With your computer, our software, and a CD-Recordable (CD-R) or CD-ReWritable
(CD-RW) drive, making your own audio CD is easy and affordable.
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REQUIREMENTS
- A multimedia Pentium PC.
- A digital audio editing program, such as AudioSurgeon or Record Producer
Deluxe.
- At least 64 MB RAM, and enough free hard disk space to store the recorded
files.
- A CD-Recordable or CD-ReWritable drive.
NOTE: Sound files are BIG! The wave audio files must be recorded in
16-bit stereo at 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Files at this setting
occupy 10.5 MB of hard disk space per minute of recorded sound.
PREPARE
You can record from your CD player, a microphone, or a line-level source.
If you use a line source outside the computer (such as a stereo or TV),
determine first if you have the correct cable to connect the output of the
source device to your computer's sound card.
The sound card's line input uses a 1/8" stereo mini jack (like the headphone
jacks found on portable CD players and Walkman players).
If you are going to connect to a home audio device such as a cassette deck
or line output from a stereo tuner, you will need a 1/8" stereo miniplug
that splits off into stereo RCA male plugs:
(available in the Accessories section on our Web site)
A S/PDIF input allows you to make direct, all-digital transfers from most
DAT recorders, CD players or other digital audio gear equipped with a S/PDIF
digital output. Please read our other articles on S/PDIF for more
information.
STEP 1 – RECORDING
1. In the Mixer (TOOLS > MIXER…), choose a recording source to accept input
from either the mic, line, or CD input from the Recording Control tab by
putting a check in the Select box.
2. Adjust the sampling rate to stereo 16-bit 44.1 kHz for CD and line
recording by clicking on File > New and selecting CD Quality.
3. Record a .WAV file. Press the Record button in AudioSurgeon. It will
now flash indicating that you are in Record Standby mode.
4. Leaving AudioSurgeon in Record Standby play a selection from the LP and
watch the LED-style level meters in AudioSurgeon. It is a good idea to
start with a piece that has a loud portion. This will allow you to set
the levels so that no part of the recording will overload.
The second red level indicator to the far right in the AudioSurgeon level
meters is the "0.0" mark. Digital recordings cannot go over "0.0" or
you will get overload distortion ("0.0" indicates "full scale").
If the audio level indicators stay lit at the end of the scale for too
long, your recording will probably come out distorted. On the other hand,
you want to see the yellow LEDs light up often, so that your recording
doesn't come out too faint.
Using the Mixer (TOOLS > MIXER…), adjust the Line Input level in the
Recording Control tab until you find a good compromise setting that keeps
the yellow indicators lit most of the time, but doesn't let the loudest
peaks go all the way to the red end of the scale.
5. Once you are satisfied with your recording levels, stop the LP or tape
and start the recording in AudioSurgeon by pressing the Record button
again.
6. Now start your LP or Tape from the desired point. You can edit out the
blank space at the beginning of the track after the recording has
completed.
If you have sufficient hard disk space, you can record the whole side of
the LP or tape as one long continuous file. Alternately, you can also
record one track at a time.
7. Stop the recording by clicking the Stop button in AudioSurgeon or by
pressing the space bar on your keyboard. You should now see the recording
displayed as a waveform in AudioSurgeon.
Note: Make sure the hard drive does not use any type of disk compression,
as this may cause skips in the audio.
8. Edit the file in the AudioSurgeon. Here you can adjust the volume, apply
fades, add echo and more. The "crop" function can automatically remove
"dead spaces" in the audio.
9. Save the wave audio file(s) to the hard drive File > Save.
STEP 2 – MAKE THE CD
1. IMPORTANT: Before you begin, shut off all screensavers, power-down options,
and virus protection software. It is also a good idea to defragment
the hard drive at this point before proceeding.
2. Place a dust-free, blank CD in the CD recorder.
3. Select Tools > Create CD. The Create CD dialog will come up.
From here you can select your CDR device and make decisions on CD-R speed
and cache settings and whether or not to run a test before writing your CD.
Tip! You should run a test before burning your first CD or after you've
made any significant changes to your system (i.e. installed new hardware
or applications).
Press 'Start Recording' to start burning the CD (or to test the CD burn
if you are in test mode).
NOTE: If you press 'Cancel' during the CD burn process, the CD will be
only partially 'burned' and will probably be useless.
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