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PhonoPreAmp iVinyl (English) 

 

23 

 

9. Application Notes 

 

The 

Descratcher

 and the 

Denoiser

 are user-friendly audio-restoration tools based on an ex-

tremely effective signal-processing algorithm. In most cases, they automatically produce good 
results. To get the most out of these tools, especially when working with badly damaged audio 
material, use the following, practical guidelines:  

 

Create your recordings using the WAV file format and do not use any editing devices, such 
as limiters or compressors, before applying the 

Descratching 

filter. 

 

If the audio material you are restoring contains loud crackling noises, you can limit them 
during the digital recording process. We recommend recording various versions with dif-
ferent input amplification levels and comparing the results after carrying out the 

De-

scratching

 process. 

 

To avoid digital distortion, do not set the 

Declick

 and 

Decrackle

 parameters too high. When 

working with badly damaged material, we recommend finding a good acoustic compro-
mise between the remaining level of noise and the digital distortions that result within the 
signal. Make allowances when trying to improve hopelessly damaged audio sources, be-
cause even the best of tools cannot bring back the original sound where none is left. 

 

If the sound level and/or sound characteristic changes several times within a recording, 
you may want to split the original into separate segments, edit these individually using 
various 

Denoising

 settings and then normalize them.  

 

To avoid digital distortions such as whistling sounds and robot-like noises (

time aliasing

), 

do not set the 

threshold

 and 

reduction

 parameters too high. Start by using a moderate set-

ting by adjusting the 

noise print

 to just above the background-noise level (about 10 dB), 

and then increase the 

reduction

 parameter gradually. Finally, try determine the optimal 

correlation between these two parameters. 

 

The 

Analyzer

 can be a great help when optimizing the setting of the 

Denoiser 

parameter. 

During the 

Denoising

 process, it makes visible the influence that the noise print and the 

parameter setting have on the audio signal.  

 

If you find the output signal too quiet, increase the 

volume

 while watching the left and 

right sound-level bars. If the red range lights up at all, the volume is set too high and you 
have reached the so-called 

threshold range

, which can lead to audible distortions. 

 

Use the 

bass

 and 

treble

 sliders to increase (+) or decrease (-) the values of the bass and 

treble frequencies to achieve the tone that sounds best. Be aware, however, that setting 
the 

bass

 and 

treble

 levels too high increases the output signal volume level and in some 

cases can put it into the 

threshold range

. In this case, lower the 

volume

 slider until the le-

vel no longer reaches the threshold range (so that the red LEDs at the top of the level bars 
no longer light up). 

 

If you do not use the 

PhonoPreAmp iVinyl

 to record your audio material, the type of the 

sound card and the type of analog/digital converter it uses have an important influence on 

Summary of Contents for Phono PreAmp iVinyl

Page 1: ...English Manual Version 11 9 2006 ...

Page 2: ...cy of this docu ment The manufacturer reserves the right to change the contents of this document and or the associated products at any time without the provision of prior notice to specific persons or organizations The manufacturer shall not be held liable for damages of any kind arising from the use or the inability to use this product or its documentation even if the possibility of such damage i...

Page 3: ...ve but a Lot of Music 8 RIAA filtering 8 Shielding 9 Recording 9 Wav Mp3 or AP 10 Links 11 Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 12 1 Overview 12 2 First steps 13 3 User Interface 15 4 Recording 18 5 Rescuing Audio Material 19 6 Descratcher 20 7 Denoiser 21 8 Burning CDs 22 9 Application Notes 23 10 Contacting Us 25 11 Restoration on the Macintosh 25 Service at TerraTec 26 ...

Page 4: ...Vinyl provides useful background information on the LP recording medium as well as worthwhile information on the topic of digital restora tion on the PC The following description is based on use with a PC but can be applied to Mac use without modification Tip Don t forget to stop in at our website at http www terratec de There you can find regu lar software updates tutorials and instructions to ma...

Page 5: ...el at least 2 3mV standard moving coil MC pickups are not supported Sampling frequencies of 32 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz 96 kHz are supported Input capacity adjustable in three stages 100 pF 250 pF and 430 pF Filter function with high precision RIAA equalizer 20 Hz 20 kHz 0 4 dB Harmonic distortion 0 007 5 mV Signal to noise ratio 86 dB A EMC compliant aluminum case LED display for level and signal Bund...

Page 6: ...ks refer to the input level selector switch point Ground screw To prevent so called AC hum you should connect the grounding wire from your re cord player to the thumbscrew located on the connection side of the PhonoPreAmp i Vinyl This ensures that your record player is grounded through the computer USB jack for connecting to the computer s USB port The USB port is how the audio data digitized in t...

Page 7: ...connected correctly and is receiving an audio signal the signal LED is lit blue bottom Its brightness changes according to the strength of the input signal The peak LED red top lights if the signal level is too high causing overamplification For adjusting input levels see item regarding the Input level selector switch Input level selector switch Use this to select the type of input signal and how ...

Page 8: ...nto a high quality usable signal and then digitizes it all within the device The digital data are then copied straight to the computer through the USB port Now you can even archive your records on a laptop in comfort without having an unnecessary mess of cables lying around because the PhonoPreAmp iVinyl takes its power supply directly from the computer s USB port For those interested in the detai...

Page 9: ... your turntable if present also fits in with this topic This wire establishes an electrical connection between the turntable and the shielding to help prevent AC hum We ve got this one covered too The PhonoPreAmp iVinyl is equipped with an extra ground connection which passes completely through the device to the USB port and then into the computer This guarantees maximum shielding Recording Includ...

Page 10: ...ur usual burning software Wav Mp3 or AP All files are recorded by Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 in wav format The raw uncom pressed data of the recording are stored in this container format The advantage of this is that all of the song s audio information is available allowing it to be easily adapted or restored The disadvantage is the relatively large amount of space required as a result this...

Page 11: ...m us net You can also download the software at no charge from this site Links If you are interested in more information here are some of our recommended Internet links that you may want to check out We hope you find them useful and entertaining http fabdp fh potsdam de lehre studpro steffen record head head htm This site provides a lot of information on the history of the LP record http www aaanal...

Page 12: ...tware For the two editing modules Descratcher and Denoiser only two parameters need to be set to achieve optimal sound which normally takes only a few seconds to do You can adjust these settings with no trouble during real time playback Like wise you can adjust the volume and tone bass and trebles of the cleaned output signal to remaster dusty recordings Features Real time operation at 800 MHz or ...

Page 13: ...en tested with WinOnCD 3 6 to 8 0 EasyCDCrea tor 5 0 to 6 0 EasyMediaCreator 7 0 to 8 0 Nero 4 0 to 7 0 and Feurio 1 63 If a compatible CD recording application is found a dialog appears and asks you whether the found applica tion should be used for writing audio CDs Answer Yes if the application mentioned is your preferred burning program If a compatible CD recording application cannot be found v...

Page 14: ...audio material and be able to view the level control indicator In the Analyzer window the frequency profiles of the input and output signals are dynamically displayed as is the noise print You can pause playback with the button and rewind back to the beginning of the clip by clicking During playback you can restart playback at any position you like simply by clicking the position in the Waveform w...

Page 15: ...ile at the same time you can adjust the volume and the bass and treble levels using the sliders mentioned above Because the processor requirements of Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 are quite low you can optimize all parameters and simultaneously hear the results in real time while editing your tracks The editing area of Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 lets you listen separately to the noises ...

Page 16: ...le dialog with the button The sampling frequency of the output file corresponds to that of the input file 44 1 kHz or 96 kHz for ap files If converting these formats or converting the sampling rate for example from 96 kHz to 44 1 kHz always use a suitable high quality tool provided in your editing or sound card software Note that the functions Norm Split Track and CD only work with 16 bit 44 1 kHz...

Page 17: ...file Control Functions asks for a file name and opens the recording window starts playback interrupts playback returns the playback cursor to the beginning of the clip View Functions shows the entire audio material of the file zooms in on a length of about 20 seconds of the audio material ...

Page 18: ...he editing tools Clicking the button opens the Windows recording controls Click to start the recording The recording is written to the file in Red Book format 44 1 kHz 16 bit stereo wav or in an internal 96 kHz ap format Both formats can be edited directly with Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 To create an audio CD however only the 44 1 kHz 16 bit stereo wav format will do After being processed i...

Page 19: ...on The new audio material is loaded and displayed automatically To avoid mistakenly filtering a file that has already been filtered the bypass option is enabled automatically Optimization Use to find the positions having the highest peaks and check whether they are the result of pops or the normal audio material When you are completely convinced that the quality of the material is good you can rai...

Page 20: ...al The highest setting nearly 100 dampens the actual input signal In general this pa rameter can be set to 80 without resulting in any audible depletion of the original sound In some cases an extremely high setting even up to 100 can be used to improve the quality of the audio material To minimize the depletion of the original sound in the Descratching procedure you should listen very carefully to...

Page 21: ...ed the noise print used for processing the audio material white and the frequency band of the output signal after processing green can be viewed in the Analyzer window The noise print white indicates the threshold value beyond which no more noise reduction takes place You can move this noise print up and down using the threshold parameter You can also use this parameter to adjust the noise print s...

Page 22: ...l icon in the upper left corner of the Sound Res cue TerraTec Edition 2 1 window and select the CD Recording item The selected burner software is now linked to the button You can now send the current restored track from Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 on the burner software with a single click When you do so you are asked whether you want to add the audio file to the burner program s CD list Add...

Page 23: ...t these individually using various Denoising settings and then normalize them To avoid digital distortions such as whistling sounds and robot like noises time aliasing do not set the threshold and reduction parameters too high Start by using a moderate set ting by adjusting the noise print to just above the background noise level about 10 dB and then increase the reduction parameter gradually Fina...

Page 24: ... use a high quality conversion tool to reduce the files to the CD compatible sampling rate of 44 1 kHz Important note Sound Rescue TerraTec Edition 2 1 is a fast and effective tool You will be amazed by how much you can improve the sound quality of old records and distorted audio files However please do not expect any miracles when trying to restore material that contains gaps or jumps Once the si...

Page 25: ...ng owners This document is subject to change without notice This document may not be copied repro duced transmitted or otherwise recorded in full or in part without prior consent from Algo rithmix GmbH 11 Restoration on the Macintosh Of course the TerraTec PhonoPreAmp iVinyl hardware is also recognized by the Mac The pre requisite is a G4 System with OS X or later In some cases older systems may a...

Page 26: ...tly asked ques tions FAQ and a form for e mail support requests If you can t access our website please check the service request form that came with the pro duct for country specific helpline numbers with which you can contact our support team Regardless of whether you contact us by e mail or phone you must have the following infor mation at hand your registration number this documentation In addi...

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