Spin
It Again v. 1.1 b20
Reviewed by Bruce Brandsma
Acoustica's "Spin It Again" is a very good, automated way of converting
a
vinyl record or tape recording into MP3, WAV, WMA or OGG files,
which can
then be recorded on a CD.
All you have to do is connect a record turntable to the computer,
with a
magnetic cartridge preamplifier in between them. This is because
a magnetic
cartridge does not have the impedance to match the computer input.
Follow
the onscreen written and verbal instructions.
Often the transcription is flawed with scratches, pops, or background
noises, or is too soft. All these problems can be handled. There
are
"Cleaning and Effect" presets. There are about 14 of them. They
include:
Clean anything, damaged Record, No Preamp Blues (You don't need
a preamp),
Vinyl De-Click and De-Crackle, Graphic Equalizer, and Acoustic Compression
(good for pepping up a low level source) to name a few. Many different
effects can be utilized simultaneously, fine-tuned and stored as
a special
effect that can be recalled again. Removing the clicks and noise
will make
the recording more pleasant, but you will notice a hollow sound
that becomes
more pronounced as the filter is increased. For some damaged recordings,
this is a small price to pay.
After recording both sides of the record, the next step displays
a wave
pattern showing all the different cuts separated and illustrated
in
different colors. Sometimes these separations aren't perfect, but
there is a
way to correct them, which is easy to master with a trip to the
help
section.
There is a "Preview" button that plays a little of the beginning
and then
the end of each track. With this feature, you can tell if the track
separations are in the correct places.
The next step allows you to give names to all the tracks. On this
screen are
places to type in Artist, Album, Genre, Year, Comments and a pre-numbered
place to name each track. All of this information is used to organize
the
file that the recording will be stored in.
The final step is to decide what format to file the recording under,
before
burning the CD.
There is a CD labeler mentioned in the software, but it must be
purchased
separately. Spin It Again can be purchased for $34.95 from
www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/
.
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