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Thread: LP's to CD

  1. #1
    AR Newbie Registered Member
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    Question LP's to CD

    Good morning. Looking for some advice re: Christmas gift! My wife would like to be able to convert our collection of LP's to digital format. We have a high quality turntable, but I'd like to find the best/most user friendly device to use to burn CD's from LP's.
    Thanks for any advice you can offer.
    Charlie

  2. #2
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Smart woman, your wife

    Quote Originally Posted by charlie
    Good morning. Looking for some advice re: Christmas gift! My wife would like to be able to convert our collection of LP's to digital format. We have a high quality turntable, but I'd like to find the best/most user friendly device to use to burn CD's from LP's.
    Thanks for any advice you can offer.
    Charlie
    My wife kind of had the same idea and I am fully in favor of it. Do you in tend to chuck the vinyl once it's copied?? I think I will.

    I bought a device recently from ADS called 'Instant Music', ($50), basically it's a USB sound card; with it came an OEM version of Nero 6. I connected by phono preamp to the 'Instant Music' and the latter to my computer of course. Using the Nero software it is possible to record the whole disc to WAV format, segment it into tracks, and do some noise and click-pop surpression, then compress it to MP3 if you want. It's all extremely easy -- so extremely easy that your wife could do it herself if so motivated.

    However I discovered that that the M-Audio Audiophile USB I already had would do the job, so I flogged the 'Instant Music' on eBay for $35. Haven't do it yet, but I will compress the WAV files to Apple Lossless using iTunes or a free conversion program (whose name I will look up).

    There are, of course other options including using a dedicated CD recorder.

  3. #3
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charlie
    Good morning. Looking for some advice re: Christmas gift! My wife would like to be able to convert our collection of LP's to digital format. We have a high quality turntable, but I'd like to find the best/most user friendly device to use to burn CD's from LP's.
    Thanks for any advice you can offer.
    Charlie
    Hi Charlie,

    Welcome to AR.
    My CD recorder has a hard drive. I just play the LP's and record it to the HD. CD copies are a flick away after that. But Feanor's method sounds much more cost efficient if you don't already have a CD-R.
    Lot's of luck, and don't forget to come back to tell us how you made out.

    Mike
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  4. #4
    Color me gone... Resident Loser's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by charlie
    Good morning. Looking for some advice re: Christmas gift! My wife would like to be able to convert our collection of LP's to digital format. We have a high quality turntable, but I'd like to find the best/most user friendly device to use to burn CD's from LP's.
    Thanks for any advice you can offer.
    Charlie
    ...interested in the Sony RCDW500C...straightforward CD recorder plus a 5-disc changer...around $300USD MSRP...It's the only reasonably priced stand-alone unit I've seen, and I too have been interested in doing the conversion...JohnMichael, one of the mods, has one and as I recall is quite satisfied with it...

    TEAC makes it's GF350...a seemingly very user-friendly, self-contained TT/CD recorder w/AM/FM tuner...may not be absolute "audiopile" quality but the TT has 78rpm capabilities if that's a factor...MSRP around $400, although it can be found for less on-line...I know you said you had a TT, but...

    jimHJJ(...good luck and Merry Christmas...)
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  5. #5
    I took a headstart... basite's Avatar
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    you could use your pc, but this is only recommended when you have a decent soundcard (best way to go is a external one, but a good internal one will do fine too, avoid the standard onboard ones) there are various ways of connecting it to your pc (they will all end up in the line in on your soundcard) but method one: connecting the tt to your amp, and from the amp's line out (tape, cd-r, aux OUT! ) to the soundcard's line in, or connect it to a phono preamp, and from the phono preamp's outputs to the line in of your soundcard.
    then, record it with some decent recording software, there's plenty out of there, some reasonably good ones are from magix, audacity (?), adobe stuff, nero things, maybe something that came with the soundcard, or, when you've got loads and loads of money to spend, steinberg wavelab 5/6 (but really, they are extremely good, but they do cost you $700) and then burn to cd or dvd.

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  6. #6
    Linear Guy
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    I recommend Sound Forge or equivalent with a pop and hiss remover.
    Both softwares are cheap now. I believe you need to be able to manipulate the WAV file to suit your taste before burning. If not, you could end up with CD's that sound way boring compared to the LP;s.........like the ones we bought in the 80's.

  7. #7
    I took a headstart... basite's Avatar
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    IMHO, software pop and hiss removers are pure crap, they make the song sound muffled,
    if you still want to use it, make sure you also have an equalizer built in the program, to make song sound a little better again, but please, if you can (when you don't have really disturbing and unwanted sounds), then don't use the filters, what you do want to care about is that your tt is properly set up already, and that you minimize the amount of rumble.

    Greetings,
    Basite.
    Life is music!

    Mcintosh MA6400 Integrated
    Double Advent speakers
    Thiel CS2.3's
    *DIY Lenco L75 TT
    * SME 3012 S2
    * Rega RB-301
    *Denon DL-103 in midas body
    *Denon DL-304
    *Graham slee elevator EXP & revelation
    *Lehmann audio black cube SE
    Marantz CD5001 OSE
    MIT AVt 2 IC's
    Sonic link Black earth IC's
    Siltech MXT New york IC's
    Kimber 4VS speakercable
    Furutech powercord and plugs.

    I'm a happy 20 year old...

  8. #8
    rockin' the mid-fi audio_dude's Avatar
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    yeah, i use GoldWave, and a Creative Audigy ZS soundcard...

    i'd reccomend the software, and a Creative X-Fi soundcard!
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  9. #9
    Mutant from table 9
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    Yeah, everyone has kind of nailed the stand alone compact disc recorder vs. computer/CD burner issue, but something often overlooked is the risk that such a conversion project will turn into a chore and suddenly lose momentum. Since LPs have to be played in real time to be digitized, and since many LP collections number in the hundreds or thousands, this can be a real time commitment. But of course this depends on the size of the LP collection and why you want to convert. Do LPs take up too much space? Are they never being used and you will use them more on a digital format?

    To me the ideal solution is the stand alone CD recorder. It is what I have and use to burn LPs. I'm never going to sit down at my computer, plug in a turntable and spend days upon weeks burning stack after stack of records. However, whenever I play a record that I would fancy having a CD of, it is absolutely no chore to pop a CDR in the old Sony recorder and presto blammo, I have a CD copy. Many machines will detect the silence between LP tracks and insert a track break there. All mod con.

    Since i frequently and primarily listen to records on my main system, it works well for me and spreads the chore over time. Then if I want it is very easy to rip the CD onto a computer and takes but a minute to type in the artist and track info.

    However, mine was $600 or $700 new, but there are much cheaper ones available. But, since you are really paying for a top notch DAC in that CD recorder, you really don't want to skimp there. Either way, CD recorders will be a more expensive option than a computer/CD burner combo.
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  10. #10
    Super Moderator Site Moderator JohnMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Resident Loser
    ...interested in the Sony RCDW500C...straightforward CD recorder plus a 5-disc changer...around $300USD MSRP...It's the only reasonably priced stand-alone unit I've seen, and I too have been interested in doing the conversion...JohnMichael, one of the mods, has one and as I recall is quite satisfied with it...

    TEAC makes it's GF350...a seemingly very user-friendly, self-contained TT/CD recorder w/AM/FM tuner...may not be absolute "audiopile" quality but the TT has 78rpm capabilities if that's a factor...MSRP around $400, although it can be found for less on-line...I know you said you had a TT, but...

    jimHJJ(...good luck and Merry Christmas...)

    Jim is correct in that I am happy with the quality and ease of use with the Sony recorder. I have burned many cd's of favorite vinyl that I can listen to in the car. I have also made cd's of records for friends who do not have turntables. It is also easy to copy cd's when you might like a set for the car and leave the originals at home. If your 50 cent copies are stolen it is not so upsetting.
    JohnMichael
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  11. #11
    Audio Hobbyist Since 1969 Glen B's Avatar
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    I have an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 sound card in my PC. I use LP Recorder (WAV recorder) and LP Ripper (WAV editor) to record from my phono preamp and edit the WAV files. This is not a chore for me since LP Recorder has an auto start/auto stop feature. Recording starts when the stylus hits the record surface and stops when it lifts off. I can listen to an entire side of an LP and record it at the same time then separate the tracks later, trim them and add fade in/fade out.

    This is especially useful with live albums where there is audience applause and artist commentary (no silence) between each track. With LP Ripper I am able to select the exact start/end point of each track to a tenth of a second. As a result, live albums I have transferred to CD-R mimic the way the tracks of their vinyl counterpart flow continuously into each other although there are discrete tracks on the CD.

    LP Recorder/LP Ripper: http://www.cfbsoftware.com/default.htm

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