Polderbits.com-audio software at a great price

[RGR]

I thought we might take a break from serious discussion and I'd put in a plug for software I am currently using:

For those of us who long to hear our old records in the condition they used to be or wish to get them on a CD to listen to in the car, etc., I have stumbled across a wonderful piece of software that is available at http://www.polderbits.com. It is available for a free 14 day trial and includes a click and crackle filter to help remove those stubborn surface noises on well-used LP's, a graphic equalizer to help enhance the frequency spectrum, and a noise filter to mimic the Dolby system on non-Dolby cassettes and 8-tracks (also works well on some abused LP's). After the 14 day free trial, you can actually get another 14 day extension (unadvertised) or you can buy it outright for $29.95. The nice thing about it is you don't have to have a credit card either-they will accept check or money order as well!

To test the software, I gave it a very tough row to hoe. The first recording I gave it to clean up was a well worn copy of an LP my uncles (The Reagan Brothers) and some other groups had made back in the 60's. This LP was on a low budget gospel label from St. Louis called Jubilee and is on very cheap vinyl with very crappy sound quality on much of the recordings. To top that off, this album sat at my grandmother's house for many years w/o a cover and then was given to me as a small child and, again, had no cover. This LP has never sounded good since I can remember!

I didn't expect miracles but simply hoped to clean up much of the Rice Krispies syndrome (snap, crackle, pop). While it still doesn't sound like a modern recording, the quality is amazing! Much of the static is gone and the equalizer compensated for the fact that much of the high frequency was gone in the recordings that showcased my uncles. As a matter of fact, I just didn't realize how terrible they sounded.

[BigJer]

I have been using audacity. It may not have all the features you are talking about, but it is a GREAT audio recorder. It is freeware. If you also download another program that goes with it, you can save a recording as an MP3 or wave file.

I have found it to be easy and useful.

[Guest Jules]

Wow, thanks for that information. I'm in the process of recording tons of stuff from cassettes and albums. I'll check into the ones mentioned.

I use a lot of music at church and it's so much easier to put them onto cd to use. I also ran across a unit that they call a vocal trainer that says it can take the lead vocals out of a cd among some other uses. I use a lot of accompaniments at church too so I plan on checking into that at a later time. Right now all my investing has been invested for a while. Oh, I found the unit at Longs Electronics. You can look them up on the web.

[RGR]

I have been using audacity. It may not have all the features you are talking about, but it is a GREAT audio recorder. It is freeware. If you also download another program that goes with it, you can save a recording as an MP3 or wave file.

I have found it to be easy and useful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can't argue with freeware! However, if you've got $30 bucks to spare, this is a great investment. I've also found that on "historical" releases, the record companies many times take little or no effort in restoring the recordings. I've actually remastered CD's and removed noise, etc. from them.