Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with audio

What are some notable digital remasters of music over the last few years?

jeremias — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:50:19 -0800

With the recent attention given to the high quality of the recent audio re-masters of the Beatles catalog, I'm wondering if there have been other notable re-masters in the last few years. I realize this is potentially a broad topic, but virtually all the reviews of the Beatles re-masters focused on how they represented a significant update in the listening experience. So I'm interested in any equivalent digital re-issues that are acknowledged as a significant leap in audio quality for the listener.

What's My Name Again?

ericc — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:55:33 -0800

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out this person's name. She says it, right there in plain language, but I just can't catch it. Does the name sound familiar? I kinda think the last name is Gomez, but even that I'm not so sure of.

Champion Sound

murtagh — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:57:21 -0800

Why does music on my MP3 player sound better with small earphones than with big headphones? I have a Samsung YP-U5 MP3 player. Music on it sounds great when I listen with the earphones that came with the player, but if I connect my large Philips (SHP2000, if it matters) headphones to the player, music sounds quite poor. Why is that?

(There's nothing wrong with the Philips headphones, just to be clear.)

Online pro audio sales forum?

Joseph Gurl — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:21:11 -0800

Where do pro broadcast audio professionals buy and sell their gear? I'm looking for a specific portable recorder (Sound Devices 788t) and would like to know if there's a board or online community for people in the industry to buy and sell gear.

Seeking guided relaxation / meditation cd's / podcasts.

mola — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:52:48 -0800

Seeking guided relaxation / meditation cd's / podcasts. I've been suffering from anxiety and insomnia lately, and want to get back to normal. The cd's I've tried so far are The Mental Medicine Collection (Sacred Moment and Sleep Ease, both with Pakvilai Sudhaswin), The Calming Collection (Sleep Solutions, with Roberta Shapiro), and Living Meditation (with David Harshada Wagner).

The ones intended specifically for sleep seem best so far. I do not want any religious-specific cd's.

What tools are there for synchronizing photos to audio by time in a slideshow?

friedapplepie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:59:15 -0800

What tools are there for synchronizing photos to audio by time in a slideshow? I have a set of digital photos taken manually, at about a photo each second but not quite. I have audio recorded at the same time, and I'd like to be able to match the photos up to the audio by time. What's the best way to do this? Mac tools are preferred, but I'd love to hear all suggestions. Thanks!

Can anyone identify these songs by their melodies?

cdenman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:34:39 -0800

Can anyone identify one of these songs I have stuck in my head? (Links below) - Please help! Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

(1) is a demo song that came with my Yamaha P200 keyboard - it's quite plausible that it was composed for the keyboard, but if it is a 'real' song I'd love to know.

(2) and (3) are melodies that have got absolutely stuck in my head and I would love to know what they are if anyone can tell me! I suspect (2) to be a very old song and (3) to be a very recent one, but anything's possible.

Adding ADDITIONAL audio to an avi file

Charlie Lesoine — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:23:01 -0800

How do I add an additional audio track to a .avi movie file in OSX? I downloaded a full length movie, it had stereo channel audio, but one of the audio tracks was still missing, possibly the center channel that was lost from a surround sound mix when it was bounced to standard 2 channel audio. I now have the missing audio file and need to add it to the other two. I could just remove one of the existing tracks, or turn the existing two tracks into a mono track and then add the 3rd missing track. It doesn't need to sound amazing...but I don't know what software to use to do this. Any ideas?

AniPod?

Oktober — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:29:15 -0800

I have a substantial amount of anime that I'd like to watch, but a less-than-perfect system for doing it. Pretty much all of it is in .mkv files (h.264 video and AAC audio) with subtitles, and I'd like to transcode them to a format that's playable on either my iPhone or my PS3 with subtitles intact. I've tried both handbrake and VLC, and I either get 1) no subtitles in handbrake or 2) encoder errors in VLC. So, hive mind, what am I doing wrong here?

radio rookies, redux!

puckish — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:44:33 -0800

Three days, four to six kids, let's learn how to write a radio story. Go! I'm imagining three sessions -- one where we brainstorm, settle on story ideas / interview subjects, and come up with a list of 10 questions. Second session -- field recording! Third session audio editing (with me doing a lot of the legwork, logging, setup in between, so they can go directly to editing). Something like a cross between radio rookies and 826 -- really simple and low maintenance (we're running the workshop out of our living room) -- the idea, mostly, is to give kids microphones and see what happens.

I'm really excited about this but kind of lost on the details (never done this with kids -- only sort of done it on my own -- brand new territory!). This would be with four to six kids in the 8-14 range. A few questions: 1) Does it make sense to do one story or three? (we're going to have three recorders, so they'd probably need to pair up) 2) "Stories" or "interviews"? (the second is easier -- but just doing oral history type stuff sounds kind of boring...) Ideas? 3) What to write about?? I'd love to do something where we interview random people -- a "vox pop" thing (asking a dozen people on the street the same set of questions) -- what would you do with a million dollars? Do you know your neighbors? (maybe something more awesome than that?)

Help!

Laptop audio feedback.

Juicylicious — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:11:54 -0800

Gremlins have taken over my laptop and now I get extremely loud audio feedback. In the last few days the audio has somehow become screwed up on my laptop.
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There is very loud audio feedback, which gets even worse when I begin to close the lid. It does stop when the lid is completely closed.

Also, audio cannot be played through the external speakers, which are connected via USB. Although headphones do work.

Yesterday, the problem was the complete opposite; I could only get audio through the external speakers and headphones, but not the built in speakers.

It seems that the built in microphone is keyed as the sound of touching the laptop seem to be amplified.

If I play something online that does have audio, it overrides the feedback. And for some reason it is no longer recognizing the CD drive. Sigh.

It is an IBM T42 running XP. I've tried to update audio drivers, but I cannot tell if it has been successful. This has been complicated by the fact that I had to wipe my hard drive several months ago. The person who reinstalled XP somehow erased all of the IBM info, including the serial number and customer ID. Thus, I cannot get support from IBM.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? It's driving me crazy.

Receive me.

wordsmith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:38:59 -0800

I'm looking for a home audio receiver + speakers to serve a few different purposes. Can you help me find a good one? I'm piecing together my home theater, and need to buy a decent receiver that will do the following:

1) At least 5.1 audio -- including support for a (powered?) sub.
2) Multiple speaker selection; I have outdoor speakers that I'd like to hook into this as well. Ideally, I'd be able to listen to whatever either indoors only, outdoors only, or both. Do receivers ever support three channels? Eventually, I'd like to hook up a third set of speakers in the basement, and be able to switch between all of them.

What brands should I be looking at? Links to specific receivers that do what I need it to do would be appreciated.

Budget: under $250.

r/e/m/i/x/t/h/i/s/v/i/d/e/o

nitsuj — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:41:27 -0800

Okay, so how are people making those video remixes that are ever so popular right now? I can see it happening a few different ways:

1) They rip the original video from YouTube and pull it into Final Cut or whatever, and edit the sound bites and video with the music (made in some other program, presumably).
2) They rip the video from YouTube and bring the audio only into an audio/music program, and then re-edit the video to match the audio.
3) Some other way I'm not thinking?

What software are people using?

Help me get my digital music from the bedroom to the living room.

iamisaid — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:55:35 -0800

Help me get my digital music collection into the living room, with semi-decent sound quality and without breaking the bank. Recently I decided that I'd really like to be able to listen to my MP3 collection in the living room. I've pretty well given up on CDs and realized that getting a basic stereo system with CD player is no longer practical for me.

Now, I can wirelessly stream my music from the Vista desktop computer in my bedroom over 802.11g using the existing equipment in my living room, which includes:

Olevia 227V LCD TV (linked for input/output info)
Xbox 360 with wireless G adapter
Original modded Xbox with XBMC and wireless B bridge

I have no audio receiver or external speakers in the living room, only the internal speakers of the TV. Therefore, the sound quality is not great. In addition, browsing my MP3 collection with either the 360 or the Xbox is a lot more trouble than it ought to be. I'd really like an interface like Winamp's media library or iTunes.

So, let's assume I want to spend no more than $250 or so on new equipment. What would be the best use of my money to get my collection into the living room with decent audio quality, recognizing that these are lossy MP3s and I'm not exactly an audiophile? Specific brand/model recommendations would be great.

On top of that, are there any music streaming devices (I know Western Digital and many other companies now make them) that would be better suited for streaming music than the Xbox? Or should I stick with using the Xbox (or 360) for the streaming part and just invest in some kind of receiver/speakers?

Compare two podcast episodes for similarity?

pwnguin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:15:23 -0800

How can I generate a dotplot of general files? On a few occasions I've seen some graphics that apply bioinformatics dotplots (aka recurrence plots) to general files, to demonstrate things like beat detection in music, or relationships between .dlls. I'd like to use it to identify strongly conserved portions of an audio stream are between two files.

Is there an open source program that takes two files A and B and generates a dotplot visualization of them? Or even better, one that takes two compressed audio files? I can find plenty of genetics related tools, but I'm looking for a more generalized tool, or at least one specialized for audio or video.

Best sub $100 headphones?

Heliochrome85 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:23:44 -0800

Headphone Filter: Looking for a pair of quality headphones, but cant try them on because im out of the country. I am trying to figure out what pair of headphones I should get. Budget is around $100. I listen to alot of music when I study, but that also means that they need to not leak too much. I have been looking at the Sennheiser HD280 pros and Ultrasone HFI550/580s. What should I get?

requirements:
1.) Good build quality
2.) Good sound quality
3.) Reasonable size and foldablility

Turn up the radio

CodeMonkey — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:25:24 -0800

What is the best software for recording streaming AM radio stations? There are late night shows on, some that have podcasts but some that don't. I want to 'set it and forget it' and have the results in an mp3 format.

Restricting access to directory... with conditions

You Should See the Other Guy — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:35:15 -0800

How do I restrict access to a directory on my web site but still allow an audio streamer program to access the files? For instance, I want to put my mp3s in the audio directory but I want anyone going to mydomain.com/audio to not be able to download the tracks. The audio player being used is JW Player if that makes any difference. Thanks!

What is the best Electronic News Gathering microphone for my Zoom H4n on a $150 budget? Also, critique suggestions I've already received.

DumbPoet — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:37:34 -0800

What is the best Electronic News Gathering microphone for my Zoom H4n on a $150 budget? Also, critique suggestions I've already received. I decided to purchase the H4n after this post, which nearly changed my mind.

Now I'm looking for the perfect starting microphone to round out my kit.

Priorities

Price: $150 or less

Purpose: Conducting interviews in locations ranging from very noisy (Stadium crowd) to very quite (office). The mic will serve as my vocal track while I collect ambient noise with the H4n's onboard mics.

Style: Cardiod or Shotgun, dynamic or phantom powered.

Advice I've Received So Far

"If I could only have one microphone, it would be hard to decide between my MD46 and ME66, which are the two I probably use the most. I think for audio-only reporting (where you're not worried about whether the mic appears on camera), the MD46 would probably win. It's excellent, and durable, and you'll probably still be using it 30 years from now if you stay involved in the business.

Now in all fairness, I should say that the Sennheiser E835 is almost exactly the same microphone as the MD46; acoustically and electronically they are pretty much identical. The only real difference is that the MD46 is physically longer and heavier, and therefore it is easier to use as a hand-held interviewing mic. But either one would work fine from a sound perspective, and the E835 is a lot cheaper, even more so if you can share the cost of a 3-pack with a couple of your friends."

Is the Sennheiser E835 really that similary to the MD64? If so, do the E8* series (The e845, for instance) grow in quality for my purposes as their series number rises?

Webcam recording softwrae

gocubbies — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:36:47 -0800

I need to record myself giving a presentation for school. My laptop has a built in webcam and microphone. What free Windows software would you recommend for this task?

Recover corrupted audio file?

roaring beast — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:42:49 -0800

Can I recover this corrupted audio file (wma)? I recorded it on my handheld digital recorder (Olympus WS-100). It recorded fine, but then it disappeared on the handset. Then when I plugged it into USB and downloaded it, it wouldn't open.

I understand that this happens sometimes with this recorder. Is there any hope in recovering it? I put the file online here (13 mb): http://drop.io/2r64v6o#

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Help me hook up a new HDTV to an old(ish) stereo receiver?

Dr. Wu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:03:39 -0800

Can you help me connect my optical-out DVD players to my new HDMI-in HDTV? This is the kind of thing that drives me bananas.

Just got a nice, brand-new Sony HDTV, with several HDMI-in ports. I would like to get the highest resolution I possibly can out of my video components -- generally DVD. In the past, when I had an older, analog TV, I just used the stereo receiver as an A/V switcher, for which purpose it works very well. But now this functionality has been compromised by the new array of input/output jacks.

Here's the setup:
- The two DVD players I have (one "regular" and one multistandard) both have optical-out ports. I have an old laserdisc and an even older VHS player hooked up to the system, too, but I'm not terribly concerned about them right now.

- I have all audio and video components running through a good, but eight-year-old, Sony A/V receiver. LP/tape/VHS/LD are connected via regular old component RCA plugs, which are just fine. The CD player and the two DVD players can connect to the receiver with optical cables -- which I prefer to use whenever I can. They work well and provide good sound.

- The problem is that the new HDTV does not have any optical-in ports. (If it did, I'd just run the sound from the DVD players through the receiver, and the picture, via optical cable, right to the TV. But I can't do this.) It does have composite-in and component-in, but no optical-in. And the receiver has only composite-out.

The receiver I have is a Sony STR-DA 333 ES. The manual, in PDF form, is available on this page; click "primary user manual" and go to Page 5.

The HDTV I have is a Sony Bravia KDL-46VE5. The manual doesn't seem to be online, but you can find the details here by clicking on "Specifications." (The site will not allow me to access that page directly.)

- The upshot of all this (if you're still with me) is that my only current option is to run all video components into the receiver, and thence to the TV via a crappy composite video cable. Which would sort of defeat the purpose of the 1080p set that I just bought. (We don't have any sort of cable, satellite, or other TV, so this new HDTV is really just going to be used as a monitor for movies on the DVD players.)

What I would like to do is get the highest possible resolution (the HDTV can handle 1080p/24f) when I watch DVDs. Is there a simple, inexpensive way to convert the optical signal to HDMI?

I can imagine several options:
1. I find a magical converter device that can handle multiple optical inputs and output HDMI. This device would be a switcher, so I could run optical cables from both DVD players into it, and then a single HDMI cable from the switcher to the HDTV.

2. If it's cheaper, I certainly don't mind eschewing with the idea of the switcher box and just getting two separate optical-to-HDMI cables, one for each DVD player.

HOWEVER: the problem I foresee: What about the audio??
I want to run the audio from the DVD players through my stereo system, which has a nice 5.1 setup. HDMI handles both video and audio, right? So if I choose either option above, will I be locked into using the speakers built into the HDTV? Or would I then just add another cable, so that the setup would look something like this:

DVD optical out --> HDMI cable --> HDMI in to HDTV --> TV audio out --> receiver. (In which case the audio running from the HDTV to the receiver would be component, yes? Which would be a step downwards, yes?)

I am reasonably good with stuff like this, but the age disparity between the new HDTV and the older stereo system is giving me a headache.

What's the best, cheapest, most reliable way for me to get the highest-quality picture from the DVD players onto the TV, and still get the room-shaking audio through the stereo?

Should I just buy a new multistandard, HDMI-out DVD player? If I did, I could connect it right to the HDTV, but I'd still have the audio problem that I detail above.

*****
Related questions, for masochists and/or AV geeks:

- Let's say I solve this problem above. I'm still left with an LD and a VHS, both of which I still use occasionally, that will be unconnected. Is my best bet with these just to run A/V to the receiver, and thence to the HDTV via component cables?

- I'd like to minimize the number of A/V component switchers. Ideally, I'd still like my receiver to be the one and only device that switches between ALL a/v components. And what's nice is that I can split the audio and the video signals -- that is, I can listen to the CD player while watching the signal from the VHS, if I so desire. Is there some way I can use this functionality to refrain from buying any further switchers?

What receiver and speakers should I purchase for under $400?

vmrob — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:58:51 -0800

I'm on a budget and want to upgrade my audio system. What receiver/speakers I should purchase to get the most for my money? I currently own a mini-hifi system from Sony (Specifically the MHC-GX45). I wouldn't mind reusing the receiver/amp from that system though I have a feeling to get the most out of the system, I'll be looking for a new receiver as the input options are very limited on the device.

The entire system will be used for stereo sources so surround isn't a priority though a dedicated subwoofer would be nice.

After a quick look online, I found a set of speakers from Sony (SS-F5000) that seem to fit my budget and have overall good reviews. If there is a better pair of speakers (floor standing would be nice, but not necessary) at about that price, what are they and where can I get them?

As for a receiver, I'm totally lost. I've never been in the market and I'm not sure what I need. Auto-switching sources would be nice though I don't know what other features I should be looking for. Recommendations?

My budget for the whole system would preferably be less than $400. If you point out a sub I could add later, bonus points to you. I know the budget will force me to make sacrifices to the sound quality and I'm ok with that, but I really want a system that sounds good. In other words, if I have to step up the price, I can do that, but my purchase will be a little delayed.

Is The Zoom H4n Recorder The Absolute Best?

DumbPoet — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:09:35 -0800

Is there a handheld audio recorder that tops the Zoom H4n in quality, features and price? I will be using the device for news gathering indoors and outside.
I'm willing to pay $350 (the H4n is $320 and includes add-ons).

I have done about 5 hours of research on this today, and this seems to be the bleeding edge of handheld audio recorders in this price range. I realize that for $700 I can get the equipment that NPR uses, but I'm just getting into audio gathering.

Help me help her

any portmanteau in a storm — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:29:08 -0800

What mp3 player should my wife get? My wife has wanted an ipod for a while and will probably be buying one in the next week or so. At the moment she's thinking of the 32GB ipod touch over the 16GB nano. The standout feature of the touch over the nano being the ability to surf the net.

The last time I knew anything about portable mp3 players was in 2003 when I bought my 3rd gen ipod (which I still use) so I have no idea if any of the "ipod killers" out there offer compelling alternatives. Archos, Zune, Zen?

Also, being able to use the device in linux would be nice. Not a deal breaker, but nice.