"Vinyl Rules!" <timbritt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:fotrl202kdv@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Feb 9, 11:17 am, squirr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
>> I've just acquired a Pro-ject Debut III and Pro-ject Speed Box whose
>> sole purpose will be to sit near a PC for digitizing purposes. I need
>> a not-too-expensive RIAA preamp to connect the turntable to the M-
>> Audio card in the PC.
>>
>> The leaders in the clubhouse are the Project Phono Box II (~$125) and
>> the TDL Tech 403/409 (~$200). I'm leaning toward the TDL because the
>> (fixed) gain in the newest Phono Box may be a little too high for
>> recording purposes.
>>
>> Any comments on either of these devices or recommendations for
>> alternatives?
>
> I like the idea of a used vintage pre-amp as you can incor****ate it
> into your stereo or A/V system if needed and likely have a much better
> preamp than comes in most A/V receiver today.
>
> However, since you are going to archive your vinyl, please let me
> gently suggest you DO NOT ARCHIVE on CR-R or CD-RW media: Archive on
> an external hard drive, and keep your vinyl in climate controlled
> storage.
Archive? I'd expect that anyone going to the effort of transferring vinyl
to a digital medium isn't doing so to "archive" the vinyl...the vinyl
itself
is far and away the best means to "archive" that audio. The real point to
this transfer is to allow playback on ****table devices (iPod, ferex), not
as
an archive.
> Why? Because virtually all consumer CR-R's and CR-RW's use a "dye-
> sublimation" process to burn the pits into the disc.
I don't wish to seem rude here, but it really bothers me when someone
displays their ignorance in such an egregious manner.
JFGI.
http://www.imation.com/products/cd-r_media/la_cdrw_technology.html
"In a
CD-R, the recording layer is made with organic dyes - greenish cyanine
dye,
golden phthalocyanine dye, or silver-blue azo dye, depending on the disc
manufacturer. While there are differences among the dyes, the differences
are probably most im****tant to chemists, not to CD-R users. Each dye's
quality is such that which dye is used makes no difference for disc use
and
life.
The laser of your CD-R/CD-RW drive heats the dye to a temperature of about
200° C, irreversibly melting a pitted pattern into the recording layer. A
plastic layer alongside the dye expands into the newly available space,
creating a pit pattern similar to that of a conventional CD. Your CD
player
reads this highly reflective pattern for playback. Because the plastic
layer
melts into the dye layer to set the pattern, CD-R discs cannot be
re-recorded.
CD-RW Technology
Unlike CD-R discs, a CD-RW disc can be reused - in fact, up to 1,000 times
with current discs, and perhaps even more with upcoming media
improvements.
However, older computer CD drives and audio CD players cannot read CD-RW
media.
In a CD-RW disc, the recording layer is made of an alloy of silver and
other
metals - indium, antimony, and tellurium. Out of the case, this layer has
a
polycrystalline structure. When you record to the CD-RW, your CD-RW
drive's
laser selectively heats tiny areas of the recording track to a temperature
above the layer's melting point (500 - 700° C) - a much higher heat than
the
laser in a CD-R recorder can reach.
The energy delivered by the laser beam melts the crystals in the heated
areas into a non-crystalline phase - also known as "pits." These pits
reflect less light than the remaining crystalline areas, creating the
playback pattern for your Multi-Read CD-ROM drive or specialized audio CD
player."
> This means the
> laser is burning pits into a coloured dye substrate layer, not a
> metallic aluminum substrate layer that is used in commercial CD's and
> DVD's.
>
> No computer CD or DVD burner has a laser powerful enough to burn pits
> into aluminum, so the industry adapted the "dye-sublimation" process
> for the low-power lasers used in consumer burners to burn pits into a
> layer of coloured dye.
>
> But, and this is a BIG BUT, this dye, over time, will run back
> together and the pits you have burned in your disc will disappear. The
> Smithsonian Institute was one of the first to get bitten by this when
> they began archiving crumbling wax cylinder and shellac disc media
> some years back onto regular consumer CD-R's. Now, virtually all of
> these CD-R's are unplayable, and in some cases the media they were
> recorded from was damaged beyond repair during the recording process.
>
> Some manufacturers claim to sell 100 year archival CD-R's, but I would
> take their claims with a grain of salt. As old as the vinyl format is,
> no one has yet to develop a longer-lasting format if the LP's are kept
> clean, dry, and in a low-humidity environment. And commercial CD's and
> DVD's made with an aluminum substrate layer also probably have a long
> life-expentency.
>
> So were I to undertake such a project, I would not even bother with
> the CR-R's or DVD's you can buy in any of the office stores - I would
> look for an external big hard drive to use to archive onto, and I
> would then back up it's information on another external HD just to be
> safe. And I would keep my original media.
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