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What's the best / easiest way to convert vinyl to digital?

KappaNut

KappaNut

Member
I've been offered a rather nice collection of albums in mint condition if I'd be willing to convert some of them to digital. My current setup is a Cary SLP-98P preamp hooked up to a VPI Scout 1.1 with Rogue Audio M-150 tube amps. What is the easiest way to convert these and what software or converter do I need? I've got a new and an old laptop that I could use.
Please let me know your suggestions.
Thanks!
Randy
 
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You will need editing software and an audio interface suitable for the laptop you use. What platform? Audacity is free and decent. I use the M-Audio Mobile Pre USB. The Behringer USB audio interface is good and cheap.
 
Ripping vinyl isn't easy IMO, having said that, figure out how to use audacity then get some kind of USB interface (ART usb phono interface for example). It doesn't matter what your amp or preamp is currently. Audacity will allow you to record a WAV file, then you can encode that file however you wish (flac, etc...). You'll need to do some adjusting during the recording process to make sure the levels are all good. There are vinyl ripping guides out there, I would search for them.
 
You may enjoy reading some of the other threads on this. I plan to do it too so I have been reading back plus magazine articles in Stereophile and the Absolute Sound Magazine (TAS).
I participated a little in a recent thread: http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=647255 but they lost me.
As I said there, I tried this once and failed but need to try again because I will move far away in a few years and have to leave my 3000 + LP collection for good.
I tried with Audacity which was way too hard for me, that is impossible. Other programs are recommended in TAS, one of which Pure Vinyl will be my next attempt.
I am going to try the NAD PP4 USB Phono pre, a/d unit:
http://wwv.crutchfield.com/p_745PP4/NAD-PP-4.html?tp=204
I would like to try the one TAS recommends: The expensive PS Audio but maybe the NAD will be adequate. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/ps-audio-nuwave-phono-converter/

Every magazine article that I have read in the last 5 years admits that it is a difficult task.
 
It's possible as i've done it this way: Assuming you have your turntable hooked to a Receiver. If your Receiver has it, there will be two RCA audio jacks in the back that will say among the lines of "Audio Out". You can buy a RCA to TRS cord and plug that cord from your receiver, into a computers Mic jack. Then just run an audio program and record when you start the TT and stop the recording when the song ends. Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but I'd assume this would be just as good quality as a USB connection?

That would be a cheap way assuming you already have: A. Receiver with an audio out jack / B. A Computer

Edit: I just realized he mentioned he has a tube amp, i'm not very familiar with them. Sorry haha
 
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KappaNut said:
What is the easiest way to convert these and what software or converter do I need?
Click to expand...

I have converted 176 LP's to CD's, so I have a little experience with the process. The easiest way to convert the LP's is to go to your favorite retailer and buy new CD's. Far less painful.

I can't afford that, either. What I actually do is connect the Tape Out from my integrated amp to the inputs of my sound card (M-Audio Delta 1010LT) and record the album sides using Adobe Audition 1.5. Once the LP sides are recorded, I play through them on the computer and listen for clicks, pops, or drop-outs. Clean up the clicks and pops, replace tracks with drop-outs, force silence between tracks, combine Sides A and B, amplify the combined audio file (to maintain the relative loudness of the tracks) to a standard "loudness" that works for me, and parse the LP into individual tracks. It is a tedious process. Sometimes I have to rerecord 2 or 3 times to get a clean recording.

Audition can burn a CD-R to the standard 16-bit, 44.1 kHz specs for a CD. I use data CD-R's which will play in most modern CD players. The CD-R's don't work in my brother's '97 GMC pickup CD player. That player requires audio CD-R's. I use Audition because it is what I have. Alternatives, including some free-ware, are available.

What's required: A turntable with a decent cartridge, a pre- (or integrated) amp, a good sound card, a computer, recording/cleanup software, and a CD burner.

I think stand-alone equipment is available that can make the conversion. No clue how or how well it works.

Not everyone uses the same process. I have developed a process that I like. YMMV.
 
You have a great source player and pre. So now the question is what path for digitising.

If one of your computers has a sound card, record a track at the highest resolution it will afford, say 96/24 or better. Play that file back through good cans and decide if it's good enough. If it is, keep going and you can downsample and export to CD or other formats later.

If it isn't acceptable, look for a good ADC. Focusrite is a brand suggested sometimes by people using your level of equipment.

In my own listening tests, hoping for smaller files, hi-res FLAC won, so that's what all my rips are saved as. My tiny Sansa player with Rockbox plays them, and so do some other non-iPod players. Depends on what format the person who wants the conversion files can handle.

Audacity is what I would use if I didn't have an easier-to-use program, which is Mac-only. It's free, so if it doesn't work for you no loss except time.
 
Randy: You could consider a neat, little digital recorder like the Sony PCM-M10, which you could use just like a tape recorder, just that you'd record onto flash memory card instead of a tape. Imo that's nowadays the more convenient way to do the job compared to using a computer sound card or external sound interface, which especially in combination with Windows can be a real pita...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Hardware:
I'm guessing it's unlikely that your laptop will have a phono/RCA interface. If so, you will need at least a cable or adaptor with twin RCA plugs on one end and a 3,5 mm on the other, running into your Line in or Mic In.

My Macbook Air doesn't even have Line In, so I run RCA-terminated cables from the preamp's Tape Out to an outboard DAC. The DAC then connects to the laptop by USB, which provides the DAC's power.

Software:
At first I used Audacity, but found it possibly too flexible. As much as I like tinkering, the thought of ripping upwards of 2 000 LPs using Audacity made my head hurt, so I bit the bullet and bought Vinylstudio. It's cheap, can be as automated or manual as you like, and does the job without much fuss. I'm pleased with the results.
 
Just out of curiosity... is the reason behind the conversion so the LP's owner can listen to them more easily, as in via a CD, MP3 mobility, in the car etc?

I'll never understand doing this process for any reason other than those, you know, tired of dealing with the whole vinyl process... just give me my music darn it! lol.

Converting to CD isn't going to be the hardest part... capturing the music is. There are plenty of great converters . Uploading it from the vinyl is where I'd first focus my attention. Just because home recording is made easy, doesn't mean you actually capture the analog signal in its entirety, or, as the record itself produces. That's fine too if you just want to have the music, just no illusion of quality is my main point.

I'll admit, I haven't read everyone responses... but, I ask and express, based on recording many bands over the last few years. Using a modified/hot rodded vintage Trident series 65 console, BAE Neve 73's & Neve portico pre-amps along with other analog goodies, Pro Tools HD accell 2 system w/PT10, and converted by an Apogee AD-16 X/DX-16 X (96k resolution). Although the gear can capture darn near all of it... I still wouldn't be over thinking it, nor, assume I've gotten anything other than mobility out of the endeavor. At which point, just capture it and move on
 
Turntable -> ART Phono USB -> Audacity recording at 16 bit/48 khz. Manually declick by identifying the clicks/pops and using the repair tool.
 
If your laptop has a 3.5 mm stereo mic in/line in jack, then all you should need is a cable with RCAs on one end and a stereo 3.5 mm plug at the other. Audacity is free, and fine for recording. I haven't gone any farther than recording whole sides. They sound remarkably like my vinyl - probably couldn't tell from the next room. Separating tracks and repairing clicks is where all the effort is, I'm sure.
 
sqls: As far as I'm aware, Audacity in combination with Windows still isn't really capable of recording in 24 bits (unless one compiles it oneself with additional ASIO support...), though...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Nero Wave Editor is free and pretty simple to use. I have done the sound card to receiver thing a couple hundred times. There are differences in the quality sound cards produce. Haven't used USB sound card but doubtful about them. Laptop would be pretty slow compared to a decent desktop (gamer desktop).
 
For my purposes, I find Audacity works very well. I run the tape-out from my receiver to the line-in of an old Pentium 4 desktop running Windows XP via a 3.5mm plug adapter. That old computer is not good for much else but works great for this. I apply the noise reduction signature I get from the blank spaces between the tracks and apply to the entire recording and usually do not have to deal with pops and clicks.

By the time you record the album, name the tracks, reduce noise, export as a WAV file and burn to CD, you will have invested about 2 hours per album. MAybe it is my imagination or maybe because of the time invested, but I think my CDs sound as good or better than some commercial CDs of the same material that I own.

The easiest way I have found is to borrow the CD from my library and copy it.
 
Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I'm going to download Audacity this weekend and give it a try and look at buying an ART phono usb. If I can figure this out, I'll be getting a nice collection of some 300 mint condition classic rock albums from a good friend.
Thanks again!
Randy
 
I use a Marantz PMD580 digital recorder. It records just like a tape deck to a CF card or to a computer. I record one side of a record and then label it with the titel and side. In playback the whole side plays just like a record as I do no editing.
 
This site will help you
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorials.html

One thing that frustrated me when I first started was not realizing that Audacity defaults to mono. I could not get both channels to record. The first thing you need to do is change it to stereo. Read the manual and tutorials and you will get along just fine. There is also a forum.
 
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