New guy here

[tin ear]

Hi all. The board keeps asking me to say hello in your "introductions forum." Never could find that, so I'll do it here.

I stumbled onto this site mainly because I'm looking to digitize my vinyl LPs. Didn't take long to learn on the web that my laptop has a crappy sound card... You know the rest. Never as simple as it seems at first rush of enthusiasm.

I am floored by all the good info here, so much so that I've been speechless until now (and probably will be again while I look around). An astounding amount of info here.

About me:
receiver: Sony STR-DE985
DVD/VCR/CD: Sony SLV-D100
rem.: Sony RM-AV3000
front: KLH PR-950S (15" reflex)
cen: Sony SS-CN495H
sub: Sony SA-WM40
surr: KLH 45

Yeah, not great; certainly not geared toward the autiophile!
Biggest problem, I think, is my main speakers. May upgrade those when I get a new turntable (old tt buried under a pile of junk in the shed -- don't remember brand name). I always loved acoustic suspension spkrs for the tight bass; those fronts I have are boomy -- horrible.

Since the board wouldn't accept any profile info past where I refused to give my surname, I'll say here that I've been 'into' audio off & on for almost 40 years -- since I was 17 or so.

Anyhow, glad I found this site; keep up the good work! This is a great place to get lost lurking!

-Jon

[paul_pci]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you find it helpful. Someone around here should know how best to digitize LPs. And if you're thinking about upgrade (and let's face it-who isn't) we can walk you through different strategies, etc.

[Resident Loser]

Hi all. The board keeps asking me to say hello in your "introductions forum." Never could find that, so I'll do it here.

I stumbled onto this site mainly because I'm looking to digitize my vinyl LPs. Didn't take long to learn on the web that my laptop has a crappy sound card... You know the rest. Never as simple as it seems at first rush of enthusiasm.

I am floored by all the good info here, so much so that I've been speechless until now (and probably will be again while I look around). An astounding amount of info here.

About me:
receiver: Sony STR-DE985
DVD/VCR/CD: Sony SLV-D100
rem.: Sony RM-AV3000
front: KLH PR-950S (15" reflex)
cen: Sony SS-CN495H
sub: Sony SA-WM40
surr: KLH 45

Yeah, not great; certainly not geared toward the autiophile!
Biggest problem, I think, is my main speakers. May upgrade those when I get a new turntable (old tt buried under a pile of junk in the shed -- don't remember brand name). I always loved acoustic suspension spkrs for the tight bass; those fronts I have are boomy -- horrible.

Since the board wouldn't accept any profile info past where I refused to give my surname, I'll say here that I've been 'into' audio off & on for almost 40 years -- since I was 17 or so.

Anyhow, glad I found this site; keep up the good work! This is a great place to get lost lurking!

-Jon

...but what is an audiophile?...I used to be an audiophile, but along the way I discovered that label has a lot of excess baggage...If it sounds good to you, that's all that counts...never let anyone tell you otherwise...educate yourself and then decide.

But I digress (as I oftimes do)...Actually I find myself in the same situation...Vinyl and cassettes needing to be bitted and bited...I'm looking at a SONY CD recorder which may fit the bill...Their RC-DW500C @$300...Downside (to me at least) is that it's a 5-disc changer and the bells&whistles for the mechanics of that feature must compromise something, somewhere...I have to do a bit more investigation and there are some other units which may provide better performance, but the price jumps appreciably...gotta' look, gotta' learn...

jimHJJ(...good luck...)

[GMichael]

Welcome to AR Tin Ear. I'm sure you'll find all the info you can use here.

[bobsticks]

Good morning Tin Ear,
Welcome to the forum and great moniker. Yes it is a great place to lurk as there are many knowledgeable characters here from all fields. That notwithstanding, don't be shy. Jump right on in...

Cheers to you

[Resident Loser]

...I wonder what ever became of TinHere?

jimHJJ(...inquiring minds want to know...)

[tin ear]

Thanks, y'all for the kind welcome. I appreciate it.

but what is an audiophile?

Literally, I guess that would be me -- one who loves audio.
I guess I was speaking in the idiomatic sense though -- one who loves precise audio.
Hey, that err.. would be me, as well. I ain't got that, though.
My opinion is that I might see a great improvement by replacing my fronts. Haven't seriously shopped for speakers in 20 years. I like acoustic suspension, but I bought these KLHs because they were big, inexpensive, and have decent power-handling (I was single at the time ). Never liked them. The rest of the speaks are good enough for now as they are for HT, and I'm not much into TV anyway.
Am I a dinosaur for preferring acoustic suspension? Guess I'll head on over to the speakers forum and find out.
(Wish I could get these ads in the sidebar to work -- must be set up to work only on internet exploder.)

regards -Jon

[JoeE SP9]

It would seem that I'm a dinosaur also. I have sealed box (acoustic suspension) subs. In any case welcome aboard. There are as many opinions about speakers as there are people. Just trust your own ears.

[bfalls]

Welcome Tin Ear. First off, never apologize for your system. We all have our "Dream System" but don't always have the disposable income, or expertise to indulge ourselves. If your system sounds good to you, it's a good system. That being said, you have a lot of adventure coming your way persuing "your dream" and we're happy to provide our opinions about gear and sound to help you along. Hopefully, you'll appreciate and enjoy the journey.
I started with a Technics 40W receiver, a Sharp computer-controlled (RT-3388), and large Advent acoustic-suspension speakers. A very good system for it's time. You have a rudimentary system and the fact you are posting here says you are looking for better. My advice would be to start with good speakers. Over half of your total system dollars should be spend on speakers. Receivers come and go, depending on technology and taste. Spending major bucks here, without the advantage of upgradable software, can bite you in the butt when something new comes along. Speakers on the other hand will sound good even if the technology chanages. There are a lot of excellent speakers out there, let your ears guide you. Also follow the posts here to help you with proper media choices and auditioning tips (what to listen for).
I hate to "dis" Sony products (especially since I work for them), but Sony has good video products (TVs, DVD, CD, etc...), but they're not great for receivers or speakers. For receivers go with either Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon for mid/lower high-end (many reasonably-priced). Always buy speakers from a company who makes speakers. KLH is not a great speaker company, but are still better than Bose (at least they use dome speakers instead of out-dated paper tweeters). KLH does actually try to make good sounding, yet affordable speakers. Better reasonably-priced alternatives would be PSB, Paradigm, Klipsch, Warfdale, Energy... Ask around, there's no shortage of speaker recommendations here.
I hope this helps a little. Don't hesitate to PM me if you have questions or want to discuss audio.

[tin ear]

It would seem that I'm a dinosaur also. I have sealed box (acoustic suspension) subs.

Those sealed 12 inchers oughta liquefy bone, with Pink Floyd or EL&P cranked.

[tin ear]

bfalls:

I hate to "dis" Sony products (especially since I work for them), but Sony has good video products (TVs, DVD, CD, etc...), but they're not great for receivers or speakers. For receivers go with either Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon for mid/lower high-end (many reasonably-priced). Always buy speakers from a company who makes speakers. KLH is not a great speaker company, but are still better than Bose (at least they use dome speakers instead of out-dated paper tweeters). KLH does actually try to make good sounding, yet affordable speakers. Better reasonably-priced alternatives would be PSB, Paradigm, Klipsch, Warfdale, Energy...

No, you are right about the Sony, I think. All the Sony stuff was bought for HT mainly for the wife. I kinda like some of the soundfields, tho..

I wish I could kick myself for not buying an Onkyo when they first came out (read, cheap). The salesman was wild about it, but I wasn't having any of that. Bought a Sansui instead, which wasn't a bad choice, but I bet I'd still have the Onkyo (Sansui died). This was 30+ years ago.

Thanks for the speaker advice; I'll look into those brands. Yeah, the operative term here would be 'reasonably-priced'. Probably $500-600 the pair. Even less, if possible. I was thinking Bose 301s for $328/pair until I read your post, then checked out reviews of others.

appreciate your time
thanks, all who replied
-Jon

[likeitloud]

Welcome to AR. RL is right at looking at the RC-DW500. It makes great recordings,
and for a non-sacd unit, cd playback is excellent. It's in stores around $285. When
new 3yrs ago it sold for over $500. Again welcome.

Pioneer VSX1015TX
JBL Northridge E150 Powered Sub
JBL 4344 Studio Monitors(Front)
JBL L 19 (Surrounds)
JBL Cinema Vison CVCEN50 Center
JBL Northridge Satellites(Back Channel)
Pioneer Elite DV45A DVDA/SACD
Panasonic DVD F86K
Sony RCD W500C CD PLAYER/REC
Pioneer GR-777 Graphic Equalizer
AR Interconnects
Cobalt 14G Wire
Sanus Stands
XBOX 360

[JohnMichael]

[QUOTE=likeitloud]Welcome to AR. RL is right at looking at the RC-DW500. It makes great recordings,
and for a non-sacd unit, cd playback is excellent. It's in stores around $285. When
new 3yrs ago it sold for over $500. Again welcome.





Yes welcome to AudioReview and I have to jump on the bandwagon and recommend the Sony recorder. I have made some good transfers from vinyl to cd. I have also duplicated cd's I like to keep in the car. If they are stolen I am only out about 50 cents a piece. The duplicates are very easy to make with the synchro feature and they finalize automatically. The quality is good and easy to use.

[Worf101]

...I wonder what ever became of TinHere?

jimHJJ(...inquiring minds want to know...)

When I saw this guy's post I was sure it was the re-incarnation of TinHere... Wonder whatever became of that boy.

Da Worfster

[tin ear]

Sony RC-DW500

Thanks, all; I take a look at it. Good to have another option.

I guess I was thinking more along the line of getting a decent sound card like m-audio or something and ripping LPs to my computer (this, after the first stumbling block - learning that my computers have cruddy sound cards). I figured some post-rip processing would be needed to clean up noise from whatever has embedded itself in the old grooves.

Good to have another option though. Seems like I could rip straight to CD (I assume CDA format) with the Sony, then rip those CDs to WAVs or whatever without ever involving my sound card.

Meaning I wouldn't have to install and configure a new sound card - one of the worst things in the world IMHO.

If I am assuming correctly, then that Sony is sounding better all the time.

Thanks!

[musicoverall]

I'm with you on the LP-to-CD project. I thought I was mostly done with the exception of the few LP's I pick up each month but I just bought my neighbor's estate collection, consisting of over 2700 LP's. Luckily, he was as anal about keeping his LP's clean as I am. But since 2700 LP's don't come cheap, I've had to sell off some of my audiophile approved gear to afford them, including my nice planar speakers, tube monoblock amps and all the wire. I kept the turntable, natch! But I guess that now makes me a living testament to the old audiophile saying "The music's the thing" - which most of them tend to say when they've gone overboard on some audio mag-approved gadget.

I use the Marantz CDR-500 pro recorder and it's ADC is so good, I can't tell a CD-R from the original LP most of the time. I buy pro discs in bulk so they cost about 20 cents a piece. The recorder has been "updated" to the CDR-510 and the best price I've seen on it is $750. However, I previously owned a Pioneer recorder and while it did a good job on digital to digital copies, it sucked on LP's. Consequently, I use it to dub CD's when necessary and save the Marantz for vinyl.

Welcome to A/R! As Joe mentioned, you'll get about as many opinions as there are people around here. But we are mostly agreeable sorts, even when we disagree. So come on in and share the love!

[westcott]

Welcome to the forum.

There is a wealth of knowledgeable people here with skills in about every area, including audio and video.

I waited 42 years to get my dream system, so never give up hope.

Good luck and let us know what software and hardware you choose to do the tranfer from LP to CD. I would interested in the interconnects, as well. I have forgotten a lot of what I know about turntables but if memory serves me, you must be careful to make sure your receiver will work with the cartridge in your phono player. MM seems to be readily supported but others may take some work. Like I said, it all depends on how you go about the process.


I gave up on the process and just bought CD's to replace them. Just too much work, especially if you use software to reduce the pops and hisses associated with LP's.

[JoeE SP9]

Kudo's to you musicoverall. Your moniker truly fits you. Anyone who sells their tubes and planars to buy LP's truly is a music lover. On the bright side you can now get newer tubes and bigger planars.

[musicoverall]

Kudo's to you musicoverall. Your moniker truly fits you. Anyone who sells their tubes and planars to buy LP's truly is a music lover. On the bright side you can now get newer tubes and bigger planars.

Well, not for awhile! I can live with solid state forever if I have to but going back to box speakers wasn't done without some painful twinges. But when I pop those old Blue Note jazz LP's or Decca or DG classical LP's, I'm transported beyond the gear anyway.

Luckily, I had a second system (now my main system) that I listened to with some regularity so the transition wasn't as awful as it might have been. I have a Denon PMA-2000 integrated with the matching CDP and a pair of Sota Time Domain 1 speakers. Yes, THAT Sota. They used to produce speakers as well as turntables. They ran about $2K new back in the early '90's and their basic nature is gentle - their faults aren't glaring. The funny thing is that I mate this stuff with a VPI Aries turntable with a Graham Basic arm and Ortofon Kontrapunkt cartridge. My analog front end rules the roost now when it comes to desirability. I guess it's fitting though since I haven't played a CD now in over 2 weeks! Thank goodness the Denon has an MC phono stage built in! That was good thinking on my part when I bought it, as it turns out. Nice when things work out.

[Leo62]

Couldn't find the "Intro Forum" either so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lionel and I have been an audiophile for almost twenty years but have, in the past four or five years begun building a home theater system.

I have just bought a 46" Samsung 1080p television to join my Toshiba HD DVD player. I am one of those early adopters you keep hearing about so Ihave the klunky first-generation player that looks like a small tank and moves about as fast.

I also have a great pair of B&W DM603 floor-standing speakers hooked-up to a Rotel RSX-1055 surround sound reciever/processor.
I am a devotee of Monster Cable so I have their interconnects between just about all the components in my system.

Since I live in a relatively small NYC apartment, I don't really have room for a real 5.1 surround sound setup so I am doing the best I can with my current two-speaker setup. If anyone has suggestions on optimizing my system to take advantage of the new HD quality soundtracks on HD DVD's, please dish. I am currently using an almost "top-of-the-line" TOS link cable along with the digital bitstream option on my HD DVD player.

Is there anything I am missing? Is there any point to my purchasing a center channel speaker? I noticed that on my "King Kong" HD DVD, the dialog gets occasionally overwhlemed by the sound effects.

Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Thanks and I am glad to meet everyone!

[powerlord]

Nice to meet ya Tin ear,these guys are great here.So much info it's overwhelming at times but they seem to clear it up for us!

[westcott]

Is there anything I am missing? Is there any point to my purchasing a center channel speaker? I noticed that on my "King Kong" HD DVD, the dialog gets occasionally overwhlemed by the sound effects.

Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Thanks and I am glad to meet everyone!

Happy Holidays and welcome to our forum!

A center channel? YOU BET!
As you noticed, the dialog can dissapear without it. It also makes for a better home theater experience for everyone in the room. A two channel system works well with one listener in the primary listening position but others in the room will not get the same experience or if you move. It can really make the sound stage seem more realistic during a dvd. I may have suggested a sub too but living in an apartment may cause some friction with your neighbors.