Thank you!!!! That helps a lot! I will start playing with it to see what I can do!

Equalization is where you change the "tone"... the 'treble' and 'bass' knobs on amplifiers are a simple form of eqaulizers. I am sure audacity has some sort of equalization setting. You would want to aim toward increasing the mid-range frequencies where the voice register is at, and lower the bass and higher treble frequencies to reduce noise. Compression is where you decrease the sound between low volumes and high volumes.... you would increase the overall volume by compressing and increasing the volume... this can be, however, somewhat destructive to the audio, so you would take special care when making changes (so always keep your original file that was not messed with). "Normalization" is when the recording is analyzed by the computer to find the loudest spike in volume ("peak"), and it raises the entire volume of the recording to where the peak is at the loudest possible volume before distortion. It may not be necessary though, if you raised the overall volume during compression.

thank Tim!!! I am going to check out soundsoap. Also, can you tell me what you meant by 'equalize' the audio and by 'compress' and 'normalize'?? Ahh, showing my ignorance!!

Diane, Well, first, record it exactly as you have done and keep & archive the file(s) containing that recording(s) [use this as a master copy]. Then you can import those files into audio programs containing cleaning filters such as SoundSoap, which is an external program (that also has a plugin that allows it to be used within certain other audio programs). There may be other noise reduction programs. It allows you to tune out as much of the scratch as you can without losing too much of the audio that you need. Also, equalize the resulting audio to emphasize voice frequencies. Then compress the audio as you wish, and normalize the result.

Finally got my 78 stylus and started recording some of the records with audacity!! Amazing!!! Some of them have such loud whooshing sounds compared to the voice - particulary those of my father as a child. Can anyone tell me if there are specific settings in audacity that I need to use when recording to help with this??
Thanks a bunch!

I recently pulled out my dad's record recordings. They date back to 1941. They played clearand crisp. Found some historical recordings of heads of states. Some were recorded at 78 rpm along with 33.5 rpm. Playing them on the original Presto K8. Looking to buy a new player to preserve the original.

The Dell laptop does have a USB data port; however, I did a little searching and reading and my 'guess' of the problem is that the sound card used by Dell sort of locks out the USB port for sound input - so I can't choose the USB option that is needed on audacity. I am pretty sure there is a fix but I didn't want to pay the $50 to call Dell - not to mention the hours I would have to spend repeating my name and address over and over until I was finally transferred to someone that could help!

I'll post after I try one of the records - hopefully soon!

Diane, Glad to hear the new Stanton has a USB port.... but, as you say, it won't work with your Dell laptop if it doesn't have a USB input. (I thought all laptops had USB data ports?) If the Dell does have a USB data port, then that should work - it doesn't have to go through a sound card's input. At any rate, use the macbook - it's superior anyway. ;)

Hi Tim! I still havent' received my 78 stylus but the Stanton I bought does have a USB connection which worked with audacity on my macbook (I tried it using a regular 33 record and was able to transfer from that). I first tried the whole setup with my PC which I had used with audacity in the past getting recordings from a reel to reel tape. This time I had tons of problems and the upshot is I think the sound card on my pc is not set up for a USB connection - only for a connection through the input port (headphone type). Dell laptop - they have given me so many headaches this past year - hence the new mac!

I didn't see any writing on any of the records to indicate which speed they were recorded at so I guess I will start at 33 and see what happens!

Diane, Glad to help. One problem with the Stanton you may encounter is that the digital output format is SP/DIF. More than likely your computer may not have an SP/DIF input, so you may need to also buy a new sound card, or a converter box. I have an M-Audio converter box, that converts SP/DIF to Firewire (since my computer has a Firewire input), but it is difficult to use. Better to have a soundcard that accepts SP/DIF. (The Numark would be easier to connect since it has USB.)

As for the speed, the labels on the record blanks have a space for the recordist to indicate whether it was recorded at 33 or 78, but all too often most people didn't bother to write much information on the labels. You will know what speed to play the record at just by playing it -- sound too sped-up, slow it down, if too slow, speed it up. It's no big deal really - you will not hurt the record by playing it at the wrong speed, it will just "sound" wrong.

Also, since you are using a computer, you can digitize the record at a different speed than it was recorded at, and then adjust to the correct speed in the computer. Sometimes you have to do this if the record is warped. If a record is recorded at 78-RPM, but if the warps cause the stylus to bounce off the record, you may need to play it at 33-RPM while digitizing, as the slower speed can allow the stylus to glide more smoothly. Then, (using Audacity or other audio software) you can speed up the recording in the computer. Different audio programs call it by different names.... some let you adjust pitch and timing, and since it is digital you can adjust them separately, but for records you will need to lock pitch and time to change together... that is, if you change the pitch, the time should also change.

Thanks Tim!! I decided to call Stanton based on your other recommendation of the Stanton turntables and was able to get one at the Best Buy right by my house for only $200 (much cheaper than the Numark I was looking at) so thank you! As soon as I order the 78 stylus for it I am going to give it a try and I will definetely let you know how it goes! Thanks so much for this page as this topic is sooo hard to find info on!

On more question - you say that they might have been recorded at 33RPM? How would I know what speed they were recorded at? I just assumed they were 78's all around!! I actually tried to get the machine that recorded these out of the barn a few months ago but there was a rats nest in the machine so I abandoned that idea - so I don't have the machine to tell whether it recorded at different speeds or not.

Diane, You are on the right track. Since you have so many records, the best thing to do is get the equipment, plus you do not want to send them off and wait for someone else. Getting someone to transfer 90 records would be way too expensive (more than the cost of the turntable) to ask someone else...you'd be waiting an eternity and possibly never see them again. The Numark you mention looks like a good one. Be sure and buy a special stylus for playing 78s as well. I just searched and found a "78-RPM" stylus for the Numark at LPGear.com.. Most likely your records were cut with the wide groove that would require the "78-RPM" stylus, even if they were recorded at 33-RPM. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Hi! I know this is probably a question already answered but can't find it so please if someone has a few seconds I would love some help. I have about 90 homemade records - wilcox cardboard mostly - from my family. I need to do something with them - have looked into sending them off for recording but they were stored in a hot storage shed for some long I am afraid that would be a waste of money. I am thinking about buying a Numark TTXUSB and trying to do them myself to the computer (I have done a bit of recording 8 tracks on to computer so use aucacity a bit). This way I would at least be able to tell which ones are worth my time recording and which are just not good anymore. Any suggestions???? help??? Oh, other issue is that a lot of them are radio recordings which I am interested in but I don't think the family will be willing to pay to have 'professionally' done - if I buy the machine as opposed to sending them off I can do all the records(not just the recordings of kids saying twinkle twinkle little star!)

Barbara, I don't exactly know how to clean them, but would recommend just a light record brush. I wouldn't use any chemicals on these. Water might even be a risk. The lacquer coating (where the grooves are) is made with castor oil among other things, and can dissolve easily. (Saran wrap will even pull oil out of the lacquer, so don't store any of these records in plastic.)
Modern record players are actually safer to play these with than the record players from back then; a modern turntable with a high-quality magnetic cartridge is light on the groove. If you can have them transferred to CD, playing them through once while digitizing to a computer should be acceptable. Stanton makes decent turntables and stylii (styluses) for playing and transferring 78s to computers/CDs. There are other digitizing turntables on the market that are cheaper (such as a $150 USB turntable), but my experience is that the Stanton turntables are better suited for transferring archival records and 78s such as these.

MY parents had a large floor model machine that recorded 78s and small The container for them says they were made by Wilcox-Gay Corporation of Charlotte, Michigan and are 6 1/2 inch double faced recordio discs- some are blank and some have grooves and they are cream colored with red and black labels= there are also a number of larger (10 inch recordio discs) by Wilcox- Gay.They are very heavy - There are also some small black Crosley discs- Most of them were made in the early forties and the labels indicate they contain family birthday parties or recordings of grandparents who I never knew- There are also things like recordings of Guy Lombardo, the dropping of the atom bomb- talks by Roosevelt and talks by my father who was a surgeon- I have listened to one or two but I am concerned about listening to them on my modern day record players- I also think I should clean them first so that I won't damage them. My research so far seems to indicate that water and mild detergent would be best for thes hellac records but I have found nothing about what I am guessing are acetate recordings. I bought one of those Crosley recording machines to translate your 33s and tapes to cds but I am not certain what to do about these really old family records. Obviously I don't want to damage them- Any ideas at least how to clean them