set the finish selection marker at a position a second or so after the music ends (where the waveform goes flat). Use Edit | Trim | Both to remove the silences on either end of the selection.
Step 10
Save the recording by using the File | Save
command and providing a name for your recording.
Step 1
Use the Effect | Filter | Pop/Click
command to remove any pops and clicks from the recording. Use a
tolerance setting of 2000 at first. If you find that some pops/clicks
are still present, select a short
area of the recording where the click occurs then use the Pop/Click
filter again with a lower tolerance setting. Using a low tolerance
on the entire recording is not recommended since it may distort
some sounds, such as trumpet solos. Use
Edit | Select All to
select the entire recording when done.
Step 2 (optional)
Use the Effect | Filter | Smoother
command and select the "Reduce hiss" preset to reduce crackle and hiss.
Step 3
Play the recording to find a few seconds of silence where only
background noise can be heard. Select
about a second of that noise, then use
Edit | Copy to copy it to the clipboard.
Select the entire recording by using
Edit | Select All.
Use Effect | Filter | Noise Reduction
to display the Noise Reduction window. Choose the "Use clipboard" envelope
option. Preview the settings by choosing the Play button to ensure the
quality sounds good. If
you notice too much tingling or warbling, then lower the Scale setting
and Apply the settings while previewing. Choose OK to remove the noise from
the recording.
Step 4 (optional)
Use the Effect | Compressor/Expander
command and select the "Noise Gate 3" preset, then choose OK. This will eliminate
any remaining noise in the silences between songs.
Step 5
Use Effect | Filter | Equalizer
to display the Equalizer window. Experiment with the presets and adjust
the bands to boost or reduce bass and treble. Preview the audio until
you get the desired results, then choose OK to process the recording.
Step 6
Use Effect | Volume | Maximize Volume
and select the "Full dynamic range" preset, then choose OK.
Step 7
Save the restored recording by using the File | Save
command.
Step 1
Use Tool | Cue Points
to display the Cue Points window.
Step 2
Choose the Auto Cue button. On the Auto Cue window, choose the
Mark Silence button. Set the threshold to −40dB. Set the silence length
to 1 second. You may want to use a longer or shorter time
depending on how long the silences are between each song. Set
the minimum separation to about 1 minute (1:00). Use a longer or
shorter time depending on the length of the shortest song. Choose
OK to automatically set cue points at the beginning of each
song.
If no cue points appear in the list, choose Auto Cue again and increase the threshold (−30dB). If too many cue points appear, choose the Delete All button and use a lower threshold (−45dB) in Auto Cue. Note that if the album is a live recording with no silences between songs, you'll have to set cue points manually. Close the Cue Points window, then play the recording and use Edit | Cue Point | Add Cue Point to drop cue points at places where you want to split the recording into separate tracks.
Once cue points have been added, the Split File button becomes enabled.
Step 3
Choose the Split File button on the Cue Points window.
Provide a destination folder where each song/track will be
saved. Check the "Use CD compatible wave format and alignment"
box. Choose OK to create a set of track files for each
song.
Step 4
Use CD-R software to write the track files to a blank CD as audio tracks.
You can import the files into iTunes or Windows Media Player to use those
programs to burn a CD. Note that you cannot
just copy the files to the CD using Windows Explorer. That will
create a data track. Each song must be written as a separate
audio track.
End of Tutorial
GoldWave does not include CD burning functionality. Use separate CD burning software such as Windows Media Player, iTunes, etc.
Many CD Recording programs can write any type of audio file, but some require a certain file type and attributes. Standard audio CDs contain PCM signed 16 bit, stereo audio at a sampling rate of 44100Hz. To save a file in that format in GoldWave, first use Resample to set the rate to 44100Hz, then use Save As to choose the "Wave" type and use the Attributes button to select "PCM signed 16 bit, stereo" attributes.
To divide a long file into separate tracks, split it into smaller files as explained above.