New to the digital world

[braincramp]

I'm an old fart who has just been turned on to the world of Flac recordings. I still play and love my vinyl and CD's but I want to start building up my library of digital music. If I wanted to be able to rip my existing vinyl plus purchase new music to download could I do it by just adding a digital turntable and HiRez audio player to my current system I have in my sig? I realize I won't be getting the full benefit of flac recordings with my old amp and speakers but I need to start somewhere without spending a ton all at one time. Thanks for any help!

 

[TerryS]

To start with, you will need a place to store the flac music files and a way to play them back. This is usually a music server. There are many, many ways to implement this. The files and the player may be on a laptop, or on some dedicated piece of hardware. I use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box to store my files and host the server program, and a Squeezebox Touch to play them through. A cheap way that many people use is the Raspberry Pi. It can handle the storage and the playback functions, or just the playback, with the files on some other device on your home network. There are so many ways to go about doing this, it is hard to discuss them until you narrow down what you want to do a bit. Look around for Raspberry Pi servers / players. There is a bunch of step-by-step instructions on how to put it together out on the web.

Since your Yamaha probably doesn't have any digital inputs, you will need a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) to provide the analog signals from the server to your Yamaha. In my case, the Squeezebox Touch has a built in DAC. If you go with a Raspberry Pi, there are DACs that plug onto it, or you can use a USB DAC. Again, so many options.
This would let you play flac songs you download, and of course you can rip your CDs to flac and play them also. There are some apps for smart phones that let you control the server and choose what songs to play.

As far as ripping your vinyl (called 'needle-dropping'), I would stay with your Thorens and add an interface. A popular one is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
https://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2
It connects to your PC through the USB and digitizes the analog signals from your turntable (after going through the phono amp section of your Yamaha). Then you use software on your PC to record the vinyl. I use a program called Goldwave, but again, there are many choices. Another program called Clickrepair can be used to clean up the clicks and pops from the digital file. A lot of people use Audacity, which is a freeware program that lets you record and clean up noise. The programs will let you save the files in flac format.

The Focusrite 2i2 also has a DAC that can be used for playback, depending on how you set up your server. You can probably connect the audio interface (Scarlet 2i2 or whatever) into the tape loop of your system.

I hope this helps get you started. I know it seems like a lot to learn, but separate out the server (playback) functions from the needle-dropping (recording) functions and start looking a piece at a time. Start with the server side since that will let you play any files you want to download or rip from CD. The recording of the vinyl can wait 'till you get the server running.

Terry

 

[braincramp]

To start with, you will need a place to store the flac music files and a way to play them back. This is usually a music server. There are many, many ways to implement this. The files and the player may be on a laptop, or on some dedicated piece of hardware. I use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box to store my files and host the server program, and a Squeezebox Touch to play them through. A cheap way that many people use is the Raspberry Pi. It can handle the storage and the playback functions, or just the playback, with the files on some other device on your home network. There are so many ways to go about doing this, it is hard to discuss them until you narrow down what you want to do a bit. Look around for Raspberry Pi servers / players. There is a bunch of step-by-step instructions on how to put it together out on the web.

Since your Yamaha probably doesn't have any digital inputs, you will need a DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) to provide the analog signals from the server to your Yamaha. In my case, the Squeezebox Touch has a built in DAC. If you go with a Raspberry Pi, there are DACs that plug onto it, or you can use a USB DAC. Again, so many options.
This would let you play flac songs you download, and of course you can rip your CDs to flac and play them also. There are some apps for smart phones that let you control the server and choose what songs to play.

As far as ripping your vinyl (called 'needle-dropping'), I would stay with your Thorens and add an interface. A popular one is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
https://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2
It connects to your PC through the USB and digitizes the analog signals from your turntable (after going through the phono amp section of your Yamaha). Then you use software on your PC to record the vinyl. I use a program called Goldwave, but again, there are many choices. Another program called Clickrepair can be used to clean up the clicks and pops from the digital file. A lot of people use Audacity, which is a freeware program that lets you record and clean up noise. The programs will let you save the files in flac format.

The Focusrite 2i2 also has a DAC that can be used for playback, depending on how you set up your server. You can probably connect the audio interface (Scarlet 2i2 or whatever) into the tape loop of your system.

I hope this helps get you started. I know it seems like a lot to learn, but separate out the server (playback) functions from the needle-dropping (recording) functions and start looking a piece at a time. Start with the server side since that will let you play any files you want to download or rip from CD. The recording of the vinyl can wait 'till you get the server running.

Terry

Thank you so much for your help Terry ! It is confusing to a old vinyl guy like me but you've definitely provided me with a good start.

 

[TerryS]

I know when I first started down the path, I was overwhelmed by all the options. But I'm glad I did it. The ability to sit on the couch and use my iPhone to browse through my music library and select what to play has really changed they way I listen yo music.
There are some great suggestions on this forum about how to get started with a music server.

Terry

 

[bigx5murf]

If you have an older PC, I suggest turning it into a HTPC, and hook it up to an AVR with some sort of digital connection, preferably HDMI.You'll have a music server, that can also serve videos, and streaming options.I really like openelec as a front end, has more of a set top feel. Although setting it up the way you like can be tedious.

 

[E.Auer]

The simplest and easiest start is just to rip to your PC. And then connect a CCA (Chromecast Audio) to your amp. Use a Phone as a remote with the App of your choice. Hi-Fi cast is pretty good.

Eric

 

[Raynald]

The simplest and easiest start is just to rip to your PC. And then connect a CCA (Chromecast Audio) to your amp. Use a Phone as a remote with the App of your choice. Hi-Fi cast is pretty good.

Eric

Nice easy way to get started. I would recommend getting an external hard drive for storage. If you have an older PC or laptop you may not have a ton of space. I have about 1600 CDs worth of FLAC and it takes up just under 500GB. You can pick up a good 1 or 2TB HD pretty cheap and that will keep you going for a while.

The next step is to buy two because you can then back everything up. You don't want to ever have to re rip everything.

The Squeezebox Touch recommendation above is another excellent one. You plug it into your CR-1020 just like a CDP and then you have access to all of your music plus internet radio from around the world with very good sound quality and it has an excellent digital out so the ultimate sound quality is limited only by how far you ant to go with external DACs.

 

[braincramp]

These are some cool idea's! I have a very good laptop I'm not using and my son is an IT manager so he can get me about anything I want at a good price. I have found out from sampling some stuff that the music still only sounds as good as the recording. I listened to some early ZZ Top stuff that sounded pretty crappy. I guess I always knew that but maybe I was expecting miracles.

 

[KrisM]

That Teac recorder in your sig, are you happy with it? Have you tried to record any vinyl with it?
That, along with your Thorens and Yamaha, just might be all you need to get started with the vinyl digitizing process. Get some CD-RW discs(ones that are suitable for your machine), and do some experimenting. If they sound good to you, you can rip those CD-RW discs to FLAC, erase them, and do it again.

I gotta say, you're dealing with a couple of different issues here. The vinyl to digital thing, plus getting started with playing back digital files.
Lots of help here, so you're in good hands.

One thing I will say, is if you're going down the FLAC path sort out how you want things tagged now. It'll make it way easier as you go along.

 

[Raynald]

Agreed, look at your whole collection, what you are likely to add and think about how you want it organized and tagged before beginning. I use dbpoweramp software for ripping and it has excellent tagging abilities.

 

[braincramp]

That Teac recorder in your sig, are you happy with it? Have you tried to record any vinyl with it?
That, along with your Thorens and Yamaha, just might be all you need to get started with the vinyl digitizing process. Get some CD-RW discs(ones that are suitable for your machine), and do some experimenting. If they sound good to you, you can rip those CD-RW discs to FLAC, erase them, and do it again.

I gotta say, you're dealing with a couple of different issues here. The vinyl to digital thing, plus getting started with playing back digital files.
Lots of help here, so you're in good hands.

One thing I will say, is if you're going down the FLAC path sort out how you want things tagged now. It'll make it way easier as you go along.

Yes , I love the Teac. I've recorded about 300 albums with it and it works well.

 

[KrisM]

Yes , I love the Teac. I've recorded about 300 albums with it and it works well.

Oh yeah, then you're partly there already! You can start ripping those copies to your PC.

I'm a rip to FLAC using EAC(Exact Audio Copy) guy, as are many here, so as daunting as it looks at the start, you'll get help. if you need it. And forget which one, but when I got EAC setup for FLAC I used an online tutorial, probably from Hyrdogenaudio.
There are other great ripping programs out there, too, so do a little reading on the topic. Some are free, some are paid.

 

[KrisM]

Agreed, look at your whole collection, what you are likely to add and think about how you want it organized and tagged before beginning. I use dbpoweramp software for ripping and it has excellent tagging abilities.

It really can't be stated enough, right?

And even the best programs that auto tag aren't always perfect for ones needs/tastes.

A quick example for the OP;
"The Beatles", or "Beatles, The" or "Beatles". Which way would you go? Any of the three would work just fine. But what if you have multiple albums by them, do you want them labelled by all three methods? Yuck. You want it consistent all across your albums.
What genre do you want to lump them into? I've seen some downright funky genre labels pop up with auto tagging.
Do you want to go deeper with tags, and add things like what record label each album was on? How about if you have multiple versions, like mono and stereo? Or in your case, if you are ripping from your vinyl recordings do you want to include vinyl pressing info in the comments tag?

Lots to think about, but if you start right(for your needs) it'll be like second nature in no time, and it's way easier to get it right at the start than it is to go back and repair tags.

 

[dewdude]

Welcome to "The 01100100 01100001 01110010 01101011 Side". What we might lack in perceived warmth, we make up for with error correction.

I realize I won't be getting the full benefit of flac recordings with my old amp and speakers but I need to start somewhere without spending a ton all at one time.

Depending what you mean by "full benefit", this is not entirely true. I use a pair of tube amps from 1957 and a pair of Ohm speakers from the late 70s; and I listen to a lot of high-res FLAC and DSD (SACD) through this setup without giving it a second thought. I see you have a CD player/recorder; do you listen to that on your system? Does it sound fantastic? Then you'll get "full benefit" of FLAC on your "old amp and speakers"..at least in my opinion.