Tag Archives: MP3

How to digitise audio tapes

As is the nature of this beast, other ideas and more tapes have collected since. Some of those tapes were rare, if not unique. Others demanded more attention than the rushed 128kbps rips from the previous round. It seemed sensible to archive some and re-rip others at the highest possible sampling and quality rate. Here then, if you will, is a list of hints and observations on how to best rip audio tapes. Continue reading

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Demoscene music remembered and remastered

When I first got into computers back in 1990, “music” and “IBM computers” were things that simply weren’t synonymous with one another. Given the DOS software and the games we played at the time, audio capabilities simply weren’t much a matter of concern. Discovered and distributed via dial-up BBSes, MOD files were remarkable in that one could tell how the creators attempted to squeeze every bit of performance and fidelity out of four channels and a mere handful of instruments. Continue reading

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Goodbye, Walkman

Keeping in tune with the previous posting, we may as well follow up with the announcement that the Walkman has officially ejected its last tape. Sony announced on Monday that it has ceased production of the classic, cassette tape Walkman in Japan, effectively sounding the death knell of the once iconic, now obsolete device and marking the end of one of the most successful consumer gadgets of all time. Continue reading

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Music Browser Wars

Like most connected people in the 21st century, I’ve accumulated a plentitude of MP3 audio/music files. Digital media has arrived, and I suppose it’s here to stay for a while. But how does one effectively maintain a growing collection of MP3 files, one that, as the owner’s tastes and interests change, becomes increasingly unclear and unwieldy? How does one keep track of everything? Continue reading

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The death of the Compact Disc, part 1

Who hasn’t fallen for the charms of iTunes, MusicLoad, AmazonMP3 and/or Beatport for all their musical needs, buying and downloading gigabytes of music that you cannot touch or feel? Call me old-fashioned if you will, but nothing beats picking up a real record and admiring the physical, real entity that I hold in my hands. A record is a work of art. A recording is a historical artefact. Continue reading

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Sound Decisions

The decision that needs to be made now is whether to modify and transplant it into the Bora, or scrap it and simply design a new system from scratch… or a combination of the two. Continue reading

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