EricBall's Tech Projects

That's a tough one.

 

Maybe this helps:

 

At some point, keeping game history is important. So, snagging the torrent isn't that big of a deal. If that stuff is kept hot, there will be times in the future where it's worth having around.

 

So then, buy one a month, based on what you play.

 

Seems that's an equitable trade and modeling that for your son at least sets some better expectations. If you don't play one much at all, then remove it and focus on what you do play.

 

The reality is if we completely followed all those rules, much history would be lost, and unplayable, untinkerable. That's not good for anybody really. On the other hand, completely ignoring the rules gets us less new stuff going forward. (maybe --that's not established firmly)

 

So then, the balance is most people doing the right things most of the time.

 

Ive shown my kids about that model. If it's newer, there are reasonable ways to buy it, so do that. If it's older, then arguably there is some slack, and it's all about enjoying some history. No sales, etc... and very little harm is done. If they feel bad about it, there is likely a problem, so pony up and do the right thing.

 

Early on a bunch of us were downloading quality rips rather than rip our own vinyl collection. Same sort of dilemma. Keep rebuying, or consider the investment made? We ended up settling on whether or not it adds value. Some of the re-releases were arguably better. Those warranted a purchase. Some stuff is not obtainable today. Get the rip, as the rights holder was paid. Interestingly, ripping some of the vinyl was just fun, so we did a little of that too. Again, most of the people doing the right things more than not, and I think it all kind of works.

I get what you're saying. The fact of the matter is - I have more games than time. Anything less than the current favorite doesn't get played much. Heck, I suspect the SNES games won't get played much anyway.

 

The history factor makes it much easier for me to play MAME with a clear concience - there simply isn't any way to buy 90% of the games in a way which will generate royalties to the original creators. The Nintendo stuff is much trickier 'cause it is available.

Interestingly, ripping some of the vinyl was just fun, so we did a little of that too.

I dunno about that. My wife and I did her cassette tape collection a while back and it was a lot of tedium. (Digitize, maximize, split to tracks, save to MP3, add ID3 info.) We also have a stack of LPs which I'd like to digitize, but cleaning up the recording (manually, using Wave Corrector, for highest quality) is hugely time consuming.

I dunno about that. My wife and I did her cassette tape collection a while back and it was a lot of tedium. (Digitize, maximize, split to tracks, save to MP3, add ID3 info.) We also have a stack of LPs which I'd like to digitize, but cleaning up the recording (manually, using Wave Corrector, for highest quality) is hugely time consuming.

I recently digitized a stack of LPs, but instead of cleaning up the recordings, I cleaned up the records, and left all the remaining noise intact. I figured, "hey - they're records, they are what they are". I actually still like hearing some of the crackle and rumble from time to time. Sure - a pristine CD from the original masters would be preferable, but unless I'm listening to real quiet passages using headphones, I almost never hear the surface noise. The only thing I'd clean up would be real loud "pops", but fortunately I didn't run across any. (Although I did clean up some 78s awhile back which were almost all surface noise. )

 

I highly recommend Last record cleaner. Good stuff.

Interestingly, ripping some of the vinyl was just fun, so we did a little of that too.

I dunno about that. My wife and I did her cassette tape collection a while back and it was a lot of tedium. (Digitize, maximize, split to tracks, save to MP3, add ID3 info.) We also have a stack of LPs which I'd like to digitize, but cleaning up the recording (manually, using Wave Corrector, for highest quality) is hugely time consuming.

 

Yeah that's a labor of love for sure. We used SoundForge, 24 bit sampling, diamond eliptical needle, SHURE cartridge, well balanced turntable, direct drive.

 

The best was filling in waves with the pencil tool. If you extrapolate from the surrounding audio forms, you can get it so close, it's not even funny.

 

Took a lot, but a few of those recordings are just excellent. S/N is better with digital, but there is a flavor to well pressed vinyl that's just nice. Plus, a really great 12" single, well mastered is really punchy! It's hard to explain. The media delivers 70 - 80 db, but it can do volume changes, raising the overall level up and down. On very low notes and some passages where they choose to push it, I found 16 bit audio not roomy enough to capture it. Sucks on the down sample from 24 bit too. So, I've got the things downsampled and they are great, but the really good sound remains in 24 bit. Can DVD audio, or something do that?

 

I find cassettes worse actually. Good Vinyl is either spot on, or has a pop or something, assuming it's not worn to the point of ruin. Tapes are just a mess throughout! Ugh...

 

Totally wouldn't do it for a huge number of recordings. That's part of why it made sense to just go P2P, snag good rips where it wasn't going to matter, then do the great tracks by hand.

I dunno about that. My wife and I did her cassette tape collection a while back and it was a lot of tedium. (Digitize, maximize, split to tracks, save to MP3, add ID3 info.) We also have a stack of LPs which I'd like to digitize, but cleaning up the recording (manually, using Wave Corrector, for highest quality) is hugely time consuming.

I recently digitized a stack of LPs, but instead of cleaning up the recordings, I cleaned up the records, and left all the remaining noise intact. I figured, "hey - they're records, they are what they are". I actually still like hearing some of the crackle and rumble from time to time. Sure - a pristine CD from the original masters would be preferable, but unless I'm listening to real quiet passages using headphones, I almost never hear the surface noise. The only thing I'd clean up would be real loud "pops", but fortunately I didn't run across any. (Although I did clean up some 78s awhile back which were almost all surface noise. )

 

I highly recommend Last record cleaner. Good stuff.

 

There is a lot of merit to this. Last Record Cleaner is good stuff! For years, a friend and I have shared a very large vinyl collection. He's got it now, and that's cool. I don't have the setup for it, or the room. Anyway, there are a few bottles of "Record Lube" left, purchased in a 20 pack on deep discount. You clean the record, then apply the lube, then record, then clean your stylus. Amazing stuff! Have never seen it anywhere since.

 

Anyway, there is a lot to just getting a good snapshot of the vinyl. The little bit of noise and pops really can add to the flavor of some music.

 

78s are tough! I've only done one, and it was a home recording of somebody singing into one of those record grinders. The original recording quality wasn't all that bad. Problem is after a few plays on the heavy handed turntables of the time, the noise rises with each pass. When I got it, the vocals were 10-20 db well below the noise peaks, but still above the average. Just enough to recover, but it took days. Ran noise profiling software, did cross mixing, drew a few bits by hand, and just notched all over the place. The result is maybe 20 - 30 db S/N max, with 5 - 7 Khz of overall bandwidth left. Bandwidth was probably close to the original quality of the home recorder. Noise is still worse.

 

Was enough to make my wifes mother cry though! She could hear him after the cleanup enough to be moved, but not before.

 

I'll never, ever do another one of those.