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Magix Rescue Your Vinyl & Tapes | 
 enlarge | From: Magix Entertainment Ltd
Category: Software
List Price: £49.99
Buy New: £39.99
You Save: £10.00 (20%)
New (2) from £39.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 330
Format: Closed-captioned
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Vista, Windows 2000
Media: CD-ROM
Operating System: Windows XP/Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 2
EAN: 4017218571426
ASIN: B001GIPFBO
Release Date: November 25, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Nice bit of kit, but beware January 7, 2009
Something that I have been meaning to do for a few years now is to copy some of my vinyl collection to a more suitable format. Magix's "Rescue your Vinyl & Tapes" was the answer for me. The main feature that swayed me was the included "phone pre-amp" which allows you to connect your record deck to your PC; it requires a (supplied) 9v battery for it to be used. This means that I did not need to unwire my amp as well as the record desk to convert my albums.
As other reviewers have mentioned, care is needed with the connection as you MUST connected to the Line In and NOT the microphone jack. There even is an earth connection for the record deck on the pre-amp! Other than that, the set up is very easy, with all cables being supplied.
In software installation, which was very easy, includes 2 videos to show you how to get started and use the most common features; this is really a great idea and sets you off in the right direction straight away, without having to trawl through a manual, although there is one of these too (this is not too brilliant though). The software also includes a music editor allowing you to monitor/adjust the recording levels and allow for noise correction, place markers etc.; very versatile.
On the recording side, unfortunately, it records from your vinyl to .wav format, so the files can get quite large. However, it will then convert it to MP3 (or .AAC (iPod) for additional cost). It then also allows you to then burn this to CD, audio DVD or even podcast!
Overall, the product provides a niche market with a fairly easy way to convert vinyl to your PC, and does this well with not too much fuss. On the negative side, the software does feel dated in its appearance and usage. A definite recommendation, but a few minor reservations.
 Great, easy way to move your vinyl to computer January 4, 2009
Got this because I've had a lot of vinyl sitting in the loft for a few years.
Found this product very easy to use. was easy to set up, then easy to run through the vinyls onto the computer.
I'm pretty computer savvy, so I also lent it to an older relative to try out, and they found it similarly easy to use - obviously this is fairly important, as it's probably a higher proportion of the older folk who would like to use this.
all in all - excellent product, highly recommended.
Not Too Bad January 4, 2009
I come to this type of software as a complete novice - I know, at my age you'd think by now . . . anyway - as I say this is my first experience of trying to record from vinyl to PC/CD.
This is very easy to set up, and connect. The pre-amp is very small, but quite straightforward to use. It's a pity that it doesn't come with a mains adapter, so I had to use the 9v battery that came with it. The directions say to charge the battery first, but the battery that was supplied is a non-rechargeable one so that's not a good start. Once I had everything hooked up I installed the software, and it's just a case of following the instructions and hey-presto there it is.
I would recommend following the 2 instruction videos that come with it - especially if you're new to it like me. They're very informative and give a good idea of how things should work.
One thing, however - and I don't know whether this is the software of my sound card, but the recording level I have to set this to is VERY low. I only have to move the slide a small fraction and it shoots up to way over the upper limit. Also, once I'd set the level and then clicked on Record the level sunk way down to nothing, for no apparent reason. It takes a bit of fiddling around to make sure tthat I have the level to the optimum level - in fact the best way I@ve found to do it is to set the record playing, press Record on the PC and then set the level. I then lift the arm of the turntable and start the record again. This works okay, but means that you have some rubbish at the beginning of the recording you have to deal with afterwards.
Overall tho' this is easy to use, and the various settings available are quite easy to set. The editing and mastering process is straightforward enough - although I did find a couple of occasions where the programme told me that it hadn't changed anything when it was fairly obvious to me that things needed adjusting. So I just went back and did it manually instead of using the auto editing option.
So for a newbie like me, this seems to be easy enough to use. I've bought a mains adapter as the pre-amp eats up the power, and this does affect the quality of recording.
All in all I'm sure this is good for what you pay. If you have a bit more money, and a bit more knowledge, try something more expensive, but this is a very good starting point.
 Great Software, let down by a lack of care and thought at the final hurdle January 4, 2009
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've got 10 feet of vinyl LP's and 12"s . I'm no expert as to how many that is, but that's at least a couple of thousand. Add to that about 800 7" singles, and a couple of hundred cassettes, and I've got a problem. I like old stuff that's often not been reissued, sold in small numbers, and I've kept most of it sealed inside protective covers, dumped to tape once, and played rarely ever since. Most of my vinyl will never be reissued : and when it has, invariably historical revisionism has resulted in some of the more obscure remixes, live tracks, bonus cuts and padding that fitted out all the single formats of 7", 10", 12", cassette, and picture discs to staying on Ye Olde Vinyl Formatte and not being readily available digitally.
I have not had a happy time with this product : and this is something to do with the product itself. The first time I connected this (though a fast and painless install that requires only the input of an authentication code), I was up and running with a warm perfect sound in minutes. Admittedly, I have a high end set of seperates and a exemplary set of kit, but something tells me this software will capture accurately the warm and heat of vinyl that you rarely get with a compressed MP3.
After that, it became clear that my line-in and microphone sockets were not properly connected inside the machine, and it sounded like a detuned 1950's Russian Low Wave Broadcast the second time I plugged it in. The third time, nothing at all. From reading reviews it seems clear that if you plug this into a microphone socket as your laptop doesnt have a line-in socket, you will KILL the Microphone socket. so DON'T DO IT. Frankly, it is very disappointing that I'm not the only person I've had this happen to.
(Next up, the rarely used cassette player died on me. After that, I had to reinstall on the XP Desktop and then run the line in onto that, only to find the USB Wireless Mouse had died. So I had to buy a new USB Mouse. I'm convinced that this software is cursed. But only for me.)
Once everything has been connected, the software is intuitive and straightforward to use, designed for simple and easy work, and whilst I havent delved deeply into the restoration (dehissing/declicking) software, it seems to operate intuitatively and easily with a multitude of options that most people will not investigate greatly. However, the input sound is warm and accurate, with a minimum of problems and a wide and vibrant range. The actual signal it captures is a perfect reproduction of the original (assuming your old LP's are not scratched to hell and back), and often brighter, softer, and warmer than a digital file on a CD or a website. The first sample vinyl track I used was of better quality than the DVD issued in 2002, by an enormous margin. Taking into account the often brutal compression of the 'Loudness Wars', you will often find that the vinyl versions sound better than any CD release.
There are some big drawbacks caused by a simple lack of attention to some basic points ; and these are enough to give an otherwise excellent product a low mark.
a) First time users will notice that you cannot hear the sound as it is played back in "real time" - the default setting switches the "monitor line-in sound" as 'off', which is nonsensical, to be honest : you want to hear the record as it plays to ensure there are no jumps, scratches, sticks, or skips (or in my case, no cats that want to play with your spinning record deck). You want to change this setting in the first few minutes. And please note there is a delay of approx 1 second between the actual noise on the vinyl and when it travels through the software to your speakers. So pay attention to ensure you do not have either long gaps before the music - or missing the first few seconds of the chosen material. It requires careful attention and a wee bit Orwellian audio 'doublethink'.
b) the supplied cables all input to a 1.5mm small jack plug suitable for a microphone / line-in socket. THERE IS NO USB INPUT CABLE. Now, almost every PC/Laptop has a USB cable (and this would remove the need for any cases of inputting your cable into the microphone socket and destroying the connections). The package should have more cable configurations. I had to go rooting in my big black box of cables to find the correct sizes for my cassette / vinyl output sockets.
c) the default location for the file setting is inside the program file itself : I set it to "Desktop/Vinyl Rips" for ease of use. Nobody wants to look inside the frankly cumbersome "Magix 15 Ace Cleaning Labs/Test Files/BlahBlah/Put Your Music Here" folder. Also, filing snobs will be bothered by the proliferation of files it creates. All I want it to do is create a destination file in the chosen format as a single copy - "Your Old Vinyl.mp3" instead of three files in various formats in the same place.
d) the lack of a USB Cable. Cannot emphasise this enough.
Overall, the software is excellently designed, easy and intuative to use, but severely let down by a lack of care at the final hurdle : a lack of well thought cable configurations and a USB input means you may have to buy extra cables, and the "listen while you play the vinyl" option should be set as default. But the end result, with a wee bit of tinkering, is an easy to use, straightforward, and very useful piece of software that is overall 95% perfect : but the 5% that isn't undoes the rest of the good work.
Comprehensive package December 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a comprehensive package for anyone wishing to convert vinyl or tape recordings to digital format. Of course, you need your own record deck or tape player, but everything else is provided.
You get a pair of phono (RCA) leads to connect your player to the supplied pre-amp unit and a lead from there to a line-in socket (aux/CD/etc - not microphone) on your PC. The pre-amp unit comes with a 9V battery to power it, but you can use a mains adapter instead. There is a very helpful printed manual and, of course, software to handle all aspects of conversion.
The software imports and `cleans' your recordings of noise from damaged discs/tapes, hiss, distortion, etc., saving them in any of a wide range of audio formats, not just mp3. Volumes can be balanced and various effects added. Finally, your new digital recordings can be burned to music or data CDs.
You can also use the software to import existing digital recordings and process them in the same way as vinyl and tape recordings.
Does it work? Yes! And it's easy to use. As well as cleaning the sound, it detects breaks between tracks and automatically creates individual digital tracks. It even enables you to carry out basic editing, like trimming long silences at the start and end of tracks. There are some quite sophisticated editing options in there too, but, at a guess, few people will ever use them.
Overall, I'd certainly recommend this package. I can't compare it with anything else, but it did everything I wanted and more.
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