Audacity Riaa



See full list on manual.audacityteam.org. Audacity a free and open source sound editor with many features useful for recording and editing vinyl records. About This Article wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. Download Audacity Download the free Audacity audio editor for Windows, Mac or Linux from our download partner, FossHub: Download Audacity for Windows, Mac or Linux Audacity is free of charge. No registration or hardware purchase required. 64-Bit Audacity on Windows is only available as a 32. They therefore sound dull if played through modern equipment that applies RIAA playback equalization. So, to make a fully professional job of transferring your 78 rpm records, you should open Effect Filter Curve or Effect Graphic EQ in Audacity immediately after recording, and apply the inverse of the RIAA playback curve (see the next.

The RIAA equalization curve for playback of vinyl records. The recording curve performs the inverse function, reducing low frequencies and boosting high frequencies.

RIAA equalization is a specification for the recording and playback of phonograph records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The purposes of the equalization are to permit greater recording times (by decreasing the mean width of each groove), to improve sound quality, and to reduce the groove damage that would otherwise arise during playback.

The RIAA equalization curve was intended to operate as a de facto global industry standard for records since 1954, but when the change actually took place is difficult to determine.[1]

Before then, especially from 1940, each record company applied its own equalization; over 100 combinations of turnover and rolloff frequencies were in use, the main ones being Columbia-78, Decca-U.S., European (various), Victor-78 (various), Associated, BBC, NAB, Orthacoustic, World, Columbia LP, FFRR-78 and microgroove, and AES. The obvious consequence was that different reproduction results were obtained if the recording and playback filtering were not matched.

The RIAA curve[edit]

RIAA equalization is a form of pre-emphasis on recording and de-emphasis on playback. A recording is made with the low frequencies reduced and the high frequencies boosted, and on playback, the opposite occurs. The net result is a flat frequency response, but with attenuation of high-frequency noise such as hiss and clicks that arise from the recording medium. Reducing the low frequencies also limits the excursions the cutter needs to make when cutting a groove. Groove width is thus reduced, allowing more grooves to fit into a given surface area, permitting longer recording times. This also reduces physical stresses on the stylus, which might otherwise cause distortion or groove damage during playback.

A potential drawback of the system is that rumble from the playback turntable's drive mechanism is amplified by the low-frequency boost that occurs on playback. Players must, therefore, be designed to limit rumble, more so than if RIAA equalization did not occur.

RIAA playback equalization is not a simple low-pass filter. It defines transition points in three places: 75 μs, 318 μs and 3180 μs, which correspond to 2122 Hz, 500 Hz and 50 Hz (rounded values).[2] Mathematically, the pre-emphasis transfer function is expressed as follows, where T2=318 μs, etc.:[3]

f(s)=(sT1+1)(sT3+1)(sT2+1){displaystyle f(s)={frac {(sT_{1}+1)(sT_{3}+1)}{(sT_{2}+1)}}}

Implementing this characteristic is not especially difficult, but is more involved than a simple amplifier.[4] In the past, almost all hi-fi preamplifiers, integrated amplifiers, and receivers had a built-in phono preamplifier with the RIAA characteristic; the phono preamplifier may omitted in modern designs that only support playback via CD. Add-on phono preamplifiers with the RIAA equalization curve are available; these adapt a magnetic phono cartridge to an unbalanced −10 dBv consumer line-level RCA input. Some modern turntables feature built-in preamplification to the RIAA standard. Special preamplifiers are also available for the various equalization curves used on pre-1954 records.

Digital audio editors often feature the ability to equalize audio samples using standard and custom equalization curves, removing the need for a dedicated hardware preamplifier when capturing audio with a computer. However, this can add an extra step in processing a sample, and may amplify audio quality deficiencies of the sound card being used to capture the signal.

History[edit]

Origins of pre-emphasis[edit]

Equalization practice for electrical recordings dates to the beginning of the art. In 1926, Joseph P. Maxwell and Henry C. Harrison from Bell Telephone Laboratories disclosed that the recording pattern of the Western Electric 'rubber line' magnetic disc cutter had a constant-velocity characteristic. This meant that as frequency increased in the treble, recording amplitude decreased. Conversely in the bass, as frequency decreased, recording amplitude increased. Therefore, attenuating the bass frequencies was necessary below about 250 Hz, the bass turnover point, in the amplified microphone signal fed to the recording head. Otherwise, bass modulation became excessive and overcutting took place, with the cutter getting into the next record groove. When played back electrically with a magnetic pickup having a smooth response in the bass region, a complementary boost in amplitude at the bass turnover point was necessary. G. H. Miller in 1934 reported that when complementary boost at the turnover point was used in radio broadcasts of records, the reproduction was more realistic and many of the musical instruments stood out in their true form.

West in 1930 and later P. G. H. Voight (1940) showed that the early Wente-style condenser microphones contributed to a 4- to 6-dB midrange brilliance or pre-emphasis in the recording chain. This meant that the electrical recording characteristics of Western Electric licensees such as Columbia Records and Victor Talking Machine Company had a higher amplitude in the midrange region. Brilliance such as this compensated for dullness in many early magnetic pickups having drooping midrange and treble response. As a result, this practice was the empirical beginning of using pre-emphasis above 1,000 Hz in 78 and 33​1⁄3 rpm records, some 29 years before the RIAA curve.

Over the years, a variety of record equalization practices emerged, with no industry standard. For example, in Europe, for many years recordings required playback with a bass turnover setting of 250 to 300 Hz and a treble rolloff at 10,000 Hz ranging from 0 to −5 dB, or more. In the United States, practices varied and a tendency arose to use higher bass turnover frequencies, such as 500 Hz, as well as a greater treble rolloff such as −8.5 dB, and more. The purpose was to record higher modulation levels on the record.

Standardization[edit]

Evidence from the early technical literature concerning electrical recording suggests that serious efforts to standardize recording characteristics within an industry did not occur until 1942–1949. Before this time, electrical recording technology from company to company was considered a proprietary art all the way back to the 1925 Western Electric licensed method first used by Columbia and Victor. For example, what Brunswick-Balke-Collender (Brunswick Corporation) did was different from the practices of Victor.

Broadcasters were faced with having to adapt daily to the varied recording characteristics of many sources - various makers of 'home recordings' readily available to the public, European recordings, lateral cut transcriptions, and vertical cut transcriptions. Efforts were started in 1942 to standardize within the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), later known as the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters. The NAB, among other items, issued recording standards in 1942 and 1949 for laterally and vertically cut records, principally transcriptions. A number of 78 rpm record producers, as well as early LP makers, also cut their records to the NAB lateral standard.

The lateral-cut NAB curve was remarkably similar to the NBC Orthacoustic curve, which evolved from practices within the National Broadcasting Company since the mid-1930s. Empirically, and not by any formula, the bass end of the audio spectrum below 100 Hz could be boosted somewhat to override system hum and turntable rumble noises. Likewise at the treble end beginning at 1,000 Hz, if audio frequencies were boosted by 16 dB at 10,000 Hz the delicate sibilant sounds of speech and high overtones of musical instruments could be heard despite the high background noise of shellac discs. When the record was played back using a complementary inverse curve (de-emphasis), signal-to-noise ratio was improved and the programming sounded more lifelike.

In a related area, around 1940 treble pre-emphasis similar to that used in the NBC Orthacoustic recording curve was first employed by Edwin Howard Armstrong in his system of frequency modulation (FM) radio broadcasting. FM radio receivers using Armstrong circuits and treble de-emphasis would render high-quality, wide-range audio output with low noise levels.

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When the Columbia LP was released in June 1948, the developers subsequently published technical information about the 33​1⁄3 rpm, microgroove, long-playing record.[5] Columbia disclosed a recording characteristic showing that it was like the NAB curve in the treble, but had more bass boost or pre-emphasis below about 150 Hz. The authors disclosed electrical network characteristics for the Columbia LP curve. Bluestacks ibis paint. Nevertheless, the curve was not yet based on mathematical formulae, at least not explicitly.

In 1951, at the beginning of the post-World War II high fidelity (hi-fi) popularity, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) developed a standard playback curve.[6] This was intended for use by hi-fi amplifier manufacturers. If records were engineered to sound good on hi-fi amplifiers using the AES curve, this would be a worthy goal towards standardization. This curve was defined by the transition frequencies of audio filters and had a pole at 2.5 kHz (approximately 63.7 μs) and a zero at 400 Hz (approximately 397.9 μs).

RCA Victor and Columbia were in a 'market war' concerning which recorded format was going to win: the Columbia LP versus the RCA Victor 45 rpm disc (released in February 1949). Besides also being a battle of disc size and record speed, there was a technical difference in the recording characteristics. RCA Victor was using 'New Orthophonic', whereas Columbia was using their own LP curve.

Ultimately, the New Orthophonic curve was disclosed in a publication by R. C. Moyer of RCA Victor in 1953;[7] additional background information about this evolution can also be found in another article of the same author, published in 1957.[8] He traced the RCA Victor characteristics back to the Western Electric 'rubber line' recorder in 1925 up to the early 1950s laying claim to long-held recording practices and reasons for major changes in the intervening years. The RCA Victor New Orthophonic curve was within the tolerances for the NAB/NARTB, Columbia LP, and AES curves. It eventually became the technical predecessor to the RIAA curve.

Between 1953 and 1956 (before the stereo LP in 1958), several standards bodies around the world adopted the same playback curve—identical to the RCA Victor New Orthophonic curve—which became standard throughout the national and international record markets.[9] However, although these standards were all identical, no universal name was used. One of the standards was called simply 'RIAA', and it is likely that this name was eventually adopted because it was memorable.

Some niche record cutters possibly were still using EQ curves other than the RIAA curve well into the 1970s. As a result, some audio manufacturers today produce phono equalizers with selectable EQ curves, including options for Columbia LP, Decca, CCIR, and TELDEC's Direct Metal Mastering.

The Enhanced RIAA curve[edit]

The official RIAA standard defines three time-constants with pre-emphasis rising indefinitely above 75 μs, but in practice this is not possible. When the RIAA equalization standard was written the inherent bandwidth limitations of the recording equipment and cutting amplifier imposed their own ultimate upper limit on the pre-emphasis characteristic, so no official upper limit was included in the RIAA definition.

Modern systems have far wider potential bandwidth. An essential feature of all cutting amplifiers—including the Neumann cutting amplifiers—is a forcibly imposed high frequency roll-off above the audio band (>20 kHz). This implies two or more additional time constants to those defined by the RIAA curve. This is not standardized anywhere, but set by the maker of the cutting amplifier and associated electronics.

The so-called 'Enhanced RIAA' curve or 'eRIAA' curve attempts to provide complementary correction for these unofficial time constants upon playback.

Background[edit]

In 1995, a nonacademic source erroneously suggested that Neumann cutting amplifiers applied a single high-frequency pole at 3.18 μs (about 50 kHz) and that a complementary zero should therefore be included upon playback.[10] However, no such pole exists.[11]

For example, the RIAA pre-emphasis in the popular Neumann SAB 74B equalizer reaches a maximum at 100 kHz, and in addition to this, the circuit also applies a second-order roll off at 49.9 kHz, implemented by a Butterworth (maximally flat) active filter, plus an additional pole at 482 kHz.[2] This cannot be compensated for by a simple zero even if it were necessary, and in any case, other amplifiers will differ. Correction upon playback is not, in fact, required, as it is taken into account at the cutting stage when manual equalization is applied while monitoring initial cuts on a standard RIAA playback system. Nevertheless, the use of the erroneous zero remains a subject of some debate among amateur enthusiasts.

Many common phono preamplifier designs using negative feedback equalization include an unintentional zero at high frequencies, similar to that proposed by Wright. This was illustrated, for example, in the seminal 1980 work on RIAA playback equalization by Lipshitz/Jung,[12] though it was noted as unwanted. Some phono preamplifiers include additional circuitry to correct this and ensure that the output follows the RIAA curve accurately.[11] In most, however, this is omitted.

IEC RIAA curve[edit]

In 1976, an alternative version of the replay curve (but not the recording curve) was proposed by the International Electrotechnical Commission, differing from the RIAA replay curve only in the addition of a pole at 7950 μs (approximately 20 Hz).[13] The justification was to reduce the subsonic output of the phono amplifier caused by disk warp and turntable rumble.

Audacity riaa

This so-called IEC amendment to the RIAA curve is not universally seen as desirable, as it introduces considerable amplitude and—of more concern—phase errors into the low-frequency response during playback. The simple first-order roll-off also provides only very mild reduction of rumble,[11] and many manufacturers consider that turntables, arm, and cartridge combinations should be of sufficient quality for problems not to arise.

Some manufacturers follow the IEC standard, others do not, while the remainder make this IEC-RIAA option user selectable. It remains subject to debate some 35 years later.[2] This IEC Amendment was withdrawn in June 2009, though.

TELDEC/DIN Curve[edit]

Telefunken and Decca founded a record company (Teldec) that used a characteristic which was also proposed for German DIN Standards in July 1957 (Entwurf DIN 45533, DIN 45536, and DIN 45537). Incidentally, this Standards proposal defined exactly the same characteristic as the intermediate CCIR Recommendation No. 208 of 1956, which was valid until about mid 1959. Nevertheless, the DIN Standards proposal was adopted in April 1959 (DIN 45533:1959, DIN 45536:1959, and DIN 45537:1959), that is, at a time when the RIAA characteristic was already well-established; and it was in effect until November 1962, when the German DIN finally adopted the RIAA characteristic (DIN 45536:1962 and DIN 45537:1962). The extent of usage of the Teldec characteristic is unclear, though.

The time constants of the Teldec characteristic are 3180 μs (approximately 50 Hz), 318 μs (approximately 500 Hz), and 50 μs (approximately 3183 Hz), thus differing only in the third value from the corresponding RIAA values.[14] Although the Teldec characteristic is close to the RIAA characteristic, it is different enough for recordings recorded with the former and played back with the latter to sound a little dull.[15]

References[edit]

Notes

Remove Any DC Offset That May Be Present

  1. ^Copeland, Peter (September 2008). MANUAL OF ANALOGUE SOUND RESTORATION TECHNIQUES p.148(PDF). London: The British Library. Archived from the original(PDF) on April 9, 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ^ abc'Cut and Thrust: RIAA LP Equalization' by Keith Howard, Stereophile, Vol. 32, No. 3, March 2009, pp. 53–62 http://www.stereophile.com/features/cut_and_thrust_riaa_lp_equalization/index.html
  3. ^'Cut and Thrust: RIAA LP Equalization The Neumann 4th pole (sic)'.
  4. ^'On RIAA Equalization Networks' by Stanley P. Lipshitz, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 27, No. 6, June 1979, pp. 458–481.
  5. ^'The Columbia Long-Playing Microgroove Recording System' by P. C. Goldmark, R. Snepvangers, and W. S. Bachman, Proceedings of the IRE, Vol. 37, No. 8, August 1949, pp. 923–927.
  6. ^'AES Standard Playback Curve', Audio Engineering, Vol. 35, No. 1, January 1951, pp. 22 and 45.
  7. ^'Evolution of a Recording Curve' by R. C. Moyer, Audio Engineering, Vol. 37, No. 7, July 1953, pp. 19–22 and 53–54.
  8. ^'Standard Disc Recording Characteristic' by R. C. Moyer, RCA Engineer, Vol. 3, No. 2, October-November 1957, pp. 11–13.
  9. ^'Disc Playback Characteristics', Letter to the Editor by J. D. Collinson, Wireless World, Vol. 62, No. 4, April 1956, p. 171.
  10. ^'The Tube Preamp Cookbook' A. Wright, Vacuum State Electronics, 1995 http://tubeamps.webs.com/1997_The_Tube_Preamp_Cookbook_Allen_Wright.pdf
  11. ^ abc'Small Signal Audio Design' D. Self, Elsevier, 2010.
  12. ^'A High Accuracy Inverse RIAA Network' by Stanley P. Lipshitz and Walt Jung, The Audio Amateur, Issue 1/1980, pp. 22–24.
  13. ^Amendment No. 4 to 'Processed Disk Records and Reproducing Equipment' (IEC 60098, 2nd Edition, January 1964), IEC Publication 60098/AMD4, Geneva, Switzerland, September 1976 (withdrawn in June 2009).
  14. ^http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_database_record_equalization.php
  15. ^http://pspatialaudio.com/record_characters.htm
Bibliography
  • Powell, James R., Jr. The Audiophile's Technical Guide to 78 RPM, Transcription, and Microgroove Recordings. 1992; Gramophone Adventures, Portage, MI. ISBN0-9634921-2-8
  • Powell, James R., Jr. Broadcast Transcription Discs. 2001; Gramophone Adventures, Portage, MI. ISBN0-9634921-4-4
  • Powell, James R., Jr. and Randall G. Stehle. Playback Equalizer Settings for 78 RPM Recordings. Second Edition. 1993, 2001; Gramophone Adventures, Portage, MI. ISBN0-9634921-3-6

External links[edit]

  • Playback equalization for 78rpm shellacs and pre-RIAA LPs (EQ curves, index of record labels): Audacity Wiki
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RIAA_equalization&oldid=1012258778'

Before you begin

Clear a big working space that you can occupy for extended periods. Conversion takes place in real-time, which means 25 minutes worth of music will take 25 minutes to record. Next, make sure the turntable's tone arm is weighted and that anti-skate and tracking force are set correctly to ensure optimum sound quality. Also, if your records are looking a little worse for wear, give them a good clean-up. See 'Should you clean your records?' in our Turntable buying guide.

What you'll need

  • 1x turntable with stereo audio output or inbuilt stereo audio cable (these are usually red and white).
  • 1x PC or Mac with an audio IN port. This is sometimes called line IN (Not sure if your computer has Line IN? See step two under Connect your turntable to your computer).
  • 1x copy of the free program Audacity. You can download it here.
  • 1x amplifier or receiver, preferably with a phono IN port and stereo audio OUT port (usually labelled REC). If your amp doesn't have a phono IN port, you may need to buy a phono preamp or turntable with an inbuilt preamp. NOTE: Although we will use the term amplifier for the rest of this tutorial, a receiver can perform the same task in its place. Receivers include a built in radio, which is the only difference.
  • 1x stereo audio cable to connect your turntable to the amp/receiver. If your turntable has an inbuilt cable, you won't need one of these.
  • 1x stereo audio to 3.5mm stereo cable or 1x stereo audio cable with 3.5mm stereo converter. This will connect your amp/receiver (stereo end) to your PC or Mac (3.5mm end). The 3.5mm end must be able to record in stereo. Check the pin, if it has two black lines it will record in stereo. If it has one, it will record in mono, which is not suitable.

    • Stereo to 3.5mm cable


    Stereo to 3.5mm converter


    Stereo to 3.5mm converter

Do I need to buy a preamp?

If your turntable and amplifier do not have an inbuilt preamp, you will need to purchase an external one. These range in price from around $150 to as much as $25,000! The following setups may or may not require a preamp, and those that do probably don't really call for a model that pushes into the tens of thousands.

To check whether your home hi-fi has a phono preamp:

  • Amplifier/receiver: look for a port called Phono on the back of the unit. This is a special port designed for turntables with an inbuilt preamp. These are standard on units that pre-date CD and fairly common on older units built after CD became the standard format. Modern amps vary, except for high-end models which usually include Phono IN.
  • Turntable: check the manual. Older turntables generally don't include an inbuilt preamp, as this feature was common in home amplifiers. It's much more common in new models, however, it can be difficult to determine whether these turntables use industry-standard equalisation or cheap knockoffs, particularly in low-cost models.

If your amplifier has a phono input, or your turntable has an inbuilt preamp, you will not need to buy an external one. If your turntable doesn't have a preamp, and your amplifier doesn't have a phono input, you will need to purchase a preamp. Note that if your turntable has an inbuilt preamp, do not connect it to the phono input, as this will unnecessarily apply equalisation twice. In this case, either plug your turntable into another port, or turn off the turntable preamp, either option is fine.

For more information, see our Turntable buying guide.

Connect your turntable to your computer

  1. Create a folder to save your audio files to as you edit. WAV files are quite large, around 30mb per track, which means an entire album can be 300MB or bigger. Make sure you have enough space on your hard drive before starting.
  2. Connect your turntable to your amp's phono input using the stereo audio cable. Next, connect the amp to your computer using the stereo to 3.5mm cable, by plugging the stereo end into the amp's OUT port, and the 3.5mm end into the computer's IN port.

    3. Phono IN


    Audio OUT / REC


  3. This is an example of a PC audio IN port. Note that they aren't always blue, but usually display the symbol below the port (circle).
  4. This is the audio IN port you'll find on an iMac and some versions of the Macbook pro.

My computer doesn't have line IN.

Some desktops and laptops don't include a line IN port, but there are a few workarounds:

  • Purchase a line IN to USB convertor or USB soundcard. They vary in price depending on the build and audio output quality.
  • Try the microphone port. Many computers combine line IN and microphone IN into a single port. They automatically detect the device that's been plugged in and adjust internal audio settings accordingly. Unfortunately there's no way of telling whether this feature is included on your computer without recording test audio and giving it a listen.

If your computer has mic IN and line IN ports, do not use the mic port to record your audio. The equalisation settings are different from audio IN, and aren't suited to recording music. This can lead to poor quality digitised audio.

Identify the turntable

  1. Right-click the Audio icon in the Taskbar next to the clock, click Recording devices. Look for a device with Line In in the description, right-click it and select Set as Default Device to ensure that your PC will only record audio from the turntable.


  2. Right-click it again and click Properties followed by the Advanced tab, then click the dropdown menu underneath Default Format. Here, select 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality), click Apply then close the windows and return to your desktop.

Set up the software (Audacity)

  1. Open Audacity and go to Transport > Rescan Audio Devices. This will tell Audacity to detect your turntable.
  2. Look for four dropdown menus towards the right side of the Toolbar, and click the second dropdown menu, that's adjacent to MME. The second toolbar will display a list of input devices. Select the option that includes Digital Audio (S/PDIF) in the title. The surrounding text will vary depending on your computer and turntable model. If this isn't available, select the first available option then follow the steps in Test the settings. If the waveform doesn't appear, stop recording and pick another option from the dropdown menu.


  3. If your computer still can't detect the turntable, check the connection using the steps in Identify the turntable and Rescan Audio Devices again.

Audacity Riaa Equalization

Identify the waveform

  1. Digital audio is visualised as a long blob with a series of vertical spikes protruding from the top and bottom. This is called a waveform (pictured). The thicker the blob, the louder the volume and vice versa.
  2. Spikes indicate high peaks, such as cymbal crashes, and low bottoms. Flat, thin lines indicate silence. These are usually a good identification point for the beginning and end of each song.

Test the settings

  1. Now it's time to check for interference. First, press record (the red circle towards the top left corner of the screen), turn on your record player but do not start playing the record. Let Audacity record silence for around 20 seconds.
  2. Click the waveform, press play and listen for interference such as buzzing. This can be caused by poorly shielded electronics in the vicinity of your record player. If you do hear interference, locate the source by turning off surrounding electronics and running test recordings until it disappears.
  3. If there's no interference, delete the audio file and repeat step one, but play the record this time. After 20 seconds, stop recording, then listen to the audio on your computer. If you're happy with the sound quality, delete the test file and get ready to digitise the entire album.

Convert your record

  1. Press record in Audacity then play the album as normal to begin digitisation. The conversion takes place in real-time, which means 25 minutes of music will take 25 minutes to record.
  2. When side A is finished, flip the record over and repeat the above step to record side B, but don't stop Audacity from recording.
  3. When side B is finished, stop recording in Audacity and remove your record. You should see one big waveform in Audacity. Click it, press play and listen to a short sample to check for prominent errors.

Adjust the volume

You may find that the volume is quite low on the initial recording. If that's the case, follow these steps to boost it.

  1. Go to Effect > Amplify to open the Amplify window.
  2. Audacity should automatically generate an ideal amplification level, but you can increase/decrease this by moving the slide bar. However, Audacity won't let you increase the volume beyond the point of damaging the audio, unless you tick Allow clipping. We don't recommend this.

  3. Click Preview to check the volume. When you're happy with the settings, click OK to apply.

Clean up the sound quality

  1. Now it's time to clean up the digital audio. The first step is to potentially apply RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) equalisation. This is an industry sound quality standard for phonograph records (including vinyl) which has been in place since 1954. Some record players include inbuilt RIAA equalisation in the preamp, which means digitised files sourced from these players do not require an additional RIAA application in Audacity. Check the instruction manual of your record player for any RIAA information. If it's absent, you may need to apply RIAA equalisation.
  2. First, press Ctrl + A to highlight the waveform, then go to Effect > Equalization, click the dropdown menu next to Select Curve, click RIAA, then OK to apply the equalisation.

See Full List On Manual.audacityteam.org


  1. Listen to a few tracks for around 10 to 20 seconds each. If you're happy with the sound quality, leave the RIAA in place. If you preferred the sound before applying RIAA equalisation, press Ctrl + Z to undo the setting. It's up to you, and your ears, as to whether you want to use RIAA or not.
  2. Next step is to remove clicks and pops. Go to Effect > Click Removal to set the click/pop limitations. Threshold detects clicks. A lower number will increase the detection sensitivity, but pushing it too far can cause Audacity to start removing elements from the music, damaging the sound quality. Spike width is similar, except a higher number equals greater sensitivity. Play with these settings and press Preview to hear a sample. Once you're happy with the level of sensitivity, click OK to apply the settings.

RIAA Equalization - Wikipedia

Save the tracks to your computer

  1. Unless you want to export an entire album as one long digital audio track (you won't), you'll need to export each song individually. First, find the start point of a song in the waveform, left-click it, then highlight the waveform until you reach the end point of the song by holding the left mouse button and dragging it to the right.
  2. Once it's highlighted, go to File > Export Selected Audio, locate the folder you want to save it to, enter a file name then click the Save as type dropdown menu (bottom of the window) and pick WAV (Microsoft) signed 16-bit PCM. Then click Save to open the metadata window.
  3. Here, enter the artist name, track title, album title and track number then click OK to export the track.
  4. Check for errors by playing the WAV file from start to finish.
  5. Repeat these steps for each track.

What about MP3?

It's best to export files in lossless WAV quality, but Audacity can export to MP3 as well, which is a compressed format suitable for portable music players such as iPods and smartphones. Audacity doesn't include an MP3 encoder due to licensing restrictions, but you can download one called LAME through Audacity for personal use.

RIAA Equalization Emulation

Follow the Cut up and export steps (above), but select MP3 Files from the Save as type dropdown instead of WAV, then click Save. After you enter the metadata, a Locate LAME window will open. Click Download to open an online guide by Audacity, which shows you how to download and import the LAME MP3 encoder (or click here). Note that LAME isn't available for free in all territories. Restrictions are outlined in Audacity's legal disclosure.