Adaptec's Easy CD Creator Deluxe

Emedia Professional, Jan, 1998 by Robert A. Starrett

GOING GOLD WITH MUSIC: SPIN DOCTOR AND LP-TO-CD CONVERSION

The supplementary recording programs included in the Easy CD Creator package--Picture CD Creator, Video CD Creator, CD: Copier, and Adaptec Sound--all work as advertised, but the newest hitmaker in the Adaptec suite is Spin Doctor, a new analog-to-digital recording tool. Although Spin Doctor does not exactly "Easily turn scratchy LPs into crystal clear CDs" as Adaptec's Web site claims, it does allow easy real-time transfer LP and tape content to CD for preservation or for party disc mixing.

Users create audio CDs with Spin Doctor through four steps. Three of them--Select Music Source, Select Options, and Select Destination--are represented in windows that appear when the program starts. The fourth, Begin Recording, is activated with a button Select Music Source shows all attached CD-ROM drives and CD recorders and five other potential sources, including LP, Tape, CD Player, and Other Input. Any non-CD-ROM drive input is received through the line-in jack on your sound card and converted to WAV files that are stored on your hard drive. Extracting and recording digitally from CD-ROM drives or recorders is easy and fast, since the digital source requires no filtering.

Filtering options available for recording from analog sources include Clean Audio, Detect Silences, and Balance Loudness. Clean Audio reduces audible clicks, pops, and hisses in the source and is particularly useful when recording from LP. An adjustable Detect Silences function detects "banding" on records and tapes and separates entire album sides into individual tracks before recording to disc. The Balance Loudness function balances the volume of disparate sources that may have been recorded at different levels. A fourth option, Verify Before Write, gives you the opportunity to listen to the recorded tracks before committing them to disc.

The cleaning function works well, considering the machinations it must have to go through to differentiate a hiss, pop, or scratch from voice or music. Cleaning capability was tested on an 33 RPM album with scratches that were loud enough to be bothersome when listening to the record, but not bad enough to make the record skip on the turntable. After the album was recorded to the hard drive, the tracks were split and cleaned by Spin Doctor. The results, once recorded to the CD, sounded quite good, considering the nature of the scratches. On single, spaced thinner scratches, the program did particularly well, removing them completely for the untrained ear.

EASY CD CREATOR DELUXE: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS AND BRAVE NEW ONES

One aspect of Easy CD Creator that may temper some users' enthusiasm is that it comes in two versions: the Standard Edition that Adaptec is bundling with CD recorders and the Deluxe edition, reviewed here, which is available only as an independent product or an upgrade option--at the same $99 price. Easy CD Creator Deluxe features a well-written and instructive 212-page manual with an excellent index and glossary, while Standard Edition users receive a considerably thinner version. The bundled version also comes with a dramatically reduced software suite, incorporating only the Easy CD Creator and CD Copier programs along with MGI PhotoSuite and CD Catalog. If you get this version, upgrade. The additional programs are well worth the cost.