Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer

Subject: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: rabbitrunning
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 07:57 PM

My sister is about to buy a new computer, in part to scan a lot of my mom's gigantic photograph collection while Mom's still around to tell us who's who in the pictures. She'd love to be able to make CD's or computer readable files of Mom's increasingly fragile collection of records -- especially if there's a program that can take out a lot of the pops that we kids put into them by playing them over and over. Tapes work, but the two year old in the same house likes to play "spaghetti" tape, and CD's are easier to send around to us kids in the mail.

Any suggestions on how much computer, which hardware, which software, and how one hooks the turntable to the recording device would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Lucius
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 08:15 PM

I'm in the process of setting my MAC up for the same. You will want at least a 2 free GIGs--I'm installing a hard drive to use as a scratch disc. That is, if you want to burn CD's to play on any CD player. MP3 files take up far less space, but you need a dedicated player, or rely on your computer to play them. Adaptec makes one of the most popular CD programs (Toast) and your CD-RW will probably come with a copy. I believe that Adaptec's (Jam comes with EQ's for cleaning up vinyl. There is a few shareware programs out there for converting from one format to another. Lastly, getting the sound to your computer is a challenge. I'm shopping for a good analog to digital PCI card because I don't trust the A/D converters on my MAC. If I get this finished in the next couple of weeks I'll post again. I know you'll get more (and probably better) postings, but I hope that this gets you started.

Good Luck

Lucius

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 08:36 PM

You need a lot of RAM memory and a lot of hard drive - most record tracks are 60Mb in size, often more.

Your soundcard needs to have a STEREO line input socket - some only have mono. A Soundblaster is a safe bet, and it usually comes complete with the software you need. Added to which, it's likely to be 'cleaner' than some of the others - they tend to put background noise on with the recording.

I personally prefer Sound Forge, but I'm a professional sound engineer for my day job...

REALLY IMPORTANT! The output of your turntable will need a pre-amp, which boosts the signal to line level, but also provides RIAA equalisation.

No need to get too technical - use the record out from your hifi amp, and all this is taken care of! RIAA preamps are as commonplace as rocking horse manure these days!

Your CD writer should come with any mastering software you need, basically there are three formats you can use.

Audio CD is standard CD player format, Joliet is data format for computers, and there is also the multimedia format where the first 'track' is computer data, and the remaining tracks are Audio.

Audio CD tracks are saved as .WAV files on your hard drive, at a sample rate of 44.1 KHz. You copy them on to a CD using the software supplied with your drive, and you have an audio CD! It's that easy!

Word of warning - Audio CD format is not 'multisession' - you have to copy all the files on in one 'session', or the TOC (table of contents) will not write correctly.

DON'T buy Audio blank CD's. These are for hifi CD writers, and are a con! For computer CD writers, plain ordinary blank CDR's are all you need. They come in 74 minute and 80 minute versions (650Mb and 730Mb, respectively).

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Musicman
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 09:30 PM

I go from my turntable into my sound card, useing a program called Cooledit. Works great for me... save the files as an Mp3, then use adaptec to write to the CD..... Once I have written the CD, I save all my mp3's as files to a disk as well..

I have found using a program like cooledit allows you the opportunity to trim the beginning and ends of the songs of unwanted silence. I am sure there are other programs that do the same thing.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rana
Date: 19 Sep 00 - 11:07 PM

This thread subject came up recently - not going to bother repeating completely what I said there - cool edit looks good, I use a file called audiotools which I recommend (no personnel connection to it). Easiest thing is to do is to put tape output moniter line into soundcard - get correct equalisation - anyway put vinyl into supersearch for the last month and other thread should come up.

Rana

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Escamillo
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 12:04 AM

Just in case you didn't think about the time involved in the process, I would remind you that you have to play the vynil at its own speed while the sound card is recording the sound in WAV files (approx. 1 hour for a typical LP), then use Easy CD Creator or a similar program to convert the WAV files to sound tracks on the CD, approx. 20 minutes more. It is not advisable to work with other programs while recording, because synchronization errors could arise, and probably you would have to start all over again. Be patient !

Un abrazo - Andrés

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Easy Rider
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 10:46 PM

Can you play a record or tape into your sound card and get a MIDI file on your hard disk?

What do you need to do that?

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Escamillo
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 03:07 AM

No, you can't, EasyRider. MIDI is nothing but a series of digital codes that identify musical events and properties like pitch, velocity, timbre, duration, volume, etc. and cannot be built up out of pure sound (which is a complex mixture of vibrations) or its electric representation.

A MIDI sequence can be built only by pressing the keys of a keyboard (equipped with a MIDI output) or entering note by note in the staff, by means of a program like Cakewalk, EasyWriter, Finale, Sibelius, Encore, etc.

However it is theoretically possible to make an extremely fine analysis of sound and extract those events. It would take a supercomputer and some decades of software development. Possibly we will see an approximation within ten years.

Un abrazo - Andrés

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: GUEST,george Henderson NSC
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 10:56 AM

I copy from vinyl or cassette tape directly to a mini disk which gives a superb reproduction fo the original material.

The latest CD burners will allow you to write directly from source.

seems to me a lot easier and probably cheaper than complicated computer programmes.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Anglo
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 11:19 AM

Lucius, unless you have an old 68xxx Mac your built-in audio is probably good enough to make CDs. I don't know the tech specs, but I've been told by people who apparently know that my 7500 doesn't need an additional card and I don't plan to get one.

I'm not set up yet, but I have a recent Yamaha 8424 burner - the Toast for Mac program does fine for copying CDs, but not for creating/editing sound files from audio input. For that you need Toast De Luxe (an additional $80 or so) which also had some sound editing functions.

Probably better than that is Sound Sculptor ($30 shareware) which Peter Berryman recommended to me, or Ray Gun ($100 or so) from Arboretum. You can download demos of these to try them - I've been away so I've not had time to try them myself yet.

There are fancier programs too. My brain is pretty low tech, and Ray Gun has some built in automatic clean-up routines, so I'll probably look at that one myself. Good luck.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: domenico
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 11:53 AM

I've been doing it for about three months now, and here's the rig I've got.

A) Transient Noise Eliminator (It's a box that eliminates pops from analog signal, it's plugged in at the output of the turntable)

B) RCA L+R cables -> Stereo 1/8" jack

C) Turtle Beach Montego II Sound Card, Line In

D) Sound Forge for Recording in WAV, and Audiograbber for converting to MP3 (Make sure your settings for this are to 128 bitrate or higher, otherwise you really start to diminish the sound)

I'll record the entire side, and then in Sound Forge go through and cut out the individual tracks (so you can use the CD for selecting tracks, otherwise it's all one big track).

MP3's store smaller, so that's the way I keep 'em, and when I want to burn a CD, I'll convert the tracks I want back to WAV, and paste them in to one long session in Sound Forge. The reason I take this extra step is so Sound Forge can take all of the tracks, and trim them to a consistent volume level (useful when mixing different albums). I clip them back out, and use Adaptec's EZ-CD Creator Pro to lay out the Audio CD.

Voila! I now can share all my crazy New Wave obscurities with the rest of the world... :)

Domenico

P.S. , I meant "...crazy folk obscurities... " :)

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: MK
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 12:04 PM

I like Escamillo's explanation of Midi. Spot on. To put it into an even clearer perspective, think of the piano roll used on old player pianos. The perforations and imprints on that piano roll, (while providing no musicial sounds themselves) instruct the piano mechanism on which notes and in what combination and timing to depress. Midi does the same thing to the sound source it's connected to. Obviously the more voices your sound card is capable of representing the more accurate those sounds will be. If it is an entry level or very basic sound card, the sounds triggered will only provide an approximation of how the song was intended to sound.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 02:55 PM

As to whether or not it's worth using a computer to deal with the recordings, the original posting specifically asked about using a program to filter out unwanted noise. If your vinyl is perfect (doubtful!) you could record direct, but I'm too much of a perfectionist to put up with the results of that!

Cool Edit is all very well, but Sound Forge is much better.

Don't forget that a CD Audio track needs 2 seconds silence at the start to ensure compatibility with older CD players (and some cheaper new ones!). MP3 files don't need it; remember that an MP3 file is a compressed format, and some 'information' is lost during compression. Using an MP3 file to produce a CD Audio wave file is, therefore, not a bright idea! Wave to MP3 is the intended direction...

MIDI is being used to operate Fairground Organs, these days. It's so easy to operate a few electromagnetic valves from a MIDI player that the cardboard books can be preserved whilst still obtaining the exact same sound from the organs. It's not cost effective for pianolas, though... particularly as there are so many MIDI pianos around these days.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Grab
Date: 26 Oct 00 - 07:46 AM

According to a friend, Goldwave has a good anti-hiss filter which'll remove some of the crap. A computer is a VERY bad environment for audio since all the multi-MHz clock stuff is basically a high-frequency noise generator!

If you've got a PC with an "all-in-one" motherboard which does your sound, consider buying a new soundcard. The playback is generally OK, but recording is often appalling (mine was dreadful and added loads of extra noise) - besides, soundcards are dirt cheap these days. This also moves the audio stuff a bit away from the mobo which can't hurt.

The ideal solution would be an external A-to-D to sample the audio so that it's not affected by the computer noise. I've not seen any at any reasonable price though - you're talking pro kit here.

Grab.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: WyoWoman
Date: 26 Oct 00 - 09:40 AM

I'm lurking and enjoying this thread a great deal. I'm not doing this yet but will hang onto the thread for when the time comes.

Funny how you never set out to be a gear-head, but one thing just keeps leading to another ...

Lay on ....

ww

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Metchosin
Date: 26 Oct 00 - 02:09 PM

Prior to any recording, you should clean your records. DiscWasher makes a good product for cleaning vinyl and also a refurbishing with LAST (liquid archiva sound treatment) can make a considerable difference in sound quality before recording.l

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 12:42 PM

Does anybody know about the qulity differences between minidisc and computer CDs? I have got some vinal that I think of putting on either CD or mimidisc.thanks.john

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Ugly (really unattractive) Man
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 01:25 PM

John,

The technical difference is that the sample rate of CDs is 44.1kHz whereas for minidisc it is 32kHz.

Can you hear the difference?

Lots of people 'claim' they can - I can't...

Personally, I'd choose CD as my medium, mostly because of ease of transfer to the computer

Hope this helps

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 01:29 PM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 01:30 PM

There is a Pioneer cd recorder which, I am told, will record from source to cd. It is reasonable in cost. Does anyone out there know anything about it? At present, I go from vinyl to tape. If my understanding of the Pioneer recorder is correct, I could bypass the computer additions and just add to my sound system. OK, I should go to the store and try it out, but I am looking for advice and experience as well.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 03:13 PM

As far as I'm aware, the Pioneer (along with other domestic CD writers) requires the special 'Audio' CD's with 'prepaid royalties'. A blank 'Data' CD is rejected, as the 'Audio' CD's have additional information in the ID track not found on 'data' CD's.

For me, the difference between paying 17p per disc for 'data', and £2.00 or more for 'audio' isn't worth the slight inconvenience of having to write them via my computer! Added to which, I can edit the tracks before burning the CD, which isn't possible on a direct machine - make a mistake, and you're stuck with it!

Don't forget that you need an RIAA equalizer if recording directly from vinyl to any recordable media - use the 'record out' on any domestic amplifier with phono inputs, and all is well. Can't think why the soundcard manufacturers haven't latched onto that one yet...

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: bodhran-man
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 03:14 PM

I suggest (if you don't like 60 Hz hum and don't want to purchase electronics to get rid of it) put the computer, monitor, all peripherals, stereo, turntable, et al on a power strip so you aren't on different circuits.

I also use Diamond Cut Audio 32. It's expensive, but works great at filtering, changing speed, chopping into individual files, etc.

That's my two cents.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 03:19 PM

Bernard-What's a RIIA equalizer & how much do they cost? thanks.john

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 03:42 PM

In simple terms, a record track is a wiggly line. Bass frequencies make the line wiggle more violently than treble frequencies, so those frequencies are reduced (attenuated) when cutting the master.

This means that the track density (playing time) can be increased, but it also means the stylus will track better, damaging the disc less (each playing damages the disc, no matter how good your equipment!).

When the record is played, the attenuated frequencies must be restored, which is the purpose of the RIAA equalizer. Most RIAA equalizers also include a level raising pre-amplifier for magnetic cartridges; the output of ceramic cartridges is significantly higher, so they don't need a pre-amp.

Price? Difficult to say, as they aren't readily available any more. When they were commonplace, cheap battery powered ones were around 5 pounds sterling (around 8 dollars), but mains powered ones were almost ten times that.

As I said, any domestic amplifier designed to reproduce vinyl will already have the equalizer; otherwise, a 'disco' mixer is another option.

If you play a record without EQ, it will sound thin and nasty!

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 07:49 PM

Bernard and bodhran-man- thanks for the input. Most helpful!

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: GUEST,cobber
Date: 05 Sep 01 - 08:46 AM

I've been doing this for a while now for all my old folkie records that will never be re-released for various reasons. I have two amplifiers, one for record and one for playback so I'm listening to what I produce through a good stereo rather than crappy computer speakers. The other amp takes the input source, either cassette, radio or turntable and it has the speaker switch in the off position. I go from the record out section into a mixer that allows me to control the input volume and that is plugged into the sound card input. I started using the mixer because I use Cool Edit Pro and I kept overdriving the input. Cool edit lets you remove the pops one by one as you can see them as you hear them and taking them out by simply looking at the wave in a magnified view then deleting the pop doesn't seem to affect the music. You can also set it to remove the pops automatically but this takes hours. I set it up to do a track then go to bed and save it in the morning. The finished result is good doing it that way, but I generally only do it for those records that were played to death at boozy folkie parties back in the sixties and bear the scars. If you set the levels too high, it mistakes some of the music for noise and alters the sound - you get used to it by trial and error. I always save as a PCM WAV which seems to give me the best result. It's time consuming and sounds complex (but it isn't really) but it's worth it when you hget your old favourites back. I also record a whole side then break it up and work on one tracj at a time. I also picked up a 2gig hard drive cheap when someone upgraded and I use that as an image file. It seems to be happier with the workings on one disc and storage on the other.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 05 Sep 01 - 03:15 PM

A man after my own heart, Cobber!

I prefer Sound Forge myself (I have Cool Edit, too), as it processes files more quickly. Each to their own!

I have some hard drives in caddies for my D drive, so I can swap them about (IDE, so I can't 'hot swap'). You have to remember to leave enough free space for the image file with most CD writing software - it's not a good idea to write 'on the fly', as 'jitters' are more likely to occur during file seeking.

It's a good idea to defrag regularly - if only to 'consolidate free space' - every bit of extra speed helps!!

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rank
Date: 05 Sep 01 - 07:57 PM

This is probably so basic that I'm embarassed to ask it, but how do you change wav files into mp3s.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 05 Sep 01 - 08:25 PM

Bernard-Thanks for your information, it was really helpful

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: GUEST,YUM YUM
Date: 05 Sep 01 - 10:44 PM

ALL ABOVE IS 'FANTASTIC NEWS' (TO THE EDUCATED.) Bernard the 2sec thingy is important! I have a loy of recordings (audio tape) from sessions in the 60's-70's and 80's of singers who are now past on(rip)is it still possible to copy to cd. I have recordings of sessions with almost no breaks in between each reel/jig etc how does one go about seperating ?? is there anyone professional who can help - i dont want to lose all I have.

YUM YUM

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 06 Sep 01 - 09:30 AM

Bernard -

I'm curious about the difference in CD-R's - music vs. data. I began making CD's using the cheaper Data CD-R's and found that about 25% of them would experience some difficulities when playing back in other decks. I switched to Memorex audio CD-R's and the playback problems disappeared.

I understand that there is a track for royalty purposes, but isn't there something on the CD that prepares a "table of contents" that allows for proper playback?

I'm still learning CD technology and this thread has been most helpful!

Ron

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Bernard
Date: 07 Sep 01 - 05:28 PM

Cheap CD-R's can be a lottery, as they are not made to the exacting standards of the dearer ones.

As far as 'Audio' CD's are concerned, I daresay there is software around which will sidestep the problem.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear enough - you can use any CDR in a computer-based writer, and produce finished audio CD's, which should play on the majority of CD players.

However, if you have a standalone CD writer as part of your HiFi system, the odds are that it will require specially prepared CD's, because its firmware is designed to reject 'ordinary' blanks.

The TOC (Table of Contents) is separate from the disc ID - which also tells the burner what size of CD it is - and is not easy to replicate, if it is possible at all.

Because of the nature of CDR, some domestic players have problems reading cheaper CD's, partly because of imperfections in the substrate, optical imperfections in the clear plastic disc, jitters because the balance of the disc is less than perfect, and so on.

The burner itself can give rise to problems - the laser temperature is critical for accurate, properly focussed pits (not the kind you get in fruit! Holes!) If the pit isn't clearly defined, some readers will give up!

The separation of tracks problem is down to your burner software. I have to admit that I've never successfully done it, but I've not really looked into it that deeply - anyone else know the answer?

I'm still using 'ToGo' by CeQuadrat, because it came with my burner, and does everything I need it to do...

Rank!! To compress WAV files into MP3 files, you need software! Cool Edit can do it - you just 'Save As' MP3, and the WAV file remains intact.

There are plenty of programs around which will read an audio CD and automatically convert all the tracks to MP3, many of which are shareware... or, to be more precise, 'crippleware' - they don't work properly until you register!

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Rank
Date: 07 Sep 01 - 07:13 PM

Thanks Bernard. Will investigate.

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: fumblefingers
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 01:38 AM

I've been converting my 35 year old LPs to CDs for about 3 years. The gear I have works very well.

http://www.xpsound.com/ I have an XP 201 pre-amp which comes with DC Cart 32 software, which has lots of features to get rid of unwanted noises common in old vinyl records and a bunch of other features you will probably never use. It costs about US$100.
You'll need a sound card with stereo input.

I bought a turntable on the Internet from Garage-A-Records. It has 78 and 33.3 RPM. It was about $110.

I first clean my records in the kitchen sink with a mild dishwashing liquid and a sponge, keeping the soap and water off the labels. The cleaner the better. Rub along the grooves. Use the sprayer to get all the grunge out of the grooves. Blow dry it if you can to keep lint and so forth off the record.

I save the files to a 30 gig hard drive. The larger ones produce some things that can add unwanted stuff to your recorded files.

My records are all old country, so I'm not a audiophile. It works great on George Jones and Johnny Cash.

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: treewind
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 03:19 AM

WAV to MP3

WinLame specialises in conversion
Audacity (does a lot more besides, including recording audio)
Both are free.

Anahata.

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: GUEST,padgett
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 03:50 AM

I have been successful in transfering from vinyl turntable to an Edirol- R1 which has mp3 format. Transfer to Hard drive on pc from USB by a lead and then burn to CD using Focus Audio software downloaded from Internet (small cost)

Ray

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 09:13 AM

We've just bought an ION USB Turntable... not for the faint of heart or brain. If I ever get it to work I'll let you know. It uses Audacity and is supposed to be an easy way to play/record vinyl & cassette through the PC via the USB ports... if I succeed, I'll let you know!

LTS

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 10:05 AM

ION USB Turntable looks good. It will even convert 78s. I suppose it's only number crunching but us old analogue guys still think the modern world is full of witchcraft. Tee Hee.
Seriously thoughDO DO DO use a 79 stylus the modern stereo ones will chew up your precious 79s.

Oh by the way I wash my old L.P.s as above but then play them as wet as possible (mind the 'lectrics) The results are sometimes magical, the stylus just seems to float over the scratches.

Andy

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 10:10 AM

Well I've managed to download the software and assemble the turntable - although I have to tell you that the instructions for weighting the counterbalance on the needle arm are not exactly clear.... and I've not managed to get any sound out of it...which again, doesn't help when counterbalancing the etc etc....

It keeps telling me to click on a button that isn't coming up on the screen.... perhaps that's the problem?

LTS

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Nickhere
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 07:23 PM

There's a lot of food for thought here - I'm kinda new to audio-to-CD technology, so it'll take me a while to digest all the above. I'm not sure, but when people are talking about soundcards etc., it seems they are talking about cards for PC? Maybe I'm wrong? I'm using an iBook G4 running OSX. I've tried Garageband but honestly, it's not great. I've heard Audacity is better, and seen some posts here on it as well, so I might give it a try. I've also heard about those Philips or Pioneer direct recorders: you just hook your turntable up etc., But they cost about €400 here, and the guys in the shop were most unhelpful. They didn't have one in stock, and wouldn't get one so i could try it out in-store to see if it would do they job I had in mind. Worse, they were unable to answer basic questions like "can you record the LP so that there are seperate tracks on the CD, or will it come out as all one long track?" "Can you edit / control / equalise the sound while recording?" etc., So I gave up on them and went back to seeing if it could be done by computer. I can record LPs onto the HD alright using various programs, but the sound quality is appalling. I was interested in what someone was saying about some sound cards being mono, others stereo: that may be part of my problem, I'll have to look into it (for some reason I assumed the soundcard in the G4 was stereo - certainly when using iTunes the sound is in stereo, don't know if that applies to recordings made via line-in devices / mic etc, though).

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: oggie
Date: 04 Oct 06 - 08:21 PM

As part of a major de-clutter I am sorting and recording my collecion of 400 lps prior to disposal of most of them.

Technique so far is to record them from the tape out on my stereo into my laptop. I'm using an Ion Indigo external sound card which really enhances the sound and I'm recording using either winamp, Steinberg Clean, or a program my son put together. All of these are saved as WAV files and copied to DVDs in batches, approx 8 lps to a disc. From there it's a matter of time and choice, some I'm ripping to MP3 as they stand, some are going through CLEAN (getting better but I'm not fully happy yet) some I'm leaving for now.

I've tried Audacity but I personally don't like it.

All the best

Oggie

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Nickhere
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 09:01 PM

Oggie - I've tried Audacity as well since my last post, and I'd have to agree with you. i don't like it very much. the sound quality of the recording seems to be a bit better than that with Garageband, but it's not user-friendly. for example, normally if I place the cursor over various button icons, a dialgoue box appears explaining the function of that 'button'. This feature I found on most programs from Word to Garageband. But not apparently, Audacity. So you have to use each feature in turn to try and work out what it does, isolating it from other elements in the program. another annoying aspect of both Audacity and Garageband is the lack of a proper graphic equaliser. This would allow far better fine tuning of the incoming sound, for example, allowing you to boost the bass a bit or pick out a voice lost in the melody. Audacity has a number of features that don't seem to really work, such as 'click removal'. I was wondering of this click removal might help get rid of some of the worst levels of clicks that come from scratched records, but despite using it dozens of ways, it seems to have no noticeable effect on same.

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: woodsie
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:06 PM

This job has now become easy! - There are now turntables that you can plug straight into your computer via USB! Nothing else required!

See This Link

The first two on the page are designed just for this and can also be used as regular turntables.

Subject: RE: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: oggie
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 11:57 AM

This is becoming circular - yes these do the job of putting it on your hard drive BUT they ship with the Audacity software (see above) and the fact remains that your soundcard will have a major impact on the quality of the result.

For this reason I still prefer to use my existing deck (Thorens with a Shure cartridge) and use the tape outputs of my amplifier.

I'm gradually getting to grips with CLEAN and the results are quite good but obviously not up to CD standard.

oggie

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: iancarterb
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:26 AM

I can't seem to access the online manual for Audacity- I was hoping to find a learned discussion already on the 'Cat in three sentences of how to separate the blooming tracks on a vinyl record via Audacity. About a year and a half's worth at one-a-day await me now that I have all the hardware in hand. Any directions (or just help with HELP for Audacity) out there?
Carter

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Peace
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:33 AM

Does this help?

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Peace
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:48 AM

I just refreshed a thread entitled "Tech: Audacity: Very easy recording!"

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: iancarterb
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:51 AM

Bless your bones! It does indeed- thanks infinitely for knowing and sharing! Starting tomorrow on the 10" calypso albums, because they should have the smallest number of transitions.:)
Carter B

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: iancarterb
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:57 AM

And thanks again for the Tutorial refresh. I'll read it while the calypso plays:)
Carter

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Peace
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 12:59 AM

GOOD. Best wishes to you in what looks to be an ambitious project.

Bruce

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: GUEST,Will Fly on the Hoof
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 03:31 AM

I have a similar project in mind, now I'm retired, and found Joe's mention of the track separation utility very useful. Good luck with your transfers.

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: bobad
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 09:22 AM

Link to Audacity on line manual http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/index.html

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: Amos
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 10:21 AM

IN SoOund Studio, you insert markers at track endpoints, and then save the whole lot to individual tracks with one command. I assume AUdacity does something similar.


A

Subject: RE: Help: transferring vinyl to CD or computer
From: iancarterb
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 10:54 AM

Bobad- thanks for that link. I'm diddled if I can figure out why I couldn't raise that myself, but between you and Peace I am happily enlightened.:)   Carter