The program, called cd2lp is a Unix utility that can be used to enhance the naturalness of CD recordings. While a good LP sounds natural and realistic, the distinctly digital sound of a CD is a "pain in the ear" for true HI-END lovers. Unfortunately, these days some recordings are only available on a CD. With the (free) program cd2lp you can take a CD recording and transform it into the warm and natural sound of true vinyl. The program supports the AIFF, WAV, .mp3, and .au formats.
Please send requests for the program (c source) to Jan Peter de Ruiter <janpeter.deruiter@mpi.nl>. Do not send requests to E. Pederson as he will deny any knowledge of this program. A windows version is not planned at this time.
In the category of surely no one would take this seriously, please note the unauthorized use of these ideas for a software product at http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/Below is the manual page. Disclaimer: the manual page is still under revision, but it will give you a pretty good idea about the program.
NAME
cd2lp - changes a CD-quality sound file into an LP-quality sound file.
AUTHOR
The author of the program wishes to remain anonymous.
SYNOPSIS
cd2lp [-recordage <num> ] [-sock ] [-bonk ] [-intro ] [-extro ] [-infinite-extro ] [-plop <num> ] [-p] [-hang <num> ] [-jump <num> ] [-wow <num> ] [-flutter <num> ] [-do-not-compress-bass ] [-update ] [-o outfile]
DESCRIPTION
As all true HIFI lovers know, vinyl records sound more natural, more REAL than Compact Discs. cd2lp is a program that helps restore the horrifyingly clear digital sound stored on a Compact Disc to the pleasant and natural sound of true vinyl.
Options offered by cd2lp are the following:
-recordage <num>
The resulting audio file will sound like a record of approximately <num> years old, assuming it has been played once every day, starting with a new needle. Setting <num> to higher numbers will increase the 'warmth' of the record, while setting it to 0 means it will approximate the CD sound in some respects. Default: 3
-bonk <num>
The resulting audio file will sound as if someone has stamped on the floor <num> times per minute during the playing of the LP.
-intro <num>
The sound of the needle landing on the vinyl will be prepended to the audio file. <num> specifies the level of expertise of the one putting the needle down. As a rough indication:
1 = you yourself
2 = your partner
3 = your 8 year old son
4 = your 16 year old daughter
5 = your dog
-extro
The sound of the needle digging its way through the final (empty) groove, and the <CLUNK> sound of the needle being lifted and returned to resting position will be appended to the file.
-infinite-extro
The same as -extro, but the needle will 'hang' in the empty groove at the end of the record until the user aborts cd2lp. Warning: this option might result in damage to the head(s) of your hard disk.
-sock
The resulting audio file will sound as if the needle with which the record is played has accumulated a large blob of dust.
-plop <num>
Average number of PLOP sounds per minute on the resulting audio file.
Default: 5.
-hang <num>.
(0 < num < 1). Probability (per groove) of the "needle" hanging in a groove, resulting in repetition of the music represented in that groove. Default: 0.05
NOTE: Never make -hang larger than 0.5. Random walk theory predicts
that you'll get very large output files.
-jump <num> (0 < num < 1).
Probability (per groove) of the "needle" jumping over to the next groove, skipping one entire groove. Default: 0.07
-wow <num> Percentage of 'wow'. Default: 5
-flutter <num> Percentage of 'flutter'. Default: 3
-do-not-compress-bass
If you do not want to have the lower tones of the CD compressed into a mono channel, as is done with LPs, specify this option. It will
preserve the stereo image in the resulting output file even for the lower tones.
warning: this option might result in output files that sound unnatural.
-update
This option is for updating a file that has been produced by cd2lp. The problem with cd2lp is that the output file it creates does not deteriorate over time. Re-creating the original CD file with higher settings of record-age or other parameters is not a good solution, because the location of the acoustic defects on the output file will not be exactly reproduced due to the randomization algorithm in cd2lp. It will be like having another second hand LP, instead of a deteriorated version of the one you have grown accustomed to. The -update option is meant to solve this problem. It will take the original cd2lp output file and just add the specified defects on top of the existing ones.