# Advice please: Transferring vinyl LP records to CD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385 "2004-11-18T00:33:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/1 "2004-11-18T00:33:55Z")
Okay, I really need some advice. I don’t know where to start with this, and I don’t want to get ripped off or simply get the wrong equipment. I want to transfer some old vinyl LP records to CD, through my computer. I have G4 PowerMac and a copy of Roxio’s Toast, (which includes “Spin Doctor,” for the transferring of LPs to CD). I have a CD-R, of course. The G4 has the typical ports (I guess), USB, Firewire, and some sort of sound in/out thing. (Can you tell how technically adept I’m going to be with this?) I don’t know where to start. I need to get a turntable, but I don’t know which kind. I don’t need anything too fancy, but I don’t want bottom of the barrel either. I don’t know what cables or other equipment I need to connect the turntable to the computer. I think once I get the stuff put together I’ll be okay (I have taught myself how to use a scanner, do graphics, plug in a USB keyboard and compose music, etc.), but I just don’t know what equipment I need to get. If there are any specific sites or books I could consult to help me out with this, that would be great too. Please help! Thanks everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/2 "2004-11-18T00:41:20Z")
I’ve used Spin Doctor and it sucked long and hard. I now use [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) (which is free and a Mac version is available). I’m not familiar with Mac i/o ports, but on my PC, I fed the Tape Out from my stereo into the Line In on my sound card (Radio Shack has a pre-fab patch cord for about $5-6). You may need extra software to clean up the recordings. It depends on how bad they are. Basically, any sound source can be fed into your computer. I’ve transferred cassettes, video tapes, DVDs, programs right off the air, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/3 "2004-11-18T00:43:11Z")
Crap! If you want to connect the turntable directly to the computer, you’ll have to have a pre-amp. Turntables don’t usually have amps built-in. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/4 "2004-11-18T00:43:51Z")
Ooh! Thanks Mr. Blue Sky! Could you give me a recommendation on a turntable? The one I have is busted (or at least suspect). And, do I need something else other than the turntable and cables? Some other gadget that I connect the turntable to before I hook it up to the Mac? And what cables do I need? See, I’m totally clueless. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/5 "2004-11-18T00:45:33Z")
Simulpost. Thanks for that information. Bless your heart! Any specific recommendation on what to buy? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/6 "2004-11-18T00:55:24Z")
If you’re going to all the expense of buying a pre-amp and a turntable, spend a couple hundred more and buy a CD recorder such as Pioneer makes, and cut your computer completely out of the problem. That’s my setup and it works fine, although I don’t have any equipment that cleans up scratchy records. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/7 "2004-11-18T00:56:37Z")
I can’t recommend a turntable, unfortunately. Mine is over 20 years old! It’s a Technics and is built like a tank. A pre-amp will have left/right output jacks. You’ll need one of [these](http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=42-2551) from Radio Shack. There is much debate as to whether gold plated connectors are better than regular. I seriously doubt you’be able to tell the difference. Whatever recording software you use, you’ll need to choose “line in” as the source. For whatever I’m ripping, I record the entire side and then slice and dice the separate tracks later. It’s a royal pain to stop and start after each track. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/8 "2004-11-18T00:58:50Z")
[All you ever wanted to know.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=272361&highlight=vinyl+records) ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/9 "2004-11-18T23:47:50Z")
Thanks for the links and advice, everyone! I have bookmarked that thread. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/10 "2004-11-19T00:23:06Z")
> [@yosemite](#): > > Ooh! Thanks Mr. Blue Sky! > > Could you give me a recommendation on a turntable? The one I have is busted (or at least suspect). And, do I need something else other than the turntable and cables? Some other gadget that I connect the turntable to before I hook it up to the Mac? And what cables do I need? See, I’m totally clueless. I’m transfering my vinyl right now. I just got a G-5 iMac. I bought something called an iMic. I’m not sure how it works, but you plug the RCA cable from the turntable into it, then plug it into a USB port. (It didn’t like the ones on the keyboard.) It also has a headphone port. It comes with “Final Vinyl” which claims you don’t need a pre-amp. I tried it, but didn’t have much luck. There was no way for me to ground the table, so there was a loud hum. It didn’t have any way to edit out scratches and noise, so I just hauled my amp down, and set it up next to the 'puter. I am using Spin Doctor, with pretty good luck. My albums are in very good shape, so I don’t have a lot to edit out. It is a little gitchy, and has crashed a couple times. It doesn’t handle anything over 240 MBs, so I just transfer to Toast after each album side. **Mr Blue Sky** I’ll check out Audacity, if its easier and or more stable, I’d love that. So far I’ve done 19 CDs for 39 albums.I only have 200 or so left. (sigh) ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-please-transferring-vinyl-lp-records-to-cd/275385/11 "2004-11-19T00:23:11Z")
Hey…this is **todd33rpm** , posting under **bodypoet** ’s account (she directed me to this thread, and I don’t want to kick her off her own computer for this brief note). If you want a good, not-too-expensive turntable, [the Audio-Technica AT-LP50](http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Audio-Technica-Turntable-System--AT-PL50-/sem/rpsm/oid/58694/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do) should do the trick. I have this as a second turntable in a not-too-complicated system, and there’s an optional preamp built in, so it’ll save you some money on that front. Fairly straightforward product, with minimal prep work required (flipping the switch for the preamp and putting the belt on is about it). The frequency response is listed as 20-20,000 hz, so it should be more or less perfectly balanced for transfer to CD. The only caveats: If any of your original recordings were prone to skip, they’ll also be prone to do so on this, and in the same places; if they behaved pretty well, you should have no problem (for what it’s worth, only two of my several hundred recordings skipped, but these were also bad pressings that didn’t do that well on most of my turntables anyway). Overall cartridge life is 400 hours, so you might have to replace it along the way if you’re transferring a lot of stuff. Replacements are inexpensive, though, and should be easily accessible through several places online. Hoping this helps… **todd33rpm**