LPs to CD (via computer)

[Mott the Hoople]

Anybody done this? Any tricks or gadgets you can recommend appreciated.

[majortom]

There's a few turntables on the market now with a USB cable to allow you to hook it up direct to a PC - that's probably the easiest way but I'm not sure what the quality is like, plus obviously it means buying another turntable.

Alternatively, if you've already got a turntable, then you'll need to hook it up via an amp or a mixer, since the output direct from a ttable is too low to record direct from - best bet would be to use the tape loop on your amplifier.

Secondly, to get any kind of decent quality, you need a set of phono inputs into your PC - don't use a 3.5mm "mic in" connection as they're almost invariably very low quality. You'll need a sound card with phono inputs, or a usb phono connection (something like this).

You'll also need some software to record with - not sure of the best thing to do it with, though there's bound to be some free stuff out there - as long as it allows you to mark the tracks, and preferably normalise the levels, then you should be alright. Make sure your input level is not too high though - you want to avoid clipping/distortion. After that, it's just a matter of burning to cd.

[TomK]

There are services to do this for you, but it's pretty pricey so just buying a CD copy (if available) is way cheaper.
Ex: http://lp2cd.com/

Pricewise, it looks like 4-5 discs would be enough $ to justify buying a new turntable and DIY.

There are turntables that majortom talks about that come with built-in phono preamps so they plug directly into a soundcard's phono-input jacks or the PC's USB port. Some of them even let you transfer at higher playback speed and the software slows it down to normal.
Some units I found:
Ion ITTUSB
Numark TTUSB Turntable
Audio-Technica AT-LP2DA

[Big E]

I just got the latest B&H catalog, and they had something in there for $50 that was basically audio line in to USB. The copy indicated this thing was in part intended exactly for LP -> PC transfer. I was thinking about getting one for my dad for his birthday coming up.

I have no idea what it was called / who made it, I'll take a look and post it up when I get home.

[Tippster]

Convert them to OGG files first, then burn the CDs at your leasure:

http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/gslj/lp2mp3.html

[pappag]

Skier666 put it perfectly in the other thread you started. If you have a mixer, you can connect from it to the mic or line jack on your computer, and with average software, you can record to mp3 in CD quality (i.e. 192 kps or whatever the tag is).

[Big E]

I just got the latest B&H catalog, and they had something in there for $50 that was basically audio line in to USB. The copy indicated this thing was in part intended exactly for LP -> PC transfer. I was thinking about getting one for my dad for his birthday coming up.

I have no idea what it was called / who made it, I'll take a look and post it up when I get home.

Found it...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Product code is ADIM, search for it and it shows up.

[TomK]

Found it...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Product code is ADIM, search for it and it shows up.

But, the ADS Technologies RDX-150 - Instant Music USB Audio Capture Device doesn't include a phono input (RCA line-level only), so IF he's already got a turntable but no reciever, he'd also have to buy a pre-amp to put between the turntable and this new box.

I'd suggest he spend the coin on one of the turntables I listed instead since one of those and his existing PC are all the hardware that would be needed, and the turntables bundle the needed software too.


Turntable->USB port on PC (or soundcard RCA jacks)

- vs -

Turntable->Reciever phono input->reciever tape loop out->RDX-150->PC/USB port on PC
-or-
Turntable_>Pre-amp->RDX-150->PC/USB port on PC

[Mott the Hoople]

This is one I'm looking at. (Thanks TomK)It has Cakewalk Pyro software. Don't know much about that. I have a ton of old albums just waiting to see the light of day. Thoughts?http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/tu...496/index.html

[The AD]

Alternatively, if you've already got a turntable, then you'll need to hook it up via an amp or a mixer, since the output direct from a ttable is too low to record direct from

This is what I did. I bought a cheap amp (Optimus SA-155; easy to find on eBay) to amplify the turntable output. I think I only paid like $20 for a brand new amp and it's a really compact unit.

[fiddler]

A friend of mine went with another option. He bought a CD burner at Radio Shack for about $100 or $120 I forget which. Plug a turntable or cassette into it and record directly to CD. Very simple process. You can mark tracks but you can't do serious mixing or EQ. The result is that the sound is as good as the source without any cleanup. I've heard some CDs he recorded and they were fine.

[bio-smear]

You can't get around having to use a high-gain input channel with a turntable, like a Phono input. You also can't get around having to record real-time to a PCM file format like .wav or .aiff. It will be dicey as your LP has to play perfectly all the way thru. You can play track by track, and start/stop the recording, or play it all the way thru and chop it into tracks afterward.

I'd get a dirt cheap DJ mixer -> line out -> computer line in. Don't clip the input level or it will sound like shit. Normalize the wav afterward and convert to a compressed format like .mp3 or .ogg

[TomK]

This is one I'm looking at. (Thanks TomK)It has Cakewalk Pyro software. Don't know much about that. I have a ton of old albums just waiting to see the light of day. Thoughts?http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/tu...496/index.html

Looks liike it should work as long as your PC has a soundcard with line level inputs since that unit lacks a USB output.
Personally, the ION was the one I'd buy if I only had a PC to start with. (I liked the high-speed transfer idea.)


FYI, I already had an old-school tapedeck+turntable+ reciever setup and just added a CD Recorder that a friend gave me to use to record some of his Vinyl, so my opinions are worth what you paid for them. Used it to transfer some old mix tapes onto CD too. Kind of fun to re-listen to what I thought was good 10 years ago and find that they are still good tunes.

Be aware that to do it right with seperate tracks for each song, you may well end up babysitting the process in realtime.
Auto-detect of tracks is notoriously unreliable, but it's been a while since I messed with any newer or PC-based software gear for this task.

Buy a big stack of blanks & expect to toss out a dozen or more learning how to make it all work.

Let us know how it comes out.