what would be the best way to digitalise my records? I tried using the headphone output from Rotel RA-1570 amp (theres no tape-out) into PC sound card line-in, works fine, but I was thinking is there a better way or better SQ way? any difference with headphone jack vs USB? Anyone with experience with something like NAD PP4 usb or Project Phono Box usb or any others you recommend? I'm thinking of USB because I can use my laptop instead of moving my PC out to living room every time I want to record a vinyl. thanks again
digitalise vinyl/record
- Thread starter boshk
- Start date
Hi-FiOutlaw
Well-known member
Don't know if better or not, but maybe you should consider this option as well.
http://www.whathifi.com/rega/fono-mini-a2d/review
"The Rega Fono mini A2D is a quality phono pre amplifier.
The Fono mini A2D is designed to amplify the signal from a moving magnet cartridge to a suitable level for all line level inputs of an audio amplifier. The USB interface also offers the ability to simply transfer vinyl to PC .
The Fono mini A2D amplifier offers exceptional performance and convenience and will be a valuable addition to any Hi-Fi set up.
The new Fono mini A2D benefits from an extruded aluminium case and very user friendly front and back panels that make this phono pre amplifier a very easy product to use.
To transfer vinyl to your PC You will need to install a digital audio editor. Such software is widely available as a free download (such as Audacity) from the internet. This is a simple interface which allows monitoring of volume and balance whilst transferring your audio to your PC hard drive.
Audio editing software includes a level meter which indicates the output level achieved when playing a piece of vinyl. You should adjust the output as necessary via the ‘Level’ control located on the front panel. Always take special note of record levels to ensure optimum recording quality." From Rega web site.
http://www.whathifi.com/rega/fono-mini-a2d/review
"The Rega Fono mini A2D is a quality phono pre amplifier.
The Fono mini A2D is designed to amplify the signal from a moving magnet cartridge to a suitable level for all line level inputs of an audio amplifier. The USB interface also offers the ability to simply transfer vinyl to PC .
The Fono mini A2D amplifier offers exceptional performance and convenience and will be a valuable addition to any Hi-Fi set up.
The new Fono mini A2D benefits from an extruded aluminium case and very user friendly front and back panels that make this phono pre amplifier a very easy product to use.
To transfer vinyl to your PC You will need to install a digital audio editor. Such software is widely available as a free download (such as Audacity) from the internet. This is a simple interface which allows monitoring of volume and balance whilst transferring your audio to your PC hard drive.
Audio editing software includes a level meter which indicates the output level achieved when playing a piece of vinyl. You should adjust the output as necessary via the ‘Level’ control located on the front panel. Always take special note of record levels to ensure optimum recording quality." From Rega web site.
Hi-FiOutlaw
Well-known member
ifor
Well-known member
Bob Wood does quite a bit. http://youtu.be/inopT9IuV3A
i don't know if you can contact people via YouTube, if not you could contact him through his website www.p-mount.net.
i don't know if you can contact people via YouTube, if not you could contact him through his website www.p-mount.net.
The Rega Fono mini is a brilliant sounding phono stage. I've tried using it to digitalise vinyl, but have found the Audacity software difficult to use, so my efforts have not been successful yet. I've used a Sony CD recorder successfully for years by playing vinyl through an Arcam rDac. It's much simpler and the results are perfect. Unfortunately it stopped working recently and when I tried to replace it I discovered it's no longer available. Neither are the spares. The only other CD recorder I've heard of is a Teac for around £400. Expensive compared to the mini fono, so invest in one, and if you struggle with the software you'll almost certainly have upgraded the sound of your record deck. .
DIB
Well-known member
JohnNB said:
I would agree that Audacity is a bit of a struggle to get your head around at first, but it is worth sticking with in my opinion.
I had a period two or three years ago when I had this grand scheme to copy all my vinyl into FLAC files, and I decided to use the Audacity software to this end. I found several good tutorials on Youtube which really helped, and eventually I became quite adept at basic copying, editing, splitting files, tagging etc.
I did copy a fair number of LPs but ultimately I decided that life was far too short to be sat in front of a PC screen removing pops and clicks from Sensational Alex Harvey Band files, so abandoned my plan. I bought a dog instead.
.
Al ears
Well-known member
Nice one DIB, hope dog is taking computer lessons.
I, too, went down this route until I realised I needed a life away from the computer screen. Already had a dog so elected only to digitise my rarest vinyl. The rest of the collection stays as it is, if I want to hear a bit of music that I only have on vinyl then its an LP that goes on the turntable. The computer stas resolutely off.
I, too, went down this route until I realised I needed a life away from the computer screen. Already had a dog so elected only to digitise my rarest vinyl. The rest of the collection stays as it is, if I want to hear a bit of music that I only have on vinyl then its an LP that goes on the turntable. The computer stas resolutely off.
iMark
Well-known member
I use Vinyl Studio for my recordings. I really like the software. It's got decent (not perfect) automatic click repair. It's great to listen to LPs on my iPod nano.
Setup: TT to phono in on amp-> Amp tape out to Minidisc deck -> hit record button on MD deck without an MD in the machine -> optical cable from MD to MacBook -> set level in Vinyl Studio and record. (Our Yamaha R-S500 even has a rec out selector so that I can listen to another source while recording.)
I have the vinyl recording collection on an external hard drive. After recording I take the hard drive to my other computer an do the editing and the cleanup. I then export the cleaned up files to the iTunes library.
The MD deck works very well as an ADC and makes setting the recording levels a doddle. The recordings are made in Apple Lossless (ALAC) at 16/44.1. I don't think you need higher bitrates to record vinyl.
Vinyl Studio makes the post recording processing much easier than Audacity, including track titling. It usually takes me about 30 mins per LP to process the whole thing. With older records I use the Knosti Disco Antistat for cleaning the records first. Last week I have processed an opera box sets for friends. Original records from 1956 which sound pretty good after cleaning and processsing.
Setup: TT to phono in on amp-> Amp tape out to Minidisc deck -> hit record button on MD deck without an MD in the machine -> optical cable from MD to MacBook -> set level in Vinyl Studio and record. (Our Yamaha R-S500 even has a rec out selector so that I can listen to another source while recording.)
I have the vinyl recording collection on an external hard drive. After recording I take the hard drive to my other computer an do the editing and the cleanup. I then export the cleaned up files to the iTunes library.
The MD deck works very well as an ADC and makes setting the recording levels a doddle. The recordings are made in Apple Lossless (ALAC) at 16/44.1. I don't think you need higher bitrates to record vinyl.
Vinyl Studio makes the post recording processing much easier than Audacity, including track titling. It usually takes me about 30 mins per LP to process the whole thing. With older records I use the Knosti Disco Antistat for cleaning the records first. Last week I have processed an opera box sets for friends. Original records from 1956 which sound pretty good after cleaning and processsing.
My problem seems to go against the grain of the contributions thus far; I'm looking for a machine or package or whatever to turn mp3's and cd's into lps and I don't have the money to buy a pressing plant. Life's tough, innit?
As to digitising records, I have the following set-up:
(Computer is a Mac, by the way).
DAC: I use a Griffin iMic, which is a dongle costing about £25 which converts analogue to digital (and vice versa) and plugs in to the USB socket - it provides a much better quality input than the audio jack.
Then I use Amadeus Pro (from http://hairersoft.com/), which is very flexible in terms of what you can do, and also has decent algorithms for reducing noise, and a special click-repair function which works pretty well. After a lot of trial and error over the years, I get pretty good results. It's a lot of work though, really trying to clean up a record with a lot of clicks on it. Even though you can set the software to automatically search for clicks, I find that, as with everything, you get better results if you do it manually.
There's an application from Bias (who also make Peak) called SoundSoap, which is supposed to be amazing but costs £200. I tried the demo version and it was pretty impressive - just slide a control until the dots on the display turn from red to blue, and the sound is lovely and clean. Can't afford that money, though.
(Computer is a Mac, by the way).
DAC: I use a Griffin iMic, which is a dongle costing about £25 which converts analogue to digital (and vice versa) and plugs in to the USB socket - it provides a much better quality input than the audio jack.
Then I use Amadeus Pro (from http://hairersoft.com/), which is very flexible in terms of what you can do, and also has decent algorithms for reducing noise, and a special click-repair function which works pretty well. After a lot of trial and error over the years, I get pretty good results. It's a lot of work though, really trying to clean up a record with a lot of clicks on it. Even though you can set the software to automatically search for clicks, I find that, as with everything, you get better results if you do it manually.
There's an application from Bias (who also make Peak) called SoundSoap, which is supposed to be amazing but costs £200. I tried the demo version and it was pretty impressive - just slide a control until the dots on the display turn from red to blue, and the sound is lovely and clean. Can't afford that money, though.
Similar threads
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram