I would like to buy my dad a software program to allow him to convert his old records to CD. He has a new Dell computer with a CD burner and he also has a record player. I recently saw something Sony sells to do this (prices at $49.95) as well as other software programs as low a $7. My main question is what kind of cables or cards would he need to hook-up the record player to the computer? Any help?
He’ll need to connect his turntable to a preamplifier of some kind (like a stereo receiver with a phono input, a stereo preamp with a phono input, or a dedicated phono preamp), and the outputs of the preamp to the audio input of the PC’s sound card.
That last connection will probably require a patch cord with two RCA plugs on one end (for the preamp) and a 1/8" mini-phone plug on the other (for the PC). You can get one of those at Radio Shack for a few dollars.
I’ve used this hookup to record some LPs and some radio broadcasts with my PC’s el-generico soundcard. The results weren’t uber-fi, by any means, but they were good enough to make for enjoyable listening.
Good call on the hardware, Lagged2Death!
Software:
It’s a little spendy but well worth it:
Sonic Foundry’s Sound Forge.
Great for recording and cleaning up the recording. If he knows what he’s doing, he could even get rid of the clicks and pops.
I have used a program called Clean! (with the exclamation mark!) by Steinberg. It runs about $90 Canajun dollars and comes with a pre-amplifier that performs RIAA equalization. Unfortunately, it is designed for magnetic coil pickups, which my turntable doesn’t have.
What I do is run from the tape output of my stereo amplifier to the stereo input of my soundcard. I get good levels this way, despite having to run a 30 foot cable from the living room to my computer room. Clean! also has some fairly good noise reduction components, a de-hisser, a de-clicker and a de-rumbler that help to eliminate some of the surface noise from my less than mint LP’s.
The cd writer should have the software to make audio cds. Play the music into the sound input connector & your Dell & record & see how you like it first.