How to record track from CD and then remove section

[Kosmische]

Don't know if I'm in the right forum but anyway here's my problem: -

I want to record a very long track from one of my CDs and then remove a section of it.

Alternatively, I'd be happy if I could edit the track in such a way as to enable me to skip the offending part and move right to the next section.

I do have an Alesis hard-drive recorder which is pretty old now. I think it's a Masterlink 9600, if I recollect rightly. I've used this a fair bit but it's quite hit and miss for some reason. I therefore figured this sort of thing must be easier to do on a PC but I haven't been able to work out having to do it using say Audacity,

I'd have thought this must be relatively easy to do but apparently not!

Can someone help me or point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

[adrian_k]

This should be pretty easy on a PC, you are right.

You’ll need a CD drive in the PC, some CD ripping software, and an editor (Audacity will do it). Just rip the track to a wav file, load into Audacity and edit it.

If you don’t have a CD drive in the PC you can still get the track into the PC by connecting your player to the PC and recording direct into Audacity.

Could you tell us more about what equipment you have? Do you have an audio interface for the PC?

[The Elf]

For PC, EAC (Exact Audio Copy) would be a good choice for copying the data. It has features within it to make the copy as accurate and clean as possible. EAC is donation ware.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

+1 for EAC. Or XLD if you're on Mac. I'd recommend Reaper over Audacity. Vastly superior for editing. Put the time into learning that instead of Audacity (neither is difficult) you'll get more use out of it in the future. It is free to use for 60 days, and the license is such a good deal it is almost ridiculous.

[Sam Spoons]

Another +1 for Reaper here, it is excellent and I no longer use a separate stereo editing app as editing in Reaper is so easy.

[adrian_k]

Personally I wouldn’t use Audacity because any DAW these days can provide the functionality, but the OP mentioned it and conceptually it’s easier to get started with if you don’t have much PC audio experience.

[Tomás Mulcahy]

I think Reaper is the easier to get started on, ever since Cockos put Kenny Gioia's videos on their tutorial page. 10 minutes and you are good to go, with answers to your further questions laid out for you.

[adrian_k]

Horses for courses - I found those videos annoying and laboured

[Tomás Mulcahy]

Horses for courses - I found those videos annoying and laboured

LOL yes I guess he has a style. But honestly I think it would feel laboured to an expert like yourself but IME not to a beginner. Students respond well to them, and as training videos go his work is exemplary in the field, IMHO.

[adrian_k]

Flattery will get you everywhere

[Sam Spoons]

I find Kenny Gioia's videos much better than most YT's, he doesn't tell you what he had for breakfast or why his camera is in the wrong place (my tripod broke while I was setting up so I had to use the kitchen steps and a mini tripod but my missus was...). He gets to the point and explains what you need to do to solve the specific problem. I'd still rather read the answer with illustrations, I find YT's (even well edited ones with all the waffle cut out) are often frustrating 'cos they go at their pace not mine, sometimes too fast and sometimes too slow. The replay speed function goes some way to mitigating that but usually makes the dialogue unlistenable.