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General discussion

10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital

Oct 19, 2006 7:17AM PDT
Question:

Hello, I have a project that's been brewing for a long time and am wondering if someone out there might have a similar one. I have tons of old vinyl records and tapes that I would like to convert into digital music--DVDs, CDs, and so on. I'd like to know if someone can give me pointers as to how to do it with the least cost. Please include choice of hardware, software, and other alternatives or options. My PC consists of a Intel P4 2.4GHZ, 1GB of RAM, and 80GB of disk space. I recently purchased an external DVD/CD burner to complement my system; my OS is Windows XP Pro. If anyone can give me helpful and constructive suggestions, it would be most appreciated. Thank you very much.

Submitted by: Ferdi W.

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Answer:


Ferdi, converting vinyl records or tape to digital music is straightforward and doesn?t require anything particularly exotic in terms of hardware (details below), but it is time-consuming; you can easily find yourself spending 20 minutes per song doing a high-quality conversion from vinyl. Because of this, I usually recommend that if the music that you want is already available in digital format, that you just acquire it already converted rather than do a new conversion. In the long run, you will save a lot of time and possibly get much better quality as well. That said, many of us have songs on vinyl or tape that are not available in digital format, even if paying for them is not an issue, so at times, manual conversion is the only way to get an old audio track into a digital format.

Let?s cover the hardware first. On the computer side, you need one with a sound system and line-in jacks. That excludes most laptops (most don?t have such jacks) unless you use an add-on PC Card or USB sound card, but almost every desktop computer meets these requirements. However, if quality is important, you might want to use a computer with a high-quality sound card rather than the integrated motherboard audio systems that many PCs have these days. Don?t get me wrong, audio on the motherboard will work and can do the job, but it often doesn?t have the frequency response and freedom from electrical noise found in a more premium audio system.

The other thing that you need is a stereo system that can play the source material (Vinyl, cassette, open reel tape, 8-track, whatever) and that has ?line out? jacks. Virtually any stereo system will meet this requirement. But do note that you can?t just connect a bare turntable directly to a computer. While the level of a turntable cartridge output might be compatible with a computer?s ?Microphone? jack (if the computer supports dynamic microphones), when recordings are made on vinyl the frequency response is intentionally ?screwed up? (called ?pre-emphasis?) to counteract physical limitations of the vinyl recording process, and then the playback audio preamplifier is expected to compensate for this by feeding the sound through a ?de-emphasis? network. All tuners, receivers and amplifiers with a ?phono? input handle this internally, but there is no input on a computer that directly supports it. So you need to connect the turntable to a stereo system or at least a preamplifier with a ?phono? input and line level outputs for proper sound reproduction.

Connect the Line-out of the audio playback system to the Line-in jacks of your computer?s sound system with common stereo cables (normally having a pair of red and white RCA phono plugs) and your hardware configuration is done.

[If you want convenience and don?t mind spending some money, another solution to vinyl conversion is a ?USB Turntable? made just for vinyl to digital conversions. There is one made by Ion that is sold by Amazon (as well as other electronics outlets), and you can see information about at: http://www.amazon.com/Ion-iTTUSB-Turntable-USB-Record/dp/B000BUEMOO. This one is about $130; there may be other such products on the market as well.]

With the turntable connected to the computer, the next step is to convert the analog audio to a digital file. Basically, you play the record and record the line-in signal on the computer. It?s possible to do direct conversion to MP3 or WMA, but a more conventional approach is to do the initial capture as a ?wave? (.WAV) file, because this is more easily captured and edited. You need some software that will record the ?Line In? input of the sound card to the desired file format (whatever it is). For wave files, such software comes with virtually all computers and sound cards, and can also be bought separately if necessary. If you need a program that can do this (and a lot more), a free one that is very good is ?Audiograbber?. It is available at http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/. This program can also perform some of the other steps about to be described. Alternatively, the full retail versions of both of the major CD recording software packages (Nero and Roxio) have software that can perform all of the steps required and described in this paragraph and below (the OEM versions of Nero and Roxio that come with computers and optical drives are stripped down and do not necessarily include these components in all cases).

When you do your first recording, you need to do some experimenting to set the ?level? (record volume) on the recording correctly so that the captured wave file is ?as loud as possible without being too loud? [technically, we want to use the full dynamic range of the sound card without clipping]. Hopefully your sound recording software has some kind of level indicator to show you what the level is and when the music is clipping. You want to turn the level up as far as you can without getting any clipping anywhere in the song (given a choice, a bit low is probably better than any setting which clips (and thereby distorts) the highest-volume passages of the material). Unfortunately, the ideal setting will vary from song to song and record to record, so some experimentation may be necessary, which may require playing or even recording the song several times. This is one of the ways in which the process can become time-consuming.

After the song is captured digitally, you may want to do some editing and cleanup. I usually trim the beginning and end and if necessary adjust the ?fade in? and ?fade out?. I also usually ?normalize? the song to get maximum dynamic range. I prefer to do this with an audio editor that has an oscilloscope-like display of the audio waveform, but exactly what you do and how you do it will depend on your skill level and on the software that you are using.

Another thing that you can do at this point (to varying degrees depending on the capabilities of the available software) is to ?fix? the recording to remove noise, clicks, pops, wow, flutter, hum, tape hiss and ?rumble?. The details of this vary with the available software, and significant cleanup may require using purchased (and potentially expensive) cleanup software. If you get too aggressive with this, also, you can ruin the material, but in some cases you can achieve dramatic results turning an old, scratchy vinyl record into something which sounds a lot more like it was originally recorded on CD. Again, this depends on your skill level, and on how much time and money (for software) you want to put into this aspect of the conversion. But even if you do no cleanup at all, you will still have a digital version that will sound no worse than the original source material.

Finally, once you have the wave file the way that you want it, you can use any number of software programs (including Audiograbber, Nero, Roxio, MusicMatch, Windows Media Player and probably software that came with your sound card) to convert the wave file to an MP3 or WMA file. Note that if you use Audiograbber to do the MP3 encoding, it requires separate installation of an MP3 codec. If you don?t have one (the full retail versions of the Nero and Roxio packages usually install one), the ?Lame? MP3 codec is well regarded and is available without cost at http://lame.sourceforge.net/.

It?s possible to capture and encode directly to MP3 or WMA in a single operation with some software products, but personally I find that I?m not happy with the results unless I can trim the start and end and normalize the file prior to encoding. Also, I recommend that you ?tag? each song so that the song information (title, artist, etc.) is actually ?in? the MP3 or WMA file and will be displayed when the song is played (on most MP3 players). For tagging, I find Winamp and MusicMatch Jukebox to be the best available tools (both are available online for free download, although both have paid (but still low-cost) ?premium? versions that can do a lot more. See http://www.winamp.com and http://www.musicmatch.com for additional information on these programs.

This should get you well on your way towards completing your conversion project.

Submitted by: Barry W. of North Canton, Ohio

Discussion is locked

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recording analog vinyl to hard drive
Oct 20, 2006 3:07AM PDT

howdy i'm in the same boat..i have alot of ideas and questions anyone wanting to continue this discussion via e mail write me at todamax@telus.net thanks dusty akers kelowna b.c. canada

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Digitalyzing Old LP?s
Oct 20, 2006 3:23AM PDT

Kind sir:

SO VERY THANKFULL!!!
Dlanod5
d.a.grez@usa.net

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You are incredible
Oct 20, 2006 3:34AM PDT

Last night I ordered the USBTurntable and this morning you provided the whys and how toos. Amazing propitious luck! Thank you so much. You are Gurus!

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Easy Solution
Oct 20, 2006 4:38AM PDT

I would take the easy way out. There is now a $400.00 solution. It is made by TEAC, comes as one component.....play record make cd! Can't get much easier than that....and $400.00 isn't much to get rid of the headaches of a sound system, turntable, in, out, computer, etc.

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Gawd! Not TEAC!
Oct 20, 2006 4:57AM PDT

I tried that! Some glue from inside the workings melted on my good CDs and ruined them. The cassette part stuck on the record side, as if it were a car tire with a flat side. I sent it back ---and I had to do it on my own expense, and insure the unit at my expense, as well! They sent it right back, with nothing fixed. The same problems occurred. I phoned them about all this and they were rude as hell, and never reimbursed me for my ruined CDs. My advice is: Don't buy a damn thing form TEAC unless it's for someone you hate.

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Downloading digital copies
Oct 20, 2006 4:56AM PDT

First, let me make it clear that I believe music piracy is wrong, what ever the court's current interpretation of the laws may be in your country.

That said, I believe there are legitimate reasons to download music (or movies for that matter) from pirate sites. This is one of them. If you own the record or tape, and want a digital version, the easiest way to get a clean copy is by downloading it. If someone else has already done the work of converting their record, and you own the record, just download the one they converted. So long as you keep your original (the record, tape, video tape, 8-track, etc.), you retain a license to the recorded media as far as I can tell.

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Vinil and tape to CD/DVD
Oct 20, 2006 5:07AM PDT

Congratulations, Barry W.
I have a lot of vinil recordings and tapes (k7 and VHS) and I have transformed it in digital records.
I use also AUDIOGRABBER to capture the audio signal from my pick-up RCA through my receiver Sansui. And I use, too, a tape-deck Marantz to k7 and VCR JVC to VHS. My digital records are wonderful, but I use a sound board Creative and a video board capture ATI.
As you told, this work spend a lot of time, but, if us have time, it's useful.
After sound captured by Audiograbber it's necessary to use Sound Forge to clean it, because vinil sound is plenty of crackle and clicks.
My dear Barry, your explanation is very good. One more time I congratulate you.

Hug

Little World

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This may save you some money...
Oct 20, 2006 5:28AM PDT

I transfered vinyl to CD-R this way (without a computer). First, I'm assuming you already have a turntable set-up, therefore, the only other thing you'll need (unless you use a separate EQ for sound-shaping) is a stand-alone CD-R recorder. You'll also need some music CD-R's and CD-RW's.

What I do is clean the record and stylus and set the analog levels on the recorder so that the levels are at 100% by the time I turn them up from the time I start the record. This is accomplished easier if you're using an equalizer.

I cue-up each song to record on a CD-RW and start the turntable with the recorder's levels down. Then when I start the record, I start the recorder and turn-up the level control all the way a split-second before the record starts and make sure to dump it out and stop it when the song is over. This is where use of the CD-RW comes in just in case you screw-up....

After I have each song done, I use a DVD player to dub each song to the recorder using a CD-R for the final recording. After that, it's up to you whether you want to put the song on your computer or not. That would come in handy if you intend to make new CD's since it would save a lot of time compared to using the stand-alone machine every time you want to record vinyl.

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USB Turntable
Oct 20, 2006 5:41AM PDT

I recently purchased a USB turntable and have found this to be an easy, straightforward and relatively inexpensive way to convert my 500+ vinyls to digital. The process is simple and with a bit of experimentation, the solution that works best for me is as follows:

I purchased a TEAC GF-350 for approximately $200. I tried the connecting-directly-to-the-computer routine and found it both expensive and complicated and the wiring was, well, messy. The TEAC is a simple box player (like the old phonographs with built-in speakers. The lid opens to reveal a 3-speed turntable. On the front of the box is an AM/FM radio and a CD/RW drive with button controls. There is an auxillary input jack on the back to connect a tape deck for reel-to-reel, cassette and 8-track.

To Record:

1) Power on the player/recorder. Then,
2) place a record on the turntable.
3) Next insert a CD-R in the CD drive. (CD-R is recommended by TEAC for best results--the read/write kind may not be compatible with other equipment)
4) Next press the red RECORD button. The readout display will change to indicate track number [1] and start time [00:00].
5) Gently lift the tone arm off its rest and place the needle on the record (make sure beforehand you have the correct speed by adjusting the small black lever at the right near the base of the tone armature).
6) As soon as the record starts, press the PLAY button. The start time indicator will not begin counting. (If you want each song (record band) to be a separate track on the CD, you will have to do this manually by pressing the Track Increment button on the front panel of the player/recorder.) At the end of side one on the record, you can press the PAUSE button or wait and the player/recorder will automatically pause and increment the track number to the next track number on the CD.
7) Flip the record over and repeat steps 3 thru 6.

You can fit approximately two LPs per CD or about 20 45s. Manually incrementing the tracks is a bit tedious so if you have the patience to sit by the machine and press the Track Increment button every few minutes, you can do this but it does require some patience and freedom from distractions. What I usually do is begin the recording and convert one whole side of the record to a single track and later transfer the CD track to the computer then use music editing software like Cool Edit or something similar to break the songs into separate tracks. While the recording is going on, I take the record jacket and scan it into the computer so I can have the original art work (and the related jacket text) to go with the digital albums. (I sometimes print out a jewel case cover for the finished CD.) Of course, it goes without saying that the faster the processor, larger memory and large capacity hard drive space you have, the better.

I have really spent more than a few minutes on each song. I was amazed at the clarity of many songs after the TEAC converted the analog to digital. Some records have a lot more hissing, popping, etc. inherent in vinyls but for my purposes, the occasional hiss or pop was part of the nostalgia of the record age. Occasionally some recordings were so bad I had to do a bit of digital enhancement to make listening to the recording more pleasant. (Usually records that had a lot of wear and tear and are very old.) I found some old 78s that my mother made in the late forties when she studied voice and piano. Those I spend a lot of time on (several hours on some that were badly degraded) to fix them up. I am making them into CDs as Christmas gifts for my family this year. That was my motivation for making the purchase as my mother passed away three days after Christmas three years ago. That makes this machine priceless to me. But really, it turned out to work far better with better results than I had thought possible and I am very pleased with my purchase. I've converted all my 45s and approximately 60 albums in less than a month in my spare time. I thought it would take years and I only planned to transfer a few select albums and songs. Now I am planning to convert my entire vinyl library and all my cassette tapes as well.

Good luck to all of you with your conversions.

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conversion from records and cassettes
Oct 20, 2006 5:51AM PDT

I use EXPstudio and a jumper wire (from radio shack) from headset plugin to mic plugin.
the sound quality isn't perfect but it is pretty good

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"Old School Turntable
Oct 20, 2006 5:58AM PDT

I'm still looking into doing this for my record collection as well. However, I have an "old school" radio shack turntable which does not have any output jacks, and my stereo receiver was built back when Thomas Edison was a pup! I'm guessing I need to spend some time (and money!) and update/modify my stereo system before I try this. Correct?

Dan Boone

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VHS movies to DVD
Oct 20, 2006 6:04AM PDT

I want to know if I can transfer my VHS movie tapes to DVD's using my burner on my computer.

Thanks

Dave

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YES, With Pinnacle Editing Software
Oct 20, 2006 9:00AM PDT

Yes you can with a Video Capture device, "DAZZLE", which comes with the Pinnacle editing software. TigerDirect has a good price on DAZZLE and get's shipped right now. Stay away from ADS TECH because their support is virtually non-existant. Pinnacle's support is great.
I would recommend using an S-Video cable (in place of the yellow video cable) along with your red & white audio cables to hook up to your Video Capture device, which hooks to USB2 on your computer. The S-Video allows about twice the video resolution during the transfer from VCR to the computer as does the yellow cable.
There's other editing software out there but Pinnacle is bundled with DAZZLE.

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converttion
Oct 20, 2006 6:16AM PDT

I used to convert vynels and tapes to digital using Nero. It's very slow to separate the tracks eve if you tell the program to separate the tracks, it fail all the time.
I bought an "ADS instant music", the cheapest one. It is more efficient than Nero, for separation of tracks, volume. With that little machine I work much faster; 2, 3 time faster.
If you get a good "ADS instan music", about US$250, you can record video tapes too.
Good luck

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converting tapes to CD's
Oct 20, 2006 6:20AM PDT

You did a great job on vinyl but I didn't find anything about tapes.
Harold Johnson

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converting tapes to CD's
Oct 20, 2006 6:57AM PDT

converting tapes is identical to vinyl except you don't need a pre-amp to go from your turntable into the soundcard. Basically, you need a cassette deck, a phono left/right to minijack lead (these are available in all electrical retailers) and a computer. put the two phono leads in the left/right outputs of the cassette deck and the mini jack into the soundcard/motherboard on-board sound line input of the PC. Go to the control panel, select audio options on your computer and select 'line in' for recording and playback. The original post suggested some great recording software adobe audition (is what I use and is truly fantastic, for editing,cleaning up etc), but wavelab,soundforge,audiomagic will do just the same. press record on the software and press play on the tape player and 'voila' your off. The idea of clipping is also the same with cassette recording, make sure your recording levels are not in the red on the recording software (adjust the volume control using control panel audio options recording input bar). (I would always record in wave format 44.1/16bit to retain quality. with adobe audition you can record any length of tape in one go and edit it later (split tracks etc, I would also make sure the Dolby on the cassette deck(either B+C) is off, the software hiss reduction is far more effective and dynamic and you can adjust it after recording to suit your taste. This is also the same of noise reduction and crackles and pops. The initial post is absolutely right in that too much cleaning up of the recording can leave a recording lifeless, so go easy minimum is the best approach. The initial post is also absolutely correct in that the best results are from top line soundcards and tape decks. I have a nakamichi dragon going into a creative X-Fi platinum soundcard and the results are quite stunning. Once you have recorded the material, seperated it into tracks you are ready to burn as you would a normal CD (remember also as you recorded it in wave format then no further conversion to other formats is necerssary. If you need more detail/instruction please don't hesitate to ask.hope this has helped

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What about the stickler: Vanity 78rpms
Oct 20, 2006 6:33AM PDT

I have some vinyl 78rpm records in which my aspiring singing father cut his ego tenor/baritone voice in a studio where a hot needle cut into the vinyl or whaterver surface covering on the blank disc -- sort of an early CD thing by physical not electronic. That process created fuzzy hairs of fluff from the hot needle removing a portion of the base covering while being held a precise distance into the plastic covering. The needle progressed along a path from outside to inside (the reverse of CD/DVD)and precisely cut only so far into the plastic driven by the vibrations of the needle.

In this situation of restoration, it the weight of the needle and its precise fit into the groove that is very critical in both capturing while preserving the original audio and not destroying the base 78rpm in the process of experimention.

I attempted it with my old high end turntable with so-so results since the needle did not fit the groove due to being much smaller than the groove. In effect, the result was not optimum since that needle had too much wiggle space but still a result that I would not have had. Perhaps there is no home-grown cure.

What is your advice? This is old technology and my observation on the frontside is more that fifty years ago.

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Converting Old Vinyl and Tapes to Computer
Oct 20, 2006 6:36AM PDT

I have plenty of vinyl and tapes that I had and wanted to put them all on CD.
A friend told me about POLDERBITS. you can download for a trial period and I found it to be easy to use and you would have no trouble at all converting your Vunyls to the computer to be burnt onto a CD
Heather - Melbourne Australia

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What about the stickler: Vanity 78rpms
Oct 20, 2006 6:38AM PDT

I have some vinyl 78rpm records in which my aspiring singing father cut his ego tenor/baritone voice in a studio where a hot needle cut into the vinyl or whaterver surface covering on the blank disc -- sort of an early CD thing by physical not electronic. That process created fuzzy hairs of fluff from the hot needle removing a portion of the base covering while being held a precise distance into the plastic covering and not scratch to the bottom on its trek to the center hole. The needle progressed along a path from outside to inside (the reverse of CD/DVD)and precisely cut into the plastic driven by the vibrations of the needle.

In this situation of restoration, it the weight of the needle and its precise fit into the groove that is very critical in both capturing while preserving the original audio and not destroying the base 78rpm in the process of experimention.

I attempted it with my old high end turntable with so-so results since the needle did not fit the groove due to being much smaller than the groove. In effect, the result was not optimum since that needle had too much wiggle space but still a result that I would not have had. Perhaps there is no home-grown cure.

What is your advice? This is old technology and my observation on the frontside is more that fifty years ago.

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Converting old vinyl and tapes to digital
Oct 20, 2006 7:08AM PDT

Ferdi, I've been converting my record collection (50 year old) for YEARS and it is time consuming, but very rewarding when you make a CD that sounds nearly as good as the record was when new.

I have a Dual 1019 turntable with variable pitch and an Audio Technica magnetic cartridge and a new diamond stylus, and and I check the speed each time I use it. I feed this into a Radio Shack STA 870 65 watt receiver, then to a Sony TC-WR465 dual tape deck. (all very old).

I clean my records meticulously before I start with Discwasher D4+ brush and fluid to get the cleanest recording I can possibly get. I record all songs on one side at one time with the gaps between songs.

I do this because my sound system is in a different location than my computer and I realize there is a loss by making another analog recording, but my 70 year old ears, which are pretty good, can't tell the difference.

Then I play the tape I made thru an RCA boombox with a ''line out'' and feed it into my computer thru the ''mic'' input port with a patch cord from Radio Shack.

On my computer I use Musicmatch Jukebox ver.8 (free from internet) but I upgraded to ''Plus'' because it allows Super Tagging and other features not available on the free version. This costs some money. Also I downloaded the free DFX plugin that allows you to boost or replace fidelity (and other things) that might get removed when cleaning the old recording.

If you record with Musicmatch it puts it on your computer (in your ''My Music'' folder) in the mp3 format automatically. You start by selecting ''Recorder'' on Musicmatch and a recorder will appear on the screen below the player. Type in the name of your song, and start the Musicmatch recorder, then start your tape deck. When the song ends, press ''pause'' on your tape deck and ''stop'' on the Musicmatch recorder.

This allows you to type in the name of the next song. Continue till done.

Now I have an mp3 song on my computer. I then Convert this to a wave file (with Musicmatch) then put it into ''Data Becker Wave Editor'' (no longer available) to clean the pops and clicks out of it and ''normalize'' the recording and ''message'' it until I like what I hear. Normalizing sets all sounds to their maximum without distorting. Bad pops and clicks won't clean up completely automatically, so you have to do it manually with a program like Data Becker with an oscilloscope type screen that lets you cut out selected areas.

Now I have a wave file that is cleaner but lost some of it's sparkle thru the ''denoising filter''.

I then convert it back to an mp3 file with Musicmatch using the ''apply active enhancement during conversion'' option, and Viola, I have a better than original recording.

I also use ''Musicmatch Jukebox'' to make my CD's. All you do is select the mp3 songs you want to record, drag them to the Musicmatch player and hit the ''burn button, it will tell you what percent of the CD you have used or if you've exceeded it's capacity, and burn the disk for you. It also can print labels and jackets. The only thing I don't like about it is it has a 60 character limit on titles and if you exceed that number, it doesn't record it.

The easy way to tell if you have a problem is to select ''burn'', then select the ''E'' button at the top of the burn window, and it will ''highlight'' the problem titles in red, then cancel out of that window and reduce the number of characters in the problem title to 60 including the .mp3 at the end. Then try again. This time it should fly.

Have fun!

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LP to digital is easy...
Oct 20, 2006 7:44AM PDT

Two words for you: ARTcessories USB Phono Plus. It's a phono pre-amp with RCA ins (plus ins for digi coax, toslink, maybe more. The key: it has USB out. If you have a laptop (no stereo in) or a desktop without a very good sound card (you need stereo in...not just "mic" in) then I believe this is your best bet. Also has a rumble filter. To be clear: plug turntable into this box...box into your USB port. The USP Phono Pluse does RIAA equalization for you.

First and foremost: this allows you to use your own turntable --those "USB turntables" lack severely in the hi-fi department. They represent a non-versatile solution. Their tone-arms, motors, platters, etc. are laughable...and they are usually fitted with the lamest of lame cartridges. Don't be a victim!

Honestly, the ARTcessories machine sounds very good to the ear as a phono stage. You can also use it as a headphone amp. This is a very versatile little box with a very nice build quality to it. $100 got one shipped to my door. Best hundo I've spent in a while. (I have no monetary interest in ART or this product.)

As for scratches and pops on vinyl: you should have been more careful with your vinyl! OK, that's not helpful, I know. Clean the record (physically) the best you can with record wash solution. As for digital cleaning: imperfections can be masked or obscured, but they cannot be truly removed. (same as with digital images.) I do no digital filtering on my transfers. None. At all. Ever.

Finally: I use Audacity to grab the audio coming in to my DELL laptop. It works great and it's free.

The hard part: chopping tracks and labeling. Do this: use Audacty to capture a side. Then zoom waaay out so you can see the breaks between tracks. Highlight each song as a unit...then "Export Selection to MP3." I start from the front and delete each track as I transfer it out. (I do not save the changes I make to my master.aup file.) For the exports, I make a folder for each album, name my tracks 1, 2, 3, etc. Then I go back and spiff up the names and tags.

One tip for those albums where it's hard to see the gaps: look at the jacket or on the disc itself. Might the times for each track be printed there??? That makes it easy.

I've recorded roughly 50 LPs with this device and the software mentioned. If I had it to do all over again, I'd buy exactly the same thing even if it were twice the price.

Good luck.

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Vinyl to CDs
Oct 20, 2006 7:55AM PDT

There is also a wonderful,inexpensive and uncomplicated service out there called Tapes 2 CD (which inlcudes vinyl). you can see them at tapes2cd.org Lots of hassle free work.

Joe

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?USB Turntable?
Oct 20, 2006 8:06AM PDT

?USB Turntable? by Ion worked great foe me (eMac).

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NUMARK - USB Turntable
Oct 20, 2006 9:11AM PDT

I use The Numark turntable and highly recommend it.

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Low-cost turntable/phono preamps
Oct 20, 2006 8:51AM PDT

It's true that you can't plug in a turntable into just any soundcard or preamp and crank the level.

But you don't need to use a receiver's preamp if you buy a small, low-cost box called, variously, an "RIAA preamp" or "RIAA EQ preamp," or "Preamp with RIAA EQ," etc.

ART makes one called the "DEEJAYPRE-II Phono Preamp W/RIAA EQ." It's $49, 9v-powered, and is easier to use than keeping a bulky, unwieldy stereo receiver around just to convert vinyl.

Jon Chappell
jon@jonchappell.com

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Analog To Digital
Oct 20, 2006 9:39AM PDT

I have been transferring LP's and Tapes tp CD for years using Microsoft Analog Digital Plus which I have found to be the easiest of the ones I have used. I have also use Rip Vinyl and Magix Analog 10E. They all work fine but I have found that it's easier to split tracks with the Microsoft Analog Plus. It cost me $29 and Rip Vinyl cost $7. You do understand that you have to have an amplifier and source (turntable,tape deck) plugged into your computer although you can plug a tape deck directly into the computer bypassing an amp.Very somple and it doesn't take twenty minutes per song. Once the level is set you play back the information in real time to load it. Usually burning off takes about three mikutes at laest with my Plextor DVD/CD burner.

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Not and "amplifier" -- a preamplifier
Oct 22, 2006 10:37PM PDT

For a turntable, you need not an amplifier, but a *preamplifier* that has RIAA EQ in it. I think you mean to say "receiver," which includes this special type of preamp. (You're right about plugging a tape deck directly in, though.)

See my previous post on the low-cost, 9V-powered ART RIAA preamp, which gets around this problem.

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a software tool for cleaning up vinyl-based sound files.
Oct 20, 2006 9:39AM PDT

I had very good results with three 33 1/3 records. (It might have helped if I had a slightly oversized needle -- most of the noise comes from the botton of the groove.) After acquiring .wav files, I used Sound Forge's Noise Reduction 2.0 plug-in. (It is available for around $280. It might be usable with the cheaper Audio Studio package at $70; I think it was before Sony bought out Sound Forge.) I first used the Vinyl restoration tool. If there is significant crackle and pop, you might also use the crackle-and-pop tool. For really loud pops, I have found that simply editing them out (if they are narrow enough) works really well. It is important to adjust the edges of the deleted segment so that the value, and maybe direction of slope, are close on either side of the edit. This is where an adjustable video display is really important. After that, you can use the noise reduction tool. It is some kind of an adaptive filter. One needs to get a noise print first. The lead-in track is perfect for that: noise without music. Just a couple of seconds is sufficient, when available I try to get 3 or 4 seconds. Once the noise-print is acquired you can use the filter to remove noise from the entire recording. There is a lot of flexibility in setting the parameters of the filter -- too much. I have found best results using something in the neighborhood of 15 dB reduction, with their least strong (least chance of distortion) filter, the lowest numbered one of the four choices. The entire process is done independently for each side of a platter. After the first pass, one can do a second pass with the adaptive noise filter. That requires a brand new noise-print, preferrably from a different music-free segment -- but that is not that important. At each stage of the noise reduction you should check music sections for any sense of ''mechanical sound''. (If you find such, reduce the dB setting for the filter.) On the second pass with the Noise Reduction tool, there is a chance you will have to use less dB of reduction.

When tuning the process, it is much faster to use 10-30 seconds of music until you decide on the settings you will use for the entire side of the platter. I typically copy and paste the sections I use for noise-print and for music into a separate window, keep that as a baseline, then copy and paste that into individual windows for each combination I try. Once I am happy with the vinyl restoration, and crackle-and-pop removal if any, I use selections from that for my baseline in playing around with the final noise-reduction steps.

I often find that I am not fully satisfied with the final result -- but when I go back to compare with the original I am really pleased! As I work, my expectations get much higher, and I am trying to get rid of noise that is much smaller than the original. Whatever is left, the ear will still hear it.

I hope this helps.

Jim
James R. Johnston

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GoldWave MUCH cheaper than SoundForge
Oct 21, 2006 3:30AM PDT

I tried demos of SoundForge and GoldWave a couple years ago.

At that time I found GoldWave to be at least as good if not better. (I like Goldwave's user interface much better).

And GoldWave is only ~$50. You can get a free demo version at www.goldwave.com.

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Micosoft Plus Digital Media Edition
Oct 20, 2006 9:49AM PDT

I am at this time converting cassette music to WMA digital format. The Plus Analog Recorder is one of the programs in Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition and it is simple to use with good results. Very good help file. I bought mine from the store but I also see it online at Microsoft. Hope this helps.

Manny