Vinyl to MP3 turntable advice please?

[pacco65]

Hi

I have spent some time doing some digging, but am getting more confused as I go along so hoping someone who knows a lot more than me in this area can provide some advice.

Basically, I have a lot of vinyl that I haven't listened to in a long time due to having no turntable, and I am looking to initially convert at least some of that to MP3 so I can listen on my phone and ipad etc, but going forward I want to build a decent system for playing my vinyl.

What I would ideally like to do, if it's possible, is to buy a decent turntable that would give me good results for converting, but that would be of sufficient quality to then form the basis of a decent vinyl system. I have a budget of around £1000 for the whole lot.

I have found two Pro-ject turntables with USB versions (Essential 2 USB and Debut Carbon USB). Can anyone say if either of them would fit the bill, or suggest something better, or even if I wouldn't need a specific USB turntable?

Thanks in advance

 

[Al ears]

Hi

I have spent some time doing some digging, but am getting more confused as I go along so hoping someone who knows a lot more than me in this area can provide some advice.

Basically, I have a lot of vinyl that I haven't listened to in a long time due to having no turntable, and I am looking to initially convert at least some of that to MP3 so I can listen on my phone and ipad etc, but going forward I want to build a decent system for playing my vinyl.

What I would ideally like to do, if it's possible, is to buy a decent turntable that would give me good results for converting, but that would be of sufficient quality to then form the basis of a decent vinyl system. I have a budget of around £1000 for the whole lot.

I have found two Pro-ject turntables with USB versions (Essential 2 USB and Debut Carbon USB). Can anyone say if either of them would fit the bill, or suggest something better, or even if I wouldn't need a specific USB turntable?

Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum pacco65. I think you might have answered your own question. At the moment there are not many 'decent' turntable manufacturers offering a USB connection, Proj-ect being the only one that I know of.

For your budget this would be the only way to go. The other route is to buy a 'normal' turntable and get a seperate Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC). This is likely to work out to be quite an expensive option.

 

[thescarletpronster]

I have found two Pro-ject turntables with USB versions (Essential 2 USB and Debut Carbon USB). Can anyone say if either of them would fit the bill, or suggest something better, or even if I wouldn't need a specific USB turntable?

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I don't know how those two Pro-Jects compare to their non-USB equivalents either in price or build quality (one would hope they're the same quality, at least!) but I'd consider buying an external analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), which you can plug into the line out of your phono pre-amp or integrated amp.

I use quite an old one, the Griffin iMic, which gives good results, and is only about £25. You can get much better ones, but they can be a lot more expensive, and I don't know how much better the results will be, particularly from a turntable costing £300–500. Again, I don't know how good the built-in ADC on those USB Pro-Jects is, compared with the iMic or more expensive ADCs.

The software I use for wave manipulation and editing is Amadeus Pro, which has (in my opinion) good noise reduction algorithms. There is also Audacity, which is quite well rated, and is, I think, free. A more expensive option would be SoundSoap, which seems to get much better results, but costs c. £200.

With a fair bit of practice and playing around, I get what I consider quite acceptable results. If you've got crackle on your LPs, that gets a bit of a pain, because the only way to fix that properly is to do it manually, and hunting the clicks takes ages.

If your end format will be MP3 for playing on portable devices, the iMic and Audacity will certainly be good enough for your requirements.

One advantage of the iMic is that it is bi-directional, meaning that you can flip a switch and use it as a DAC to play files from your computer through your hi-fi. It will almost certainly be a lot better than your computer's built-in DAC.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Lost Angeles]

Duplicat post

 

[Lost Angeles]

Hi

I have spent some time doing some digging, but am getting more confused as I go along so hoping someone who knows a lot more than me in this area can provide some advice.

Basically, I have a lot of vinyl that I haven't listened to in a long time due to having no turntable, and I am looking to initially convert at least some of that to MP3 so I can listen on my phone and ipad etc, but going forward I want to build a decent system for playing my vinyl.

What I would ideally like to do, if it's possible, is to buy a decent turntable that would give me good results for converting, but that would be of sufficient quality to then form the basis of a decent vinyl system. I have a budget of around £1000 for the whole lot.

I have found two Pro-ject turntables with USB versions (Essential 2 USB and Debut Carbon USB). Can anyone say if either of them would fit the bill, or suggest something better, or even if I wouldn't need a specific USB turntable?

Thanks in advance

I use the tape out from my amp with twin phono lead (red and black) into a jack plug which goes into the mic in socket of my computer. I downloaded Audacity and copy using that.
You have to copy one side of an album or whatever and then split it into individual tracks. This works for me. The only problem I've had is because I use an IPod I can only copy to MP3 128Kbps, a higher quality seems to jigger the IPod up.
I would suggest you try the above and if successful spend all your money on a quality turntable and forget the USB side.

EDIT: I didn't see the other two posts before posting.

 

[MajorFubar]

Seeing that you said you want to buy a good turntable for future use, not just something to rip your vinyl cheaply and then sell, with £1,000 to throw at the solution I think you're (unintentionally) going about it ar*e-about-face.

Buy a USB phono interface such as the Art USB Phono Plus at £75. It will connect straight to your computer, it will sound at least as good as the ADCs in the ProJects, and is more versatile, should you need that versatilty in future. That leaves you £900+ to throw at the turntable, which opens an awful lot of doors to buy something which will lay the ProJects to waste.

Might be worth starting a new thread asking for advice on £900 turntables...

 

[Al ears]

Seeing that you said you want to buy a good turntable for future use, not just something to rip your vinyl cheaply and then sell, with £1,000 to throw at the solution I think you're (unintentionally) going about it ar*e-about-face.

Buy a USB phono interface such as the Art USB Phono Plus at £75. It will connect straight to your computer, it will sound at least as good as the ADCs in the ProJects, and is more versatile, should you need that versatilty in future. That leaves you £900+ to throw at the turntable, which opens an awful lot of doors to buy something which will lay the ProJects to waste.

Might be worth starting a new thread asking for advice on £900 turntables...

Don't think so Major, from what I read he would have this amount to spend on a whole system i.e. amp / speakers / turntable.

Or maybe I'm reading it wrong

 

[thescarletpronster]

Don't think so Major, from what I read he would have this amount to spend on a whole system i.e. amp / speakers / turntable.

That's how I read it as well:

I have a budget of around £1000 for the whole lot.

 

[John Duncan]

Well I have a Flexson Vinylplay on its way which is one way of doing it

But if I had a grand to buy the whole lot, I would be looking at a second hand amp for one or two hundred quid (maybe an AV receiver), a pair of two hundred quid speakers like Zensor 1s, Diamond 10.1s or 220s, Q Acoustics 3020s, and then spend 85 on a USB phono stage (Rega Mini A2D) and the remainder on a deck (this is not how I'd spend it if you were looking for a CD or streaming solution, btw).

Hard to see past a Rega RP3 in that instance, though I love the funkness of Pro-Ject decks and would be tempted by my old RPM5.1 or the Genie Carbon which has some very useful upgrades over the cooking model, and looks edible.

 

[pacco65]

Hi All

Thanks very much for the replies - gives me something to think about and some further avenues to explore.

The budget I had in mind was for everything - turntable, amp and speakers.

The USB versions of the Pro-jects that I was looking at do come at a premium price over the non USB version. I can't seem to find too many reviews relating specifically to them as opposed to the normal turntables though.

Thanks for the suggestions re ADC etc - I'll do some digging on those. Looks like I may be better in the long run going down that route.

Cheers

 

[iMark]

Thanks for the suggestions re ADC etc - I'll do some digging on those. Looks like I may be better in the long run going down that route.

If you're looking for a cheap but very good ADC you might as well look at a Minidisc deck or a DAT recorder. The Sony's have very good ADC's. The only problem of course is that you will need an optical in connection to get the signal from your stereo to your computer. I used to use a Griffin iMic for digitizing records but then started another project to move my old minidiscs to the computer while keeping the signal in the digital domain. I bought a second hand minidisc deck for EUR 50 with optical out and connect it to an old MacBook which has digital audio in. (The trouble is that noone uses this and Apple has dropped digital audio in from all their computers but the Mac Mini.) A digital deck has another advantage: you can set the recording levels much easier. This is critical because you don't want any clipping while recording.

I use Vinyl Studio for post recording cleanup and I'm very happy with the results, both from records as well as old minidiscs. And the integration with iTunes is excellent.

Since the stereo receiver is the hub of all our listening, I looked very hard to find a machine with a rec out selector. This way I can record records while listening to another source. Our Yamaha receiver has a very decent phono stage but I suppose that could be upgraded at some time in the future.

Signal path: record player -> phono input -> amp (receiver) -> tape out -> line in (MD deck) -> optical output -> optical input MacBook.

It's certainly a lot of fun to be able to play records on the iPod nano. The quality of the recordings of course depends on the quality of the records but the filters in Vinyl Studio help a lot in clearing up most of the surface noises. When we buy brand new vinyl, I usually make a digital copy soon after buying.

Of course all this is digitzing at amateur level and of course better results can be obtained by using better equipment. Obviously the MD deck digitizes at 16/44.1 (CD quality). But of course the headroom is more than enough for recording LPs.

 

[cheeseboy]

If you're looking for a cheap but very good ADC you might as well look at a Minidisc deck or a DAT recorder. The Sony's have very good ADC's. The only problem of course is that you will need an optical in connection to get the signal from your stereo to your computer. I used to use a Griffin iMic for digitizing records but then started another project to move my old minidiscs to the computer while keeping the signal in the digital domain. I bought a second hand minidisc deck for EUR 50 with optical out and connect it to an old MacBook which has digital audio in. (The trouble is that noone uses this and Apple has dropped digital audio in from all their computers but the Mac Mini.) A digital deck has another advantage: you can set the recording levels much easier. This is critical because you don't want any clipping while recording.

It's a fun idea, (no offence meant) but imho a total waste of time. Just get a standard Pro-Audio based sound card. They have line levels as they're meant for recording. Some even have built in phono pre-amps. the can be had from 30 quid upwards. No faffing around with digital ins etc...

 

[MajorFubar]

Thanks very much for the replies - gives me something to think about and some further avenues to explore.

The budget I had in mind was for everything - turntable, amp and speakers.

Fair enough, my bad for not reading your post properly. With that in mind it's difficult not to agree that the Projects represent a good deal. I can't think of a reason why their sound wouldn't be the same as the non-USB versions when connected directly to an amp's phono input, which leaves the only other variable being the quality of their built-in preamp-come-ADC when connected directly to a PC or Mac. Either way I doubt you can better them as a solution for the price, unless you were to consider buying a 2nd hand turntable and use an aftermarket USB phono ADC like the Art model I suggested.

Sorry to have gone completely up the wrong path.

 

[pacco65]

Fair enough, my bad for not reading your post properly. With that in mind it's difficult not to agree that the Projects represent a good deal. I can't think of a reason why their sound wouldn't be the same as the non-USB versions when connected directly to an amp's phono input, which leaves the only other variable being the quality of their built-in preamp-come-ADC when connected directly to a PC or Mac. Either way I doubt you can better them as a solution for the price, unless you were to consider buying a 2nd hand turntable and use an aftermarket USB phono ADC like the Art model I suggested.

Sorry to have gone completely up the wrong path.

No worries at all - I appreciate all the imput from everyone.

I was thinking along the same lines regarding the sound of the Pro-jects, and both "normal" versions get decent reviews. I'm gonna try to find out more as regards results with the built in pre-amp before I decide if this is the way to go for me I think. From what I've found, Pro-Ject seems to have a decent reputation so I would have thought that they wouldn't spoil a good product by putting in something sub standard, but you never know.

The Flexson vinylplay looks like quite an interesting concept too so I'll be looking into that some more as an alternative path that I wouldn't have otherwise considered.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[alex_bro]

Sorry to jump in / hijack on this... My situation is somewhat similar but I already have some of the consituent parts in place so would be looking at the best way to (at a reasonable price <£200) plug the gap from vinyl to digital.

I have a Rega RP3, Rega Fono and Arcam AVR400 and a reasonably old IBM thinkpad laptop running Windows 7. What recommendations for additional hardware needed. Is it as simple as a RCA to mini jack from the Rega Fono out into the line in on the laptop and some software like Audacity?

 

[Lost Angeles]

Sorry to jump in / hijack on this... My situation is somewhat similar but I already have some of the consituent parts in place so would be looking at the best way to (at a reasonable price <£200) plug the gap from vinyl to digital.

I have a Rega RP3, Rega Fono and Arcam AVR400 and a reasonably old IBM thinkpad laptop running Windows 7. What recommendations for additional hardware needed. Is it as simple as a RCA to mini jack from the Rega Fono out into the line in on the laptop and some software like Audacity?

That's what I use, tape out to microphone in. Cheap and cheerful, the only cost is the lead.
i have my internal mic set to 0db and it still copies any higher and it distorts.

 

[iMark]

I have a Rega RP3, Rega Fono and Arcam AVR400 and a reasonably old IBM thinkpad laptop running Windows 7. What recommendations for additional hardware needed. Is it as simple as a RCA to mini jack from the Rega Fono out into the line in on the laptop and some software like Audacity?

Basically it is as simple as that.

I recorded LPs that way before the year 2000 on an Apple Power Mac 5500/275 that was connected to the stereo. I even had a SCSI CD-writer in those days (and ZIP discs). The results were OK but it was a lot more convenient to plug my portable minidisc recorder into an amp.

If you're happy with the results, just do it that way. In my experience the ADCs in computers are not the best and add a bit of noise to the recording. There can also be grounding problems, adding more noise. The main thing in digitizing LPs is to give the LPs a good clean before recording.

 

[alex_bro]

So, actually looking at my laptop, it seems it does not have an audio line in, only a 'Mic' line in. So will I need to by an RCA to USB converter. There seems to be many of these around all in the ball park of about £40. Generally they seem to get reasonable reviews, but then there are inevitably people who say they are rubbish and introduced background noise. I could up my budget a bit and get something like the Rega Fono Mini A2D, bit I'm loath to do that because I really don't need the Phono Stage aspect already having purchased the Rega Fono!

 

[iMark]

So, actually looking at my laptop, it seems it does not have an audio line in, only a 'Mic' line in. So will I need to by an RCA to USB converter. There seems to be many of these around all in the ball park of about £40. Generally they seem to get reasonable reviews, but then there are inevitably people who say they are rubbish and introduced background noise. I could up my budget a bit and get something like the Rega Fono Mini A2D, bit I'm loath to do that because I really don't need the Phono Stage aspect already having purchased the Rega Fono!

You could try this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-UFO202-U-phono-Audio-Interface/dp/B002GHBYZ0

 

[thescarletpronster]

Waaaay up-thread .... Griffin iMic, c. £25.

 

[alex_bro]

So, actually looking at my laptop, it seems it does not have an audio line in, only a 'Mic' line in. So will I need to by an RCA to USB converter. There seems to be many of these around all in the ball park of about £40. Generally they seem to get reasonable reviews, but then there are inevitably people who say they are rubbish and introduced background noise. I could up my budget a bit and get something like the Rega Fono Mini A2D, bit I'm loath to do that because I really don't need the Phono Stage aspect already having purchased the Rega Fono!

You could try this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-UFO202-U-phono-Audio-Interface/dp/B002GHBYZ0

Yes, that's one of the ones that I was thinking about, but then got a bit conerned by the negative reviews. But, there are a lot of positive reviews as well, so there are obviously a bunch of people happy with the end result. At £30 it's cheaper than a dedicated option like the Rega Fono mini or the Project Phonobox III. Especially when I don't need the phono stage aspect.

 

[iMark]

Waaaay up-thread .... Griffin iMic, c. £25.

I bought one years ago. Not entirely happy with the results. The work well with Macs. Not sure whether it will work with Windows 8 or even Windows 10. Windows 7 is supported.

 

[iMark]

So, actually looking at my laptop, it seems it does not have an audio line in, only a 'Mic' line in. So will I need to by an RCA to USB converter. There seems to be many of these around all in the ball park of about £40. Generally they seem to get reasonable reviews, but then there are inevitably people who say they are rubbish and introduced background noise. I could up my budget a bit and get something like the Rega Fono Mini A2D, bit I'm loath to do that because I really don't need the Phono Stage aspect already having purchased the Rega Fono!

You could try this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-UFO202-U-phono-Audio-Interface/dp/B002GHBYZ0

Yes, that's one of the ones that I was thinking about, but then got a bit conerned by the negative reviews. But, there are a lot of positive reviews as well, so there are obviously a bunch of people happy with the end result. At £30 it's cheaper than a dedicated option like the Rega Fono mini or the Project Phonobox III. Especially when I don't need the phono stage aspect.

Depends how you use it. But with Behringer you can connect the turntable directly to your computer, bypassing the amp and using the phono stage in the Behringer.

 

[MeanandGreen]

You could consider buying a second hand CD Recorder. Pioneer made the best of the consumer market CD-R machines, the PDR-509 & PDR 609 are excellent in build, facilities and sound quality. I have them both and have owned one of them for 15 years.

Ripping vinyl to CD using just your audio system and then importing the disc to your computer is very straight forward. It does away with potential software issues and hiccups that using the computer for recording may involve. Also if you use CD-RW discs, you don't need to buy and burn a ton of blank CDs. Just wipe it and re- record.

Also the Project Elemental USB is another Project turntable option for you to consider. I have one and I'm happy with it. There is no reason why the USB versions of the project decks should sound any worse than the regular decks. The only difference is you pay more for the built in phono stage and A/D conversion. The turntable itself is exactly the same.

 

[thescarletpronster]

The thread title says vinyl to MP3 - even at 320kbps the end result won't have an SQ that merits anything more than a £20-£30 ADC, I'm sure. If the OP wants to record at higher quality rather than MP3, that might change.