I’ve got a few hundred LPs sitting in my stereo cabinet that, a few albums at a time, I’d like to turn into electronic files (MP3 or whatever) of the individual tracks on each album.
I’m looking for a method that’s relatively cheap (under $200, say) and as easy as possible in terms of having things like division of an album side into individual tracks being automated as possible, ditto removal of extraneous noises.
What I’ve got, besides the LPs: turntable, stereo, assorted PCs running XP, cables to connect the stereo output to the computer’s audio input.
What I need: just the software.
The last time I investigated this was back in the early part of the decade, when things were pretty primitive: your choices about tracks were to either record each song to the computer individually, or have a whole album side recorded as a single track. Needless to say, I’m hoping that the state of the art has improved. But my Googling has turned up advice on the subject that’s mostly several years old, or of indeterminate age. Or I find sites that want to sell me a turntable, which I’ve already got.
So what’s out there these days? What have Dopers tried?
I bought a turntable at Costco–on for $149 or so. Maybe $129. It works! There is a little confusion on my end with a step through Itunes, but I’ve made mp3s successfully from vinyl. If I can do it, anyone can.
Interesting. You don’t need a turntable preamp–you plug the turntable straight into the line-in jack on the computer–and you can play back 33’s at 45 to speed up recording. I may get this program.
Have you tried Goldwave? There is a free edition. Now it won’t individually record the tracks (or wouldn’t last time I looked) but it can remove noise etc.
The ION USB turntable linked above is nice because it eliminates the TT specific input needed by most software. I’ve used it to rip a few records as a test run for when I make the move completely to digital (between myself and 2 best friends, we have about 4,000 records to rip…we are all DJs, so most of them only have 1-2 songs per side, but it’s still a massive undertaking)…I’ve also used a small USB interface, that required the turntable out put to run through a tuner or mixer (not a problem for us, but may be for others)…this little device cost me only 30 bucks or so at CompUSA, and the software included could separate tracks on each side.
Once you start doing this, that ability of the software to do that is going to be a HUGE bonus, and this is something you MUST have. Being able to put the needle down, hit record, and walk away until the entire side is done makes the entire project much more user friendly…I can’t give you the name of the product right now because it’s in my friend’s studio, but I"ll get it tomorrow and post it, and the name of the software bundled with it.
Thanks Capa- that sounds a far more sophisticated and easy system than the one I used. I am not quite sure I understand it fully (spent all afternoon in 40 degree heat (celsius) working in the garden and had a few ales) but will look again tomorrow.
And if you could post the name of the interface it would be great.
It seems to me that the impedance was different between magnetic and ceramic cartridges and that you might be able to use a ceramic cartridge directly.
My parents have a huge collection of jazz LPs, and sounded interested when I mentioned getting them something like the Ion to convert everything to digital. Can the Ion separate the individual tracks, or will each side be recorded as one long track?
Also, my parents are semi- tech-savvy 70-somethings, so keeping components and complexity to a minimum would be a definite plus. Anyone know if the Ion is as simple as the Amazon link hypes it as?
When I converted some of my LP’s, I needed a pre-amp to boost the signal strength. RadioShack stores don’t carry them, but you can find them on-line. One thing to watch out for is that the cheaper ones can get RFI-noise. I countered that by finding a steel outlet box to encase the pre-amp and grounding the box.
The Ion I have (about a year old) requires manual separation of tracks. It’s a simple process, but you do have to watch it and do it by hand. However, the whole thing is simple enough that I can do it, and that probably means anybody can.
Ok, the device is called “Instant Music” by ADS tech…there are a few different models, again, I paid around $30 for mine. It comes with software called “spin it again” which allows you to hit play, and walk away. When the record is over, the entire recording is shown as one long file on a frequency graph, with breaks where the software thinks the songs are. It’s very accurate. You can then drag the beginning or ending either direction, and then export the files (this is handy for records with a long intro of dead space) you can slide the beginning of the file forward to just before the first beat (very useful for djs, since you don’t have to search through a ton of silence to find the first beat to set a cue point on).
This is a link to one similar, but not quite identical, to mine:
I haven’t used Golden Records, though I do intend to buy it soon. I recommend it solely on the strength of Switch, which works like a dream every time even in its free version. I figure these guys know what they’re doing.
As an alternative, I’ve used various versions of Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack Pro for years and can say without hesitation that it’s been letter-perfect.
And Fission to chop it up. The pair bundle for $50.
Best 50 clams I’ve ever spent on software, and FTR, I have no financial connection with Rogue Amoeba other than a well-satisfied customer.