Help Please – got Parkinson’s

[Tea24]

(Moderators – I am posting this on various forums to get the largest response possible; pleas move around as wished & delete if you are not happy with that).

OK folks, so I have just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s (for those who don’t know; a degenerative brain disease with no known cure which makes you tremble & shake & not be in control of your movements). I know a bit about it because I have a brother who has had it for some 10 years or more.

Now I am a fanatic of analogue music with a collection of some 7/800 Lps, 45s, 78s etc, plus the equipment to play them.

However, at some time in the future, perhaps 4/5/6 years on I may not be able to cope with analogue equipment (particularly set up tonearms etc. & even, who knows, use a turntable at all).

So, it occurred to me that it might be now, whilst I have very few symptoms, that I should think of transferring my much loved analogue recordings (especially the earlier 78s & some LPs which would be now almost unfindable – even if not worth much or perhaps even because they are not worth much!) to some sort of digital medium so that I can continue to enjoy them until I drop off my perch.

I am nearer 70 than 60 so I am not into MP3/ Ipods etc. I can cope with CDs. However, though relatively conversant with a computer, I cannot physically move my record playing equipment towards my computer or move my computer the other way (I do not have a laptop).

I was looking at CD recorders and have found the TEAC CDRW 890, also the TASCAM CD-RW 900 as well as the Roland CD-2i. Do any of you have experience of these items?

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Julian, really sorry to hear the diagnosis :(

I don't know the decks you mentioned, but i do know of one which i happen to have here. The only reason i'm mentioning this is because it may well save you money if you buy one ;)

Most if not all CD recorders require you to purchase "audio" CDRs & these are much more expensive, as far as i'm aware the music industry demanded there share of costs due to probable copyright issues of people copying standard released discs.

What i have is a Traxdata, i can't remember the model right now but it's the same apart from record gain on analogue recordings as a certain Philips machine. The beauty of it is though is that you can calibrate it using an expensive audio CDR & then as it's in "record pause" mode you can carefully pull the draw open & substitute a PC type CDR & push the draw in & record to that!

It worked every time for me with zero problems, must have recorded a good few hundred CDs or more.

I'm not sure how much audio CDRs are nowadays but i bet they are still vastly more expensive than PC type CDRs. Most CD recorders will reject a PC type CDR as that extra cash hasn't been payed to cover copyright :doh:

I thought it might be worth mentioning :)

[Rare Bird]

Hi Julian
The best recorder i've used was the HHB CDR850

[Alex_UK]

Hi Julian, no experience to help with the question, or your condition, but just to wish you all the best, and glad that you've got your music replay priorities right! It really is a shitty old world, but how you play the cards that fate deals you is the important thing.

[WAD62]

Hi Julian, likewise about the diagnosis...

Unfortunately I don't know anything about the recorders you mentioned, I've had a pioneer PDR-609 for a while now and it works fine, but converting vinyl onto it can be a fiddly process, volume levels, track gaps and the like.

If you're reasonably OK with a computer you might be better off with a decent PCI soundcard on your PC, perhaps an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or 192, depending on funds, I picked up a 2496 from ebay for £35. It comes with pro-tools bundled in, which will allow you to record etc. They're pretty easy to fit, and you should have a spare PCI slot on your PC somewhere.

The advantage of using a computer is firstly as Mark states, the disks are cheaper, although the audio ones aren't too expensive these days, but you can do a few practice runs before you burn the disk, as you can record the album to the HD first. Then when you're happy burn the files to the disk :)

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Julian

I am really sorry to read that. Life really sucks sometimes :(

The Yamaha HD1500 is imho a good way of doing this as it has a built in analogue to digital converter. Just plug tape out or direct from the phonostage into the analogue record in and away you go.

They can be bought on Ebay for fairly reasonable money. I have one myself its very good.


Regards D S D L

[Welder]

This may or may not be relevant advice but I have a very old friend who had a motorcycle accident many years ago which not only put him in a wheelchair but gave him a degenerative problem with motor control of his working limbs. He also had to make a similar transition. He’s approaching 60 a bit quicker than me ;)

I hope this won’t become a problem for you but after a few years even a CD player was too much for him to get to grips with. Basically he doesn’t have enough movement control to get the CD in the tray, let alone fiddle with all the little buttons.
The solution for him was an adapted remote control and a file based audio replay system. The remote control is a bit like a childs toy with very large buttons. We rip his music for him (basically he gets what we all have) and another mate built the server for him.
Maybe this is something you might consider.

[Spectral Morn]

This may or may not be relevant advice but I have a very old friend who had a motorcycle accident many years ago which not only put him in a wheelchair but gave him a degenerative problem with motor control of his working limbs. He also had to make a similar transition. He’s approaching 60 a bit quicker than me ;)

I hope this won’t become a problem for you but after a few years even a CD player was too much for him to get to grips with. Basically he doesn’t have enough movement control to get the CD in the tray, let alone fiddle with all the little buttons.
The solution for him was an adapted remote control and a file based audio replay system. The remote control is a bit like a childs toy with very large buttons. We rip his music for him (basically he gets what we all have) and another mate built the server for him.
Maybe this is something you might consider.


Sounds like a good idea.

The Yamaha has a built in hard drive but it may well not be big enough for a large lp collection.


Regards D S D L

[WAD62]

This may or may not be relevant advice but I have a very old friend who had a motorcycle accident many years ago which not only put him in a wheelchair but gave him a degenerative problem with motor control of his working limbs. He also had to make a similar transition. He’s approaching 60 a bit quicker than me ;)

I hope this won’t become a problem for you but after a few years even a CD player was too much for him to get to grips with. Basically he doesn’t have enough movement control to get the CD in the tray, let alone fiddle with all the little buttons.
The solution for him was an adapted remote control and a file based audio replay system. The remote control is a bit like a childs toy with very large buttons. We rip his music for him (basically he gets what we all have) and another mate built the server for him.
Maybe this is something you might consider.

Good points well made John...

[Barry]

Hi Julian

That is sad and shocking news.

I don't know what to say - I have no advice I can offer, having no experience of the condition. However, I would concur with the advice of others (particularly that from Welder), that the best course of action for you would to be burn your LPs onto CD-R and even better, store them on computer hard disk.

This lays outside my expertise, but I'm sure there are plenty of other members here in AoS who would be more than happy to advise.

Apart from that, all I can do is wish you the very best and pray the condition does not develop further.

Regards

[The Grand Wazoo]

Julian,
It's very sad to hear this news. One can barely begin to imagine what you must be having to cope with. But it's great that you can see what comfort music will give you & that you're able to make sure you have access to the music you love.
Like one or two others, I have little knowledge of this subject, but I'd agree that CD-R's would be a good start, but that computer files may be the best way of delivering the music to your ears. Personally, I'd hang onto the CD-R's too though.

All the best

[Tea24]

Thank you all very much for your kind thoughts and help. It is VERY much appreciated. The Pioneer/HHB/Yamaha seeem to be discontinued now, but the ones I mentioned are still on the go, but for how long? The only trouble is they seem to be all of quite a big size & I think I am going to be a bit pushed for space. STill I shall mull it all over & come up with something. I might just buy one and put it away until I can make the space. Playing the discs may not be such a problem, but setting up a tonearm I think will. Again many thanks for all you support & help.

[Neil McCauley]

Hello. I might be taking you down the wrong track here and so I hope you'll forgive me if I do. I have from time to time used a Pioneer PDR-509 recorder to transfer vinyl onto CDR. The results have been very good indeed. There are in my experience both Pros and Cons.

Pros:

Excellent sound quality off the CDRs
Cheap on eBay
Quite easy to use - once you get the hang of it


Cons:

A real pain to use, until you get the hang of it.
Hopeless without the instruction manual
Frustrating without the remote
The recorded CDR played back on this machine is usually awful and thus the PDR-509 should be used only as a very competent transcription tool and nothing more


Hope this helps. Sincerely, Howard.

[Spectral Morn]

I should have said it was now only available S/H...:doh:.

The Yamaha HD1500 is available S/H on Ebay and they are sold regularly on audio forums. Reliability was very good on it and the HD1300 its predecessor (smaller HD)


Regards D S D L

[WAD62]

Julian my advice would still be to go the computer/soundcard route...

However if you're keen on going the recorder route I have, as I stated earlier, a pioneer PDR-609 with remote, which I no longer use, tracking the manual down might be a little trickier but it's around here somewhere.

I don't know how it compares to the 509 as mentioned by Howard, but I assume they were pretty similar.

Nor am I sure how it compares to the others mentioned here :)

Edit; FYI The manual is available as a PDF from the Pioneer web site, just downloaded it and the addendum

[Neil McCauley]

Julian my advice would still be to go the computer/soundcard route...

I don't know how it compares to the 509 as mentioned by Howard, but I assume they were pretty similar.

Yes I think that's correct. Possibly the replay from the 609 is superior and similarly with the headphone outlet. Built to last they are.

[Ammonite Audio]

Hello. I might be taking you down the wrong track here and so I hope you'll forgive me if I do. I have from time to time used a Pioneer PDR-509 recorder to transfer vinyl onto CDR. The results have been very good indeed. There are in my experience both Pros and Cons.

Pros:

Excellent sound quality off the CDRs
Cheap on eBay
Quite easy to use - once you get the hang of it


Cons:

A real pain to use, until you get the hang of it.
Hopeless without the instruction manual
Frustrating without the remote
The recorded CDR played back on this machine is usually awful and thus the PDR-509 should be used only as a very competent transcription tool and nothing more


Hope this helps. Sincerely, Howard.


Absolutely spot on. I have a Pioneer PDR-609 which makes really superb recordings, but as a playback machine it is quite awful. That machine taught me that there's not much wrong with 16bit 44.1kHz digital audio, rather too many CDs are just badly produced. Although you do have to use 'Audio' CDR/CDRW discs, I just use the same Audio CDRW over and over again, transfering the files to the PC for a bit of editing and cleaning up (if necessary).

As it happens, I was planning to take my PDR-609 to the Audio Jumble in a couple of weeks, so if you're interested in taking it, I'm sure that we can agree a price. It does have its instruction manual and remote control!

[Tea24]

Shuggie, you have a PM.

[Tea24]

I am so grateful for all your help Folks; it warms my heart & makes me feel immediately better!

I am buying Shuggie's Pioneer, which I think should do me well and fulfil my requirements.

Just one more quetsion do you know of a SIMPLE noise reduction program for my computer. All I want to do is record to CDRW, import to computer, clean as neccessary & re burn to a CDR.

Many Thanks

[WAD62]

Wavelab should allow you to do most things...

[goraman]

Look for a good Pioneer PD609 and your problem is solved.

[Garfed]

I do not know what to say - I have no comments, I can provide, but have no experience of the conditions. However, I agree with the views of others (especially from welding), the action is best for you will of course be to burn to CD - R of your LPs, and even better, stored in a computer hard drive....