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Re: final scratch 2
From: DJ Satori The problem with "pitching" tracks very high and very low with CD's and the software is that the software keeps the tracks original pitch while speeding up and slowing down the rate of play. On a CD deck you don't actually have a pitch control, you have a playing speed control, since the CD Deck holds the same pitch that the track is recorded in, no matter how fast or slow you play it. Going faster means the CD deck has to drop out some of the bytes of information to squeeze a larger amount of data into a set playing time. Going slower means the CD deck has to literally "add" data to make up for a smaller amount of data trying to fit into a a set playing time. If it weren't for this "pitch lock" feature, they'd work just like turntables, and the sound quality wouldn't degrade at high and low speed rates. Literally, "pitching" on a turntable changes the true musical pitch of the playing record (a track in A Major can change into another key entirely). Relatively all the individual sounds are the same distance apart on a musical scale, but they are all moved up and down in true pitch by how you set the pitch control. It's convenient to think of "pitching" as a term that means matching the speed of two songs because hell, it is called the Pitch Control on a turntable. Problem is, it's not an accurate term when it comes to digital technology. S On 4/6/06, Scott Findley <lists@...> wrote: > > Both systems do WAV or AIF, And scratchlive (I think finalscratch > does it too) can play audio CDs as well. There was some speculation > that Scratchlive would impliment support for Apple's lossless > compression format a while ago, but I havent checked the boards > recently. If they did, I would definatly switch over to that format > in a heartbeat. > > Since I buy most tunes off of beatport these days I am somewhat > relegated to 320kbps mp3s. The quality isnt *bad* and certainly good > enough to play out with, but still, it aint no vinyl. It seems to me, > when you start pitching tracks up or down significantly is where > things get a bit iffy. Im not convinced that this would be 'fixed' > with raw audio @ 44/16 as the effects are similar on CD players. > > But, like I said, I think it would be wise to get used to it :) or > some form of digital distribution. > > > On Apr 6, 2006, at 1:27 PM, Matt wrote: > > > Thanks for the info.... > > > > Thats kind of what I was asking (but didn't actually say): If I > > know what > > I'm doing, as far as capturing audio and use a lossless format, > > should I not > > be able to capture the richness? > > > > Will FS play WAV files? Could I not just encode at 44.1kHz x 16 > > bits, and > > leave it as a .wav? Even at 10.1 MB/minute, 100 songs would only > > take up 5 > > gig(ish). With harddrive sizes going up, and harddrive prices going > > down, i > > have a near unlimited amount of space. > > > > Its really only the idea that everything will sound flat that stops > > me from > > picking it up......even at 192kbps, i can still tell the difference > > between > > MP3 and vinyl.... > > > > > > Still on the fence, but I can feel a lean coming on..... > > > > Thanks. > > > > M@ > > > > > > _____ > > > > From: DJ Satori [mailto:dj.satori@...] > > Sent: April 6, 2006 3:53 PM > > To: Matt > > Cc: techhouse@... > > Subject: Re: [Techhouse] final scratch 2 > > > > > > Well...I can explain that in just general terms of sound engineering. > > > > Vinyl albums have a frequency response of approximately 15Hz to > > 30,000 Hz > > (The ear can only detect 20 to about 20,000 Hz). The output level > > at each > > discrete frequency level is not constant however. Using 0 dB at > > 1000 Hz as > > a baseline, 30 Hz is almost 1.2 dB louder than baseline, lowering > > to -0.2 > > dB from 50 to 200 Hz, rising to +0.3 dB from 200 to 1000 Hz, then > > dropping > > off again after 1000 Hz from -0.2 dB at 2000 Hz to -4.0 dB at > > frequencies in > > excess of 15,000 Hz. This is what provides the "warmth" in sound > > to vinyl > > albums...especially the jump from 200 to 1000 Hz...the uneven > > balance of > > output levels at different frequencies. Just the size of your > > needle tip > > will change these figures too (as you go from a larger tip to a > > smaller tip, > > high frequency response improves dramatically.) > > > > A CD samples the overall output of a signal 44,000 odd times a > > second for > > each stereo channel, with a linear response from 20 Hz to 20,000 kHz. > > Because it's sampling up to a high frequency of 20,000, the sample > > rate of > > the signal has to be at least twice 20,000; so CD's picked 44,000 as a > > number that could contain the appropriate amount of data. The > > dynamic range > > of a CD can be over 90dB (quietest to loudest). > > > > While a CD's fidelity (meaning accurate playback of a recording) is > > higher > > than vinyl, it lacks the characteristic warmth of vinyl due to this > > flat > > frequency response. What sounds bass heavy on vinyl won't sound as > > good on > > a CD. Of course, that's where good mastering comes in, because you > > can > > replicate "vinyl-like" characteristics into a purely digital audio > > signal > > and achieve some of the analog "warmth" that's missing. > > > > As far as MP3's go, they use a "lossy" compression algorithm that > > averages > > sound signal over a certain period and uses this average to fill in > > the > > holes in time. e.g. say the output signal was a value of 64,000 at > > time 1, > > time 2 is missing, and time 3 is 32,000. The MP3 decoder will > > guess that at > > time 2, the signal was near 48,000. When you use a low bit rate MP3 > > (128kBps) you are lengthening the amount of real time between time > > 1 and > > time 3, meaning the decoder has to make and educated guess at what the > > changes are. Higher bitrates shorten the time period between > > guesses and > > actual signal values. The encoder and decoder are a lot smarter > > than simple > > averages however, I was just using an example above. Otherwise, > > playback of > > a MP3 is very similar to a CD in that it's frequency range and > > dynamic range > > are identical. > > > > So backing up, vinyl has a richness, which can be recorded to CD, and > > reduced with an MP3. The CD will keep the richness of the original > > vinyl > > sound and the MP3 will degrade it due to the loss of information. > > > > When producing music, it's better to use even higher sampling rates > > than a > > CD, especially when you are recording live music...48k samples a > > second > > minimum, 96k or 192k preferable. You can then use tools to impart > > a vinyl > > like sound to the recording, OR, you can use tools to adjust the > > track for > > dumping it to vinyl where you can preserve the fidelity of the > > track to the > > original level. > > > > Cheers :D > > > > S > > > > > > > Previous: howelin - " SF people : what's going on this weekend?" |