VinylStudio for Mac

I am converting cassette tapes to digital with Vinyl Studio and it has been perfect. Works well on an older MacBook running 10.7. The only thing I would like to see in the future is a way to balance the left and right channels individually, as the output from my old tape deck is slightly uneven. I could probably fix this by running through an amplifier... This program is easy to use, very handy to have the track names in place with the breaks approximated by the program reaching out to music databases. Precise editing of the space between songs is very easy, as well as trimming the end of the recording (so you don't need to be right on top of it). If you have more than a few tapes or records, this is well worth the money.

Interface could be a little more Mac-like and more modern, for this reason I only give it 4,5 stars. The ability to get Discogs info and cover directly is a huge time saver. Am currently digitising my vinyls using a SONY PS-HX500 turntable, very easy, will hopefully be done in a year or so if I do a few each day;0)

Many thanks to the developers for this. Now that I've been using it for a while, and have got used to where the important things are, ripping vinyl is a real pleasure and the results are great. The interface isn't mac-like. At first it's not obvious where you need to go and what you need to press. It has a bit of a learning curve. It does have a lot of dialogs and balloon help (which frankly all gets a bit overwhelming until you find out how to turn some of that off) but I'd rather have less help and a more intuitive interface. But that is the only criticism I can make. It does what it does really well. I'd been using Sound Studio but hadn't managed to find a 'plugin' click filter (I hate the pops and crackles you get with vinyl). I tried VS for its 'cleanup' features and was blown away by the result. It really does turn a crackly recording into a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Even though I was only concerned about the filtering, I do enjoy the workflow too now that I've got used to where the important features are (normalisation was really difficult to find, and why do I need to go to 'save tracks' and uncheck the last album that I ripped and check the current one before I can apply the normalisation?) Features like the needle up / down detection and the track lookup (which you can do while recording the music) all make the process enjoyable. Incidentally, you still need to tweak the track breaks, but to have them put roughly into place and to have the tracks named for you is all time-saving.

Release Notes: In V8.2.3: Clipping was not being reported while recording with certain hardware. This is now fixed. (taken from the install log whilst installing the update) -Enjoy

You know there is a time in our lives, where you reach an a pithiness in your life where you know one of those few times everything went like clockwork. I was blessed with the few that happened to me. It was at the end of my writing career and I went out with a bang! I started with an article that I thought would take one issue but became a 3 month article on how to get your Tapes and Albums onto Macs. It was called: Got Vinyl. This guide hit like gold when part one came out back in 1003 or so under my column it grew to a comprehensive step by step way on how to do it from A-Z. I got an e-mail from an Australian who wrote mounds about how to do the process and made the who process in laymen words. Which is the style I write in. Now, when I started I first had to learn audio terms and understand them. Then input methods to connect you Mac with and software to use. It could be read by first timers as well as seasoned users. I will leave the rest of process for you to read. Now the reason for this Rant is that VinylStudio is one of the first shareware items that can rival Amadeus Pro. This program is a great way to go. If you had both in your Library of Apps, plus Soap to do the final cleaning. To find this article go to: atpm.com then click on the archives, then go down the left side at the columns and select Whats Under the Hood and then Got Vinyl and enjoy. With the use of my How-To plus VinylStudio you should come out with great results. Don't let the age of the article fool you, products may change but, the method does not The only this I did not discuss was Fiber Optics since they were not up to speed then.