[LAU] Advice for validating quality

[garryo]

Gregory Sharp wrote:
> Hi, I'm recording some of my cassettes and lp's and would like 
> advice for testing the recording quality.
> 
> First, how would you recommend testing for proper gain?
> I want to re-record if there is clipping.
> 

hi, Gregory. What software are you recording with?
I found audacity to be good for this job. You can record with a nice bit 
of headroom (peak-holding meters are provided), and then use the 
built-in 'amplify' effect to get maximum volume without clipping.

> Second, sometimes there are skips or scratches or 
> computer-related glitches which can be fixed by re-recording.

Gnome_wave_cleaner (GWC) is good at removing pops and crackles, 
processing the whole file in one go.
Audacity has facilities for repairing localised glitches.

> Especially I would like a method of recording twice, and 
> comparing the results to detect these problems.

I don't know how you would do this. I wish I did! I recently had a 
session recording some vinyl LPs. Despite some serious head-scratching I 
could not think of a quick and easy, semi-automated method.

I simply ran my recordings through GWC on a non-aggressive setting, 
listened to the results and ran GWC again or fixed them by hand.
This took some time. I guess I can appreciate your motivation for 
posting :-)

... any one got any bright ideas?

yours, G.