Tech: Vinyl to hard disc

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Gurney
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 12:23 AM

A guy who knows a lot about recording told me.... If your source is vinyl and has dust-crackles, then run the stylus in isopropyl alcohol, sometimes called isopropylene. Sit there with an artists paintbrush and keep that bit of the record wet. It cleans up the sound, and even cleans the record.
I've never tried it for CD recording, but it works well for -to tape, so it should save some time.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: artbrooks
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 09:03 AM

Lynn W: try Googling under the Image option. I've found a lot of LP jacket cover art that way.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: GUEST,Lynn W
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 08:53 AM

I use my Iriver mp3 player - plug into the headphone socket, record the LP onto the player, download on to the computer in seconds using the Iriver's own software. I presume the more complicated methods may give better sound quality but I have found quality from this method perfectly acceptable (most of the records are old and crackly anyway!). I don't have a scanner and the track listings are often not available on line for the older LP's, so I photograph the record labels to use as covers.
Lynn W

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: bobad
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 10:37 PM

A plethora of information available here http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm#record

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Once Famous
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 09:52 PM

Vinyl to hard disc, come in please.

Vinyl to hard disc, do you read me.

Over.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Cluin
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 09:33 PM

I've also found that pitch control filter to provide some weird results at times. I've used it to slow down passages of music to learn them as well as to speed them up to see what they might sound like at a faster tempo (did this with a Bob Marley song I thought might sound good in a bluegrass style). Speeding up sounded alright but slowing the music down resulted in a funny warbling sound overall.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: wordfella
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 08:52 AM

I thought about that, but the results were pretty good. The cassettes in question weren't high-quality recordings anyway.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 08:35 AM

You will lose some of the'top end' of teh frequency response. Te auio path will lose some of teh speeded up frequencies that end up above the cutoff limit. With your cassette trick, you will lose the top octave, at least.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Cluin
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 08:22 AM

But some quality is sacrificed that way.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: wordfella
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 08:08 AM

You don't need a 78 rpm turntable for the 78s, if you're using Cool Edit Pro(or its successor, Audition 1.5.) Just play the 78 in at 33, then use the Pitch Control to speed it up. The setting would be 78/33, or 236%. Or play it in at 45, and speed it up 173%. Make sure you select the option that preserves neither time nor pitch.

Along the same lines, I've copied cassettes in at double speed, then halved the time with the control. It cuts the real time involvement in half.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: mooman
Date: 28 Nov 05 - 05:53 AM

Metchosin,

I digitize tapes and vinyl to my Mac using a nice free open-source cross-platform programme called Audacity. In fact, I record most of my stuff on a tape multitracker ( which I prefer to digital as I can get a typical tape "saturation" sound. I then mix down to stereo and digitize (usually direct to mp3) with Audacity. The results are very clean. The tape and record deck I just run into my iMac via the mini stereo microphone jack.

Hope this is helpful,

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 11:37 PM

DAK (Drew A. Kaplan) sells something for this. http://www.dak.com/reviews/2020story.cfm. His web pages are a mess, but wade through them and you'll find any number of gadgets that do what you're trying to do.

SRS

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: GUEST,TIA
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 09:58 PM

Someone mentioned Goldwave. I heartily endorse, but it costs money. Also quite useful are two freeware programs - Tunebite and Freecorder. They digitalize stuff that comes through your soundcard.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: GUEST,Billy
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 07:59 PM

The only vinyl I try to put on CD are the ones that have not (and ARE not) likely to be rereleased on CD in the first place. It is worth the $15 or so to get the clean, original sound from the source recordings.
It also depends on the ultimate quality you want to get. I use a Bang & Olofson turntable and cartridge to get the absolutely best source sound to start with. As mentioned you need to have the turntable plugged into the phono sockets of a good quality amplifier (this converts the magnetic cartridge input to a correct EQ.)
Unless you want the rumble and scratches and "pops", you will need a sound editor. There are several automated ones but I use the sound editor that comes with "NERO Burning ROM". It allows you to take out a click or a "pop" with the smallest amount of loss of music. A scratch on an LP may make a noise that lasts a few milliseconds but if you don't remove it, it will piss you off forever.
As I say, it depends on how much quality you need and the time you want to spend doing it.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Thomas the Rhymer
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 05:50 PM

I got the fee-standing CD burner too... it works great! The transfer is CD quality, and if you want to put the newly made CD into MP3 or AAC in order to send it or listen to it on your ipod, you just put the CD into your computer and convert it!

It makes great Recordings, and you can use CDRWs for the initial transfer... and edit them off onto CDRs... I'm not real keen on rerecording copywrited material, however...

The best part about the stand alone CD burner is the ease with which you can make very high quality recordings of your own music... right onto CD... With no compression to speak of... except of course whatever the bit-rate of your effects are if you use them.

I've even done some nice overdub work by playing along with a CD I've made of myself... Stereo is another way of saying 'two track'... Pan voice 'left' and guitar 'right' on the first take of your song... Then run that CD into the wee mixer on different chanels to embellish how you like... and add what you like into a third (and fourth?) channel... Great for harmonies!

Seems to work best if you don't add 'effects' until the end of the process...

Oh... and... one more thing... don't make ANY mistakes...;^)
ttr

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 05:14 PM

I bought a Sony CD burner... It plays ;um and it will also record any analogue recording to CD's... 'Bout $300...

I love the sound of my old LP's as well but CD's somehow are a lot more civilzed...

Bobert

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: artbrooks
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 04:47 PM

I've had much the same experience. I use a program called "Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 2005" for editing, cleanup and transfer to CD...perhaps a slightly newer version of the one EPN mentioned above. The whole process takes about twice the time as it does to play the record itself. I use the extra time to make pretty pictures for the CD case; and have found that using the Images setting in Google will often get me a .jif of the original album art.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Harmony Angel
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 02:17 PM

I've been gradually transferring my vinyl to the hard drive on my PC. Now when it comes to computer stuff, I'm no expert... believe me!!
I wanted something easy so it's simple a case of plugging a lead into the headphone socket on the hi-fi, stuffing the other end into the line-in on the back of the PC and running a software program called GoldWave to record the incoming stuff onto the HD.
All quite stress free, really :o)

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Metchosin
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 02:06 PM

But then, I prefer the warmth of the sound of vinyl to CDs a lot of the time......at least I can use that as an excuse.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Metchosin
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 02:05 PM

You're right there Mark, I haven't managed to burn anything for the past couple of years. I've got a wall of vinyl and boxes of 78s begging.

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 01:58 PM

You also need time. That's one reason I haven't done it yet.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Lancashire Lad
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 01:49 PM

If you use a Mac, You need a lead with phono outputs from your amp to 1/8 stereo jack plug. I use a programme called Spin Doctor (ame bundled with the Toast programme). Easy to use, never crashes and I have transfered 100s of my old LP collection to CD using it. Never a problem

Hope this might help

LL

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: el_punkoid_nouveau
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 01:09 PM

I use Polderbits to record from the stereo to an old laptop, copy the files to my PC, and then use Magix audio cleaning lab 3.0 to clean the sound up a bit, split into tracks and burn to CD. Seems to work well - I have a very scratchy copy of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (their very first, very blues album!) - this has done up very nicely!

epn

Subject: RE: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Metchosin
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 01:07 PM

I do. But I'm using a Mac so any advice regarding software will not be pertinent. For 78 RPMs it is convenient to have a record player that has a headphone jack output. Finding a turntable that plays 78 RPM can sometimes be a quest.

Subject: RE: Vimyl to hard disc
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 12:47 PM

Thanks Cluin that's very clear.

Do many people do this kind of thing?

Subject: RE: Vimyl to hard disc
From: Cluin
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 12:26 PM

A turntable, amp/receiver to plug it into, a sound card on your PC, a stereo lead with the proper connectors on it (RCA type at the amp end, and probably a 1/8" stereo plug at the computer end) to go from the amp to the input jack on your soundcard at the back of the computer.

Plus software to "record" the input and digitize it to a .wav file. I like CoolEdit, but I think Windows Sound Recorder (included with Windows) will do the job too. I like a better audio editing program to be able to apply noise reduction, audio editing, a bit of EQing and other filters to the sound data. Make sure you record the .wav file at "CD Quality" audio setting (16 bit, 44.1 KHz) to be able to burn the audio to an audio CD.

You'll also need enough hard disk space to receive the audio data. A CD quality .wav file requires at least 10 Megs of space per minute of recording. You'll also want lots of extra space for editing too (breaking the long recorded side of a vinyl LP into individual tracks, maybe converting them to MP3, etc.) A fast processor and lots of RAM helps too, to handle the approximately 22 minute wav file each side will result in. It has to wait in memory until you save it and the less swap file Windows has to deal with till then, the better.

Subject: RE: Vimyl to hard disc
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 12:03 PM

Oh, and the ability to spell vinyl

Subject: Vinyl to hard disc
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 27 Nov 05 - 12:02 PM

What do I need to get my vinyl collection onto my PC hard disc?

Obviously vinyl, record deck and a PC, but what else?