Recording experts: a question

[Dave W]

I received a CD from an an old acquaintance that includes 5 of his obscure old singles that were digitized from old 45s, not from master tapes. Problem is, the vocals on these 10 tracks almost sound like he's lisping. The old records weren't originally that way, so this is something that was done when the tracks were digitized.

From what I've read, this might be caused by too much de-essing. Is there any possible way to negate this effect now?

[Dave W]

(bump)

[ramone57]

I'm no expert by any means but ime, once something has been mixed down, it's difficult to un-do parts of the process.  hopefully you'll find some kind of fix.  be sure to let us know how it turns out.

[eb2]

It depends on how the 45s were recorded.  If it were on one of those USB turntables that are popular now, nothing can be done.  They are pretty f#cking crappy and have horrid cartridges.  Older 45s sound better when lifted with a good cart and a good needle.  Especially if they are older 60s 45s recorded in mono.  There is a right way and a wrong way, and if the signal was put on the CD via a newer turntable, you have to go find the original 45 and do it over.  I had a guy send me a CD of some old lps that he recorded on a USB Numark, and they went straight into the trash after I listened for about one minute.

[chromium]

I'm not an expert on this either, and there might be less tedious ways to go about this...  Assuming that re-sampling the 45s is not possible, one thing you could try is to dump the CD out to wav files (using MS Media Player, or equivalent) and use a software audio editor to go in and tactically isolate and process the problem areas - those spots where the de-essing might have dynamically EQd out too much of the vocal sibilance.

I have this little editor http://www.audioeditinglab.com/, and it allows you to visually isolate a problem segment in the audio and eq it, amplify it, etc...  It works great as a basic audio editor.

You obviously won't be able to get back sound that was filtered out of the original recording, but you could attempt to boost or shape what remains.

[Dave W]

Joe, I sent you a PM about this.

[Dave W]

It depends on how the 45s were recorded.  If it were on one of those USB turntables that are popular now, nothing can be done.  They are pretty f#cking crappy and have horrid cartridges.  Older 45s sound better when lifted with a good cart and a good needle.  Especially if they are older 60s 45s recorded in mono.  There is a right way and a wrong way, and if the signal was put on the CD via a newer turntable, you have to go find the original 45 and do it over.  I had a guy send me a CD of some old lps that he recorded on a USB Numark, and they went straight into the trash after I listened for about one minute.

These were recorded on good equipment, just had some overzealous EQ applied. Joe is going to listen to a couple of tracks and see if anything can be done.

I want to point out something about those USB turntables: the main problem isn't the cartridge or the stylus, it's the USB. An simple USB connection is apparently a big selling point, but a USB connection bypasses your computer's sound card. There's a circuit in line with the USB that acts as a sound card. Problem is, it's typically nowhere near as good as your sound card.

Solution: most of these turntables also have RCA outs so you can connect to your receiever. Go to Radio Shack and buy a Y cable with stereo RCA plugs on one end and a mini-jack on the other end. Use this instead to record through your sound card. Unless you have a really good USB turntable and a really crappy sound card, there should be a noticeable improvement.

The cartridges aren't audiophile at the $100-$200 price point for the whole turntable, of course. But they're decent enough if you record through your sound card.

[Pilgrim]

Cool!  I've had an Ion turntable sitting next to my computer for a year waiting for time to transfer some stuff - and I already have the audio cable. 

All I need is about 35 fewer projects...........