Digital Needle

February 10, 2003 12:24 AM

Digital Needle is a virtual gramophone open source program that converts scanned--yes, scanned--vinyl records into audio.
posted by brittney (16 comments total)

It's a good link, and was previously shared here.
posted by riffola at 12:28 AM on February 10, 2003

There is also a laser record player.
posted by the fire you left me at 1:09 AM on February 10, 2003

This is cool. I hadn't seen it the last time it was posted. The jokey manner of the September post had me figuring it was yet another spin on the old "record as antipiracy device, ho ho," so I skipped it. Something to be said for straightforward presentation; thanks Brittney.
posted by boomchicka at 4:46 AM on February 10, 2003

I remember seeing the September post but reached the same conclusions as boomchicka and so overlooked the links. Interesting stuff...
posted by nthdegx at 5:03 AM on February 10, 2003

Great! Too bad the samples sound so crappy... It's a fantastic idea. Now you can have your MP3s with even more hisses, pops and crackles!
posted by kahboom at 5:05 AM on February 10, 2003

Yes, but when can we do this with CDs? I've done this in the past purely as a prank to a few technophones. '"Yes print it out and glue it to the botton of some old Cure CD. Trust me." Now I'm afraid someone is going to actually do it in the near future.

Hmm.

Well, if you had about a 1,024,000dpi scanner, transparencies (for an overhead projector), and an equally good printer, that just might work.

*spaces off*
posted by angry modem at 6:27 AM on February 10, 2003

Hey, thanks brittney! So us old-timers who - against all advice, closet-hungry wives, common sense, room-coveting teenagers and mocking geek friends - refused to get rid of their vinyl mega-stashes were right after all!

Hah!

But is the neighbourhood ready for self-repeating auditions of the complete Loudon Wainwright and Dory Previn oeuvres?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:32 AM on February 10, 2003

Interesting........hmmm....I think I'll just buy a new needle for my turntable.
posted by troutfishing at 7:07 AM on February 10, 2003

There is also a laser record player.

how gross!! god the idea of that is just horrible, just terrible!! ...vinyl is nice not because of it's perfections but because of its flaws. the way every copy becomes unique once dust and time affect it through being handled. it's a nostalgic object. a laser for a needle? GROSS. i prefer a wood encased stylus ahhh, thank you.
posted by Peter H at 9:17 AM on February 10, 2003

Dust and flaws still affect laser based turntables, and you're just not wearing away the teensy higher frequency "bumps" and risking scratches and other damage.

Every time I hear that argument for the "character" of a record player I wonder why CD players don't come with dithering/clock jitter/other simple mathematical tricks that have similar effects.

But you can still get tube-based amplifiers for your digital gear anyway :)
posted by Foosnark at 11:01 AM on February 10, 2003

This thread reeks of the specious logic such as might be that of a film reviewer.
posted by dong_resin at 12:39 PM on February 10, 2003

Every time I hear that argument for the "character" of a record player I wonder why CD players don't come with dithering/clock jitter/other simple mathematical tricks that have similar effects.

your idea sounds like those wave machines people buy to listen to the seashore. it's not the sound, it's the actual charm of a pop or a skip coming from the physical reaction to a needle bumping around on a record spinning all neat with art on the label and some dusty smell coming from the sleeve. your idea sounds like porno to the real deal.

btw - britney. AWESOME LINK it's fascinating how genius edison or whoever was with the record player: a very old technology not only still working for almost a hundred years in what has been a century of constantly inventing and killing off media technology. like that link here from a few days back about floppy discs being dead, we just love killing off things. it's rather mind-blowing that the 'encoding' on an album is so wonderfully designed that a scanner can read it even. quite a lot to think about. thanks for posting. wish i'd caught it the first time in september...

on preview: dongresin, hogwash.
posted by Peter H at 12:47 PM on February 10, 2003

Dying technology embraces their pointless differences.
posted by holloway at 2:42 PM on February 10, 2003

I am reminded of the guy who can look at the grooves in records and identify the piece.
posted by gluechunk at 3:29 PM on February 10, 2003

You can take my Technics 1200s only out of my cold, dead hands.
:)
posted by gen at 4:24 PM on February 10, 2003

wow, these are uh...incredibly scary sounding!
posted by mcsweetie at 10:54 PM on February 10, 2003