Mastering Laserdisc audio

[Colek]

Hello lads,

Using ESI Juli@ and Pioneer LD-4300D I ripped audio from Japanese Laserdisc of Jackie Chan's First Strike @ 32-bit/96kHz.

[Image: M4xzowm.jpg]

Now, I have no experience in working with audio, but I would want to get the best out of this. This is already an improvement to the DVD, but I was wondering if there is anything else that can be done here for this. As you can see it is a bit quiet, would using Normalize in Audacity do the job?

[PDB]

I don't normalize ld tracks usually. When this happens, I add gain to the track to make it more "equal" to the volume of modern tracks. Try that first.

[spoRv]

ESI juli@ is one of the.best cheap sound card, congratulations!

Ad PDB said, just set the capture level higher, until you would almost reach the clipping level; in that way, you will get the max dynamic possible... but, for better hints, ask jerryshadoe; he's the audio expert here.

[jerryshadoe]

Personally, I would not capture anything from LD above 24bit 48kHz (even that is overkill) and the reason for this is because LD audio is 16bit 44kHz NATIVE and that's the way it should be captured. This way, you have the audio preserved in it's original format. If you wish to upsample it to 48kHz afterwards to make it compliant with DVD/BD audio specs, then do so, but I really see absolutely no reason for capturing LD audio at 32bit 96kHz and this MAY explain why your capture appears the way it does

[spoRv]

Indeed, I'd use high settings just to capture analog audio... bit-perfect capture is the best way, but 4300 has not a digital output.

[PDB]

Agreed with everyone. Don't over-sample for digital PCM LDs. Just go for the native 44.1/16. But for analog, do over-sample. You will have more to work with when you down-sample.

[ilovewaterslides]

I always capture my LDs in 48/16. Even if it's originally in 44.1 KHz. I'd rather capture it in 48 KHz which is more video compliant. It's better than having to resample it afterwards.
You can definitely normalize the recorded audio track. It won't kill the dynamic at all. Basically it's the same as if you were adding gain. A lot of people are mistaking normalization with compression. Using a compressor will indeed set everything at the same volume and destroy the whole dynamic.

[jerryshadoe]

@ PDB - For analog capture, I'll agree with you that capturing at an upsampled rate can be beneficial, but I still think that 24bit 48kHz is sufficient and that 32bit 96kHz is just overkill. It's kinda like trying to capture a VHS tape at 1080i/~30mbps, when it could be captured at 480i/10mbps and look the same, because the "extra" data just doesn't exist there.