Ripping Vinyl to PC

[admin_exported]

 

[Gusboll]

That's generally been my experience as well!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi All

Struggling to post a question as you can see!!!!!

I have an old Ariston Pro turntable and I’d like to rip some vinyl to a PC.

How would you go about doing this please? Specifically what kit do I need to buy?

What Hi fi recently mentioned the Pro-ject Phono Box USB and I have seen various versions of this but is that all I require?

Thanks

 

[The_Lhc]

Assuming you have a PC and the appropriate cables, yes. You'll need some software on the PC, most people recommend Audacity.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks LHC.

So I buy Audacity and this Phono Box thingy and I’m done?

 

[The_Lhc]

Thanks LHC.

So I buy Audacity and this Phono Box thingy and I’m done?

Audacity is free I think (I don't remember paying for it at any rate!). You'll need a USB cable, other than that I think that's it.

 

[chebby]

The Rega Fono-Mini A2D is £85* and is also a pretty good (analogue) phono-preamp as well as having USB for ripping LPs.

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Fono%20mini.htm

They also recommend Audacity software.

*Cheaper than the Project Phono Box USB V. (Although the Proj-ect is MM and MC whereas the Rega is MM only.)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again guys.

Following Chebby’s post about the Rega I came across this:

Behringer UFO202 U-phono USB Audio Interface

However in that thread it was noted as costing £198 from Russ Andrews – and LHC by coincidence you commented on that too – but it looks like it’s now £24.50 on Amazon and it enables one to digitise old cassettes too.

Is this the same product that taken a huge price drop?

If so it looks like pretty good value.

 

[The_Lhc]

The Rega Fono-Mini A2D is £85* and is also a pretty good (analogue) phono-preamp as well as having USB for ripping LPs.

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Fono%20mini.htm

They also recommend Audacity software.

*Cheaper than the Project Phono Box USB V. (Although the Proj-ect is MM and MC whereas the Rega is MM only.)

I don't what Pro-ject are doing, they're just getting more and more expensive, I only paid £70 for my Phono Box USB.

 

[DavieCee]

I may be doing it wrong but I only use a phono (amp) to 3.5mm input (mic).

No USB required as far as I can see. :quest:

 

[The_Lhc]

I may be doing it wrong but I only use a phono (amp) to 3.5mm input (mic).

No USB required as far as I can see. :quest:

You PC is doing the A to D conversion in that case, rather than the USB device doing it. Swings and roundabouts probably.

 

[GeoffreyW]

Been wondering if using my laptop mic input, perhaps from the tape output from my amp, would work. Will have to give it a try My laptop has HD Audiodeck (software?) Vinyl - is anyone familiar with this, please? Or just use Audeze.

 

[AnotherJoe]

I use one of these Instant Music USB devices. It has stereo input/output and optical input/output and converts to mp3,wma,wav,aac, and costs around £15.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Computing-/58058/i.html?_nkw=instant+music&_catref=1&_sac=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m1538

 

[tino]

I'm going through this very process right now ..digitising my vinyl collection using my Linn Axis turntable. I ended up buying the Creative XFi HD USB external sound card which does 96KHz/24bit recording. Cost me about £60 (25% off current price) and is good quality. Can use it afterwards as a DAC, ADC, preamp and headphone amp for my laptop/hifi. Has headphone output, microphone input, optical digital input/output, analogue line input and most importantly a dedicated phono input for the turntable. The supplied recording software is very easy to use and I use it for editing and de-clicking the crackles and pops. You need the patience of a saint to digitise your vinyl .. it takes ages .. and you need to make sure your record and stylus are super clean .. you are effectively going to be creating a new digital master so you want to make sure there is no dust/static etc. to minimise surface noise. I normally play the album at least once to clear the grooves before recording it! The sound quality of the digital recording is very good .. just like playing the turntable but without the hassle! The files produced are quite large at 96K/24bit but worth it and the improvement over 44K/16bit is noticeable.

PS If you are serious about digitsing your vinyl and have a lot of it, it is worth investing in a new stylus for about £30 and an external ADC device like the ones mentioned above (Creative, Rega Fono, NAD PP3i etc.) or even one of the professional ADCs. Once you have finished you can sell on the equipment, or keep it as I intend to do with the Creative box as it is such a versatile quality bit of kit for the price. The normal microphone input on a PC/Laptop might not be good enough and suffer too much noise, and will not provide the right input impedance and equalisation for your turntable phono outputs.