The best software to Record Recording (LP's, 45's, cassettes)

[sportsfann46]

Can anyone recommend a good program to record records, copy (import) previously recorded records to the program, tag the recording with title, artist, release date, genre, etc.... Additionally, is there a program that will either let you set the sound level, adjust the sound level, or copy all recordings at the same sound level to eliminate fluctuations in sound quality.

What exactly do you want to record?

[sportsfann46]

I have about 8,000 records (LP's, 45's, cassettes) that I want to copy to my computer. I currently use an old version of Musicmatch and I am finding that when I record a song from a CD and record a song using line-in that when I listen to the songs, the volume levels are too erratic and need adjustment.

I want to be able to record the records and control the incoming recording volume. I also want to be able to run a program that will adjust the volume of all the songs I have recorded to a constant level.

Anyone know something that is easy to use and does the above. Also chime in if you know what NOT to use.

Replay Music can record audio from your sound card. It can also split and tag songs automatically. The more popular the song is the more chances that it can be identified and tagged. Replay Music has has a volume slider in its settings.

You can also record with freeware Audacity. It is a very powerful sound editor. You can use it to normalize volume, remove noise such as crackling. The program is very good, but requires lots of manual work.

Note that when you normalize the volume, you usually lose some quality. If you plan to listen to your music on your PC only, you can record sound as is and then use audio normalization function of music player software.

Replay AV can also split files when there is dead air. It can't tag files automatically though.

[sportsfann46]

I thought that Audacity was used more for editing songs after they were recorded. Not actually recording the song. Also, I do not think that Aucacity can import a music library as is with all of the song identifications, such as: artist, title, genre, rating system, lead singers, date released, and date recorded. Additionally, I do not beleive that it can review an entire library and normalize volume.

My volume problems come only when I copy my recorded LP's (via line in) to an MP3 player or CD, not when I copy my CD's to the MP3 player. (The line in music sounds as if it is muffled, the CD's and cassettes are fine. There just isn't any volume to it and it is such a drop off from the other music that it is irritating,). when I listen to music back through the computer, it ALL sounds normal.

Can Replay Music record from line-in (record player to receiver, receiver out to line-in computer) and do the other things as detailed above?

Originally Posted by sportsfann46

I thought that Audacity was used more for editing songs after they were recorded. Not actually recording the song. Also, I do not think that Aucacity can import a music library as is with all of the song identifications, such as: artist, title, genre, rating system, lead singers, date released, and date recorded. Additionally, I do not beleive that it can review an entire library and normalize volume.

You can record the whole album in Audacity and amplify with it (it has the Normalize and Amplify features, but I don't really know which one is the right for you, or whether there is a better Audcity Effect that can be applied). Then you can save the whole album as an MP3 file and split it with mp3splt. The latter program can split MP3 files losslessly... although I don't think it can split automatically. Then you can tag your files either manually or with some auto tagging software.

Originally Posted by sportsfann46

My volume problems come only when I copy my recorded LP's (via line in) to an MP3 player or CD, not when I copy my CD's to the MP3 player. (The line in music sounds as if it is muffled, the CD's and cassettes are fine. There just isn't any volume to it and it is such a drop off from the other music that it is irritating,). when I listen to music back through the computer, it ALL sounds normal.

Can Replay Music record from line-in (record player to receiver, receiver out to line-in computer) and do the other things as detailed above?

I recommend to download a free demo version of Replay Music and test whether it can amplify your music tracks to the level you need, whether it can split and tag your music tracks.

Also please note that the quality of your recordings depends a lot on a sound card that you have and even a cable that you use to connect your receiver and your sound card.

I've contacted the developer, so I can confirm that it should work:

The latest version of Replay Music can already do all those things.

To record from a line-in source you just need to go to Replay Music's settings and under the "Input" tab in the "Input Source" drop down list and select a line-in option. The options in this drop down list are dependent on the capability of your sound card.

Replay Music also has a normalize option that allows you to record all your audio to a constant volume. This setting is found under the "Output" tab in Replay Music's setting.

You can also normalize already recorded files by right clicking in the track list box and selecting "Import Mp3 files" and then selecting all the files you wish to import. Once the tracks are imported, select the files in the track list box and then right click and select the "Normalize Track(s)" option.