Looking For Alternatives - Cd Spin Doctor

[white bird]

Hello. First I am not posting to bash Roxio. I have used their products over the years and been completely satisfied. I joined this forum today after figuring out this would be the only way to contact Mr. Tsantee (nice sport car btw. - I drive a '74 KGhia convertible) who seems to have the most practical knowledge regarding CD SPin Doctor and the best demeanor and attitude concerning CDS.

 

OK, so here is the situation:

 

I have an older version of Toast / CDS that I have used on an old G4 Dual 500 (first version) for years. Recently, (the last two years) I have been digitizing an extensive old LP collection of mine and all is well on that front. So the first option available is to just continue the process on that unit. However, there are signs the G4 is losing it (clock has malfunctioned and computer will not shutdown upon command) and so for two reasons (in case G4 dies and convenience of doing the cleaning up of scratch disks on a newer iMac), I (heaven forbid) purchased the 6.1 version of CDS via an online service (did not receive a CD - forget what form of software that is called) after having read about the initial bugs on the new version of CDS. Having read there was an update from Roxio that seemed to fix the basic things I need the software to do, I thought it safe to make the buy.

 

Well, needless to say, the update hasn't fixed the issues and now I am looking for a long term solution which after having researched the continuing saga of CDS, I've concluded means moving on to another software product.

 

So, the only need I have now is to take the CDS scratch files and clean them up. What I mean by that is remove the minor hiss, pops and scratches (my vinyl was always taken care of so it's minimal, but there of course) and do any enhancing, boosting, separation that I prefer to use.

 

Whether or not the tracks get automatically separated isn't critical, but that feature helps move the process along faster that's for sure.

 

So, simply what products are available for purchasing that I can use on my iMac running OS 10.6.8 with all Apple updates uploaded that will work with scratch aiff files originally made using an older version of CDS?

 

I'm looking for a long term solution, but as I mentioned above, I have a really simple basic need as I am not a huge audio / video user.

 

Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.

 

ps. what with the possible "work arounds" I've read regarding CDS, I don't think that approach is a viable solution for me as I am not that sophisticated. Just reading them (the work arounds) made it all the more confusing and convincing to just move on to another product (Roxio owned or not). If it is uncool to make those recommendations here within the forum, say so and we can figure out how to communicate outside this forum.

 

pps. However having said that, I printed out how to wipe out all the files, etc. created when loading CDS and am going to do that while waiting for a response. I am very willing to go through the process of trying one last time to get the product operating on the iMac, if someone is will to guide me step by step through that process.

 

Thx.

 

wb

[tsantee]

Until recently I would have recommended Sound Saver from Bias-inc but they suddenly closed their business. It was very good. They also made Sound Soap that was a great noise-filtering app. Roxio even included that with the Toast 11 Pro bundle. So I'm sad they are gone.

 

What are the troubles you're having with Spin Doctor 6.1.1s? What I remember is there was trouble if the file name didn't show up at the top of the waveform. Making certain the captured audio file was saved with a file name and then reopened for the noise filtering and track marking took care of most problems with that version.

 

You've probably read that Spin Doctor X bundled with Toast 11 is a mess. I think it can work to capture analog audio, mark tracks and apply filters before export to Toast's audio CD window. Anything else you want to do with it is probably not going to work as advertised.

 

You might want to try audacity. I don't know how it handles noise. I think there is a tool for canceling pops. I have a Griffin iMic that includes the Final Vinyl application which is great for capturing and separating tracks, but it only has an equalizer and no noise filters.

 

Also check out Sound Studio at the App Store. I had an earlier version that I used quite a bit but the upgrades were too expensive and I decided to use the tools from Bias-inc. But it may be your best bet.

[hermie54]

Put Amadeus in the Search box at the top of the page while on the Toast 11 forum page and have it search This Forum. You'll get some hits about Spin Doctor problems and Amadeus as an alternative. I'm not a huge audio user either and with Amadeus Pro you'll have to get used to a different way of defining tracks with markers, but when you get the hang of it you'll love it.

[white bird]

Thank you tsantee for responding. Rather than try to go into the problems associated with attempting to open CDS I'm just going to begin reviewing your other recommendations and move on. I really don't think the effort to try to utilize the program will be worth it. Thanks again for the timely response.

[white bird]

 

Thank you hermie 54 for responding. I will check out amadeus pro and click repair. Thanks again for the timely response.