PM received from GROOVY DANIEL regarding the painstaking process utilized to successfully transfer the QUADRADISC of the Average White Band's debut album to a digital medium:
Ralph, please post a positive review. You absolutely have my permission.
I’m really glad you liked it. It sounded great to me but I’ve been listening to it clinically for so long I’ve lost objectivity. I’m a “quadraphile” music lover who studied to be a recording engineer, but it’s nowadays just a hobby. I have a mini studio in my basement. The process is still evolving, but it goes like this:
1. Wet vacuum the Lp;
2. (For Warner/Elektra-Asylum/Atlantic titles that are always pressed off-center) Enlarge the center hole with a pair of scissors and then manually adjust the LP so the grooves are perfectly centered;
3. Digitally capture the playback at 1/2 speed using a conventional phono preamp, at 96kHz, 32 bit sample rate;
4. Within the digital domain, correct phase anomalies; de-click; de-crackle; re-sample the file to 192kHz, 32 bit sample rate (to make it normal speed); and apply RIAA curve adjustment EQ to correct 1/2 speed capture;
5. Play the file through a digital to analog converter, through an inverse RIAA preamp, to an outboard CD-4 demodulator;
6. Digitally capture the decoded 4 channels at 48kHz, 32 bit sample rate;
7. Within the digital domain again, apply various noise reduction tools to eliminate both vinyl and demodulation noise artifacts;
8. Tastefully and carefully process the file using an exciter to restore the “life” lost due to digital processing;
9. Apply EQ to duplicate to the extent practical the sonic signature of the best available recording (generally the most recent commercially remastered CD);
10. Scrupulously listen to each channel of each track for sonic aberrations. Check the aberration against the commercial CD to ensure that the “aberration” is truly a vinyl/CD-4 aberration and not something knowingly left in the master recording. If a true aberration, use digital software to correct. If correction isn’t possible, cut and paste a patch from elsewhere in the track, or from an adjacent track, or if all else fails from the stereo CD. Repeat until perfect.
11. Final EQ and listening tests.
It’s a very time consuming process that would make purists shutter. But it’s a labor of love. A lot of folks think analog is sacrosanct and LP playback should be presented naturally and uncorrupted. Bollocks. Although we all have fond memories of turntables and groove-drops, the truth is the LP is inherently sonically compromised, and you need to work the heck out of it to bring it up to modern expectations. I’m guessing that’s where the Rick Wakeman transfer fell short.
KUDOS, again, to Daniel for the blood, sweat and tears involved in this process. The results certainly speak for themselves! My post #4082 above reflects my appreciation of his efforts.
