My dad has a collection of records. A while back he noticed that the needle on the record player was wearing down. When he tried to replace the needle he ended up having to go to an antique store and the cost of another needle would be very expensive.
So he got the idea of putting these records on CD, that’s why my question exists. What I’m asking for specifically is a device that would record directly from the record player to the CD instead of putting a microphone up to the record player’s speakers.
By the way, a CD is only the preference. If there’s anything to put it on tape, that would be fine, too.
Search on “CD-R”, “WAV” - this has been covered many times
Basically the “line out” on the amplifier goes to “line in” on a sound card, recording software is started, the tone arm is lowered, and the sound is captured in .WAV format, then burned to CD-R.
There are standalone CD recorders that are fashioned after tapedecks if you don’t want to go the computer route. Tascam makes a few. All the wiring you need to do will be included in the owner’s manual.
You really ought to get a new needle if the present one is that bad, though. A diligent search of the internet ought to turn up something less expensive than the antique store.
If you want more detailed (and useful) responses you should let us know what equipment you have (turntable, amplifier, computer, etc.) and how much money you want to spend.
Having done this through a PC connection in order to transfer about 30 albums, I wholeheartedly endorse this option.
Not only do you end up with a CD version of (in my case) impossible to locate recordings, but more importantly, you get to “clean up” the pops that would otherwise be transferred to tape.
There are of course limitations associated with this.
The end result on CD will vary depending on the quality of the record and to what extent you choose to clean it up.
Removing pops also diminishes the overall sound quality.
Nonetheless, it’s a great way to convert from one format to another.
Gjorp: I’ve done what the other posters have suggested, and it works fine. But there may be a simpler alternative.
I don’t know where you live, so this may not be possible for you. However, where I am, there are dozens of stores that will provide this service for a few dollars per album. You just give them the records and some bucks, they give you back records and CDs the next day.
So you may not need to do it yourself, just check the phonebook.
Or, for under $200 now, you can buy a component cd burner. It connects to your stereo amplifier just like a tape deck. I have one that I use for this purpose. The only thing is that you need digital audio cd’s which cost more than regular cdr’s. Damn RIAA. I believe the royalties are higher on this type of cd because of them and the fact that they are specifically used for audio recordings. That said, they seem to me to be of a higher quality than your el cheapo cdr’s. Also, I believe that they are compatible with all cd players, not just ones designed to play cdr’s.