There are, as far as I can tell, just a few turntables specifically set up for vinyl-to-digital conversion. The ones I see are relatively inexpensive, so I wonder if they are worth trying.
I know you can (somehow) rig up a conventional turntable to do this but that would be very impractical in my case. I think.
What is your experience?
Thanks,
mmm
My dad did this using one of those converter cables that had the red/white plugins on one end and a single knob on the other, which he had to adapt further to plug into the computer, and then used Audacity to import.
He’s retired and has lots of free time.
I use a software program (Roxio) which worked just fine. The only “impractical” part I can see for someone is connecting the output of the turntable to the audio input of the computer, which generally requires only a simple audio cable. What’s your specific concern?
Reported for move to IMHO.
My concern is that my current stereo setup is around 50 feet from my PC, and neither would be easily movable.
I would like to simply set up a dedicated turntable near the PC.
mmm
Don’t go near those silly cheap things. There is nothing special about the process of ripping vinyl to digital - your are simply making a recording. Find the best quality conventional turntable you can. This will limit the sound quality you get. eBay is a good start, and you can sell it again once done.
Time is really going to be dominated by the time it takes to actually play the LPs. There is no high speed rip. It is going to take roughly an hour per LP no matter what you use, although you can do other things whilst the LP is actually playing. The actual connection of the turntable to computer can be done in a number of ways. Depends upon budget and what you already have. Something as simple and cheap as the Griffin iMic will work well, and actually comes with software intended to do the job if you have a Mac - or you can use Audacity. You can spend more if you want.
The tutorial for Audacity is probably a good place to start, although it doesn’t really give enough information to get a high quality result.
ETA - crossed in the ether with the bit about the existing stereo. Is the turntable movable by itself? If so, just get an iMic. There may be other interesting solutions as well. What computer and stereo gear do you have?
Since I have no need to play vinyl on my stereo anymore, I just moved my turntable into my computer room. I use a battery-powered preamp, and the built-in audio port on my Mac, and it does a fantastic job. I use Clickrepair for CD-quality results (really - it’s awesome. The end result is better than the source material).
There are two types of (old) turntables, those that had the pre-amp built in and those that didn’t. Those that did can be plugged directly into a sound card and albums can be recorded that way.
Those that didn’t were meant to be plugged into the “phono” input of a stereo, which contained the necessary phono pre-amp. It’s not just a pre-amp. Vinyl records high frequencies better than low frequencies, so a particular type of equalization was applied during the recording process to create the vinyl master, and the phono pre-amp has to have the correct equalization in it on the playback side to make the sound correct. Sound cards do not have this type of equalization built into them, so this type of turntable can’t be plugged directly into a sound card, even though it uses the same type of cables (RCA plugs/jacks). Surprisingly, they still make separate phono pre-amps that you can buy, which would then allow this type of turntable to connect to a sound card.
The turntables set up for direct to digital conversion already have the phono pre-amp built into their circuitry.
Note that, despite what the audiophile whack-jobs say, vinyl isn’t better. The dynamic range is crap compared to digital (assuming a lossless digital format, not an mp3), some analog hiss and rumble will be present, and turntables also have what is known as “wow” and “flutter”, which are variations in the rotation speed of the platter. Direct drive turntables are cheaper, but the mechanical noise from the motor gets coupled directly into the platter and results in distortion and noise on the audio signal. Belt drive turntables are better, since the belt isolates the motor vibrations from the platter, but they cost more.
Also, every time you play a record, it scrapes off a little bit of the vinyl, reducing the sound quality. This can sometimes be really noticeable on old, heavily played records.
Overall, the sound quality will be worse than what you get from a CD. If you use a lossless audio format though it will be better than an mp3. A lot of people don’t have a well enough trained ear to really hear the difference.
Since the OP is looking for shared experiences, let’s move to IMHO from General Questions.
samclem, moderator
I picked up an RCA MP3 boom box a while ago, which does a pretty good job at recording MP3s from a microphone input socket. Back when my Mom still had a turntable, I ripped a bunch of my Dad’s vinyl albums using that.
Just approach it just like you did making cassettes from your records.
A fresh needle is always recommended before recording. These days its difficult to find them. I bought a new cartridge before I started converting my records. Theres still a few good cartridges being sold.
Clean each record carefully. I still have my Discwasherfrom the 80’s. Amazing that they are still sold and are inexpensive.
I used a USB adapter to connect the turntable. Its supposed to give better results then plugging into the sound card. This adapter has the EQ needed and does a great job.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UFO202?adpos=1o1&creative=55225946401&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=COWw_ZzP38ACFcRAMgodQQEAUA
Years ago I got a little preamp with really good specs (can’t get to it to tell the brand) for about $25. My computer then was old and slow, but the WAV files were sweet. Then I got lazy.
Interesting toy for $56: Robot or human?
The files [del]may[/del] will be shite, but it’s simple.
The USB-kits are just a standard record player with a USB sound card attached to them. For inexpensive ones, it’s not just the turntable that is cheap, but also the sound card.
I would only buy one if you can return it if you are not satisfied with the results. And, if you aren’t satisfied, you’d probably better put together your own, with a regular turn table and a higher quality sound card. (You may already have one, but, if you don’t, you can probably find a good USB one.) That one shown by aceplace might be good enough, but might not.
Personally, I’d rather find an old one people aren’t using and will sell for cheap, spruce it up with a new needle and cleaning it up, and then try attaching it to my built-in sound card. It’s really not any harder than the USB ones.
I’ve used this turntable to transfer a ton of vinyl to digital files.
Works fine.
OP here.
I guess I could move my turntable. It’s an old but solid Pioneer that still works perfectly. I already have it connected to my system via an inexpensive pre-amp.
The adapter that aceplace linked to looks promising.
However, in using this would I be able to hear the audio as it plays? I’d want to be able to monitor it now and then and be alert for skipping.
And I still have my Discwasher from back in the day. 
mmm
It has a headphone output. Even the cheapest computer speakers you have laying around in your basement would be good enough to monitor for skips.
Darn, as I was about ready to plop down $300K for this.
Another option (and I’m not saying it’s a good option) is to buy a CD recorder. It plugs into your amplifier/receiver like a cassette deck. Your computer is not involved.
I bought one years ago, before they made USB turntables, and converted many albums to CD with it. It finally gave out and won’t finalize the CDs anymore.
I’m just throwing this out there, since I don’t think anyone else has. Unless you have a ton of rare, out of print recordings, it may be a better use of your time and money to forget transferring. I use Rhapsody–for about $100/year we can listen to pretty much anything we think of, and don’t have to individually purchase songs, unless burning to CD. Which I haven’t needed to bother with in 5 years. I also don’t have to worry about backing up the media in case of hard drive failure or what have you, since the subscription and playlists follow me on any device. Been using Rhapsody over 10 years now.
For the few oddball things Rhapsody doesn’t have, I almost always find in a second on Youtube.
Your needs may be different.
