Need A Nerd - Ask us anything techie

Making music

The personal computer has been capable of converting your favourite long playing records and tapes to digital music files for years. All you needed was something to play them, some audio cables and free software, such as Audacity, and you could do a reasonable job with the personal computer’s on board sound card.

Precision audio technology company Xitel have just made it easier with the release of the INport Pro – a box of tricks that can turn analogue audio to digital, quickly and easy.

Xitel INport Pro

The INport Pro bypasses the soundcard on the personal computer, eliminating any chance of interference. It sits between the music’s source and plugs into the personal computer via a USB cable.

Like any hardware the INport Pro needs software to operate. It comes with BIAS SoundSaver for INport which needs to be installed on the hard drive of the computer to work. The unit work in conjunction and both are required. Try running the software without the INport Pro plugged in and you will be prompted to plug it in before the application will launch.

Convert an old record or tape

Converting an analogue LP record or cassette into a digital format is a six step process in the software running through Start, Connect to the device, Record sound, Clean, Define Tracks and Export.

Start, which is the first tab, gives access to the Preferences settings where it is important to select Primary Sound Driver.

Connection allows you to manage the recording levels. It’s important not to have the levels set too low otherwise the recording won’t be heard. If it’s too high it will be distorted beyond recognition.

Record lets you set a recording time – how long the software will record for before recording stops. Before you start you click the Record button begin reading from your record player or cassette player.

Clean is next, which will help clean up your recordings clicks and crackles. There’s a Click/Crackle slider which allows you to filter it out anything between a little and a lot.

Define Tracks helps you turn one long recording into separate music tracks which will be saves as separated digital files. Auto Define Tracks is a pretty good tool, doing the work based on noise levels on the recording and if it gets something wrong you can make some manual adjustments yourself. Otherwise the DIY option is good.

Exporting your files is last. It is here you decide what format to export your files in, and at what bit rate. The MP3 format is considered the most versatile, since most players will play it, and anything 192 kilobits per second or higher should be fine for any MP3 player.

If you have a box of your old favourites to convert for your digital music player this package is a great option.