- Sep 9, 2003
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LP to CD transfer
- Thread starter Peter Parker
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I know it is low tech, however a few years back I transferred some tapes I had (comedy, Jeff Foxworthy, etc.) to my computer.
What I did is take my home stereo system, made me a patch cord from two old sets of headphones (cut about two foot of cord of each, then spliced them together, so that I had a headphone jack on both ends--you can buy this too, but 7 or so dollars for something I could make from old non-working headphones wasn't worth it too me). Plugged one into my mic-in on my computer and the other in the headphone jack on my stereo. Played the tapes on stereo as I recorded them onto MP3's on my computer using a freeware program called StepVoice Recorder. StepVoice Recorder | Download version 1.4 is newest, they have 1.5 BETA though.
It allows you to set up for either mic-in or line-in, along with recording what you play on your computer. Just have to set volume on record player to right amount (not too loud and not to low) so that recording will have good audio (if audio coming in is too loud, it will be distorted, if it is too quite, you won't be able to hear it over the background noise, especially LP's). Once transfer is complete, you can burn MP3's to CD's as MP3, or you can make a CD from MP3 files (a lot of CD player won't play MP3's, but if your friend has one that will, you can store a lot more on a MP3 CD than you can a plain old CD). The only negative is if you record an entire record into a single MP3, you'll have one really long track. So you can either pause playback and recording and make multiple MP3's (stop playback and recording, start recording to different MP3 and start playback and repeat every 4 or 5 minutes). Or you can use what I used, another freeware program called mp3directcut found at mpesch3.de - Homepage of mp3DirectCut and 1by1 - free mp3 editor+recorder and audio directory player so that you can take long MP3s and divide them up into smaller MP3's and therefore when you record to CD, you'll have multiple tracks, instead of one big one (five different MP3's recorded to CD will be 5 tracks on CD). This software allows you to listen to playback of MP3s, and therefore allows you to choose when to cut it (your friend gets to choose where each track is).
Like I said, low-tech, but it worked for me. The tapes I had were owned by me, and since I didn't have a tape player in my car, I wanted to listen to them, and it worked out great.
If your friend don't have mic out on record player, you can either set up a very quite room and a mic to record LP's or you could use some old speaker wire for left and right speaker combined into single plug to be plugged into microphone jack on computer. Just make sure you don't turn volume up real high.
What I did is take my home stereo system, made me a patch cord from two old sets of headphones (cut about two foot of cord of each, then spliced them together, so that I had a headphone jack on both ends--you can buy this too, but 7 or so dollars for something I could make from old non-working headphones wasn't worth it too me). Plugged one into my mic-in on my computer and the other in the headphone jack on my stereo. Played the tapes on stereo as I recorded them onto MP3's on my computer using a freeware program called StepVoice Recorder. StepVoice Recorder | Download version 1.4 is newest, they have 1.5 BETA though.
It allows you to set up for either mic-in or line-in, along with recording what you play on your computer. Just have to set volume on record player to right amount (not too loud and not to low) so that recording will have good audio (if audio coming in is too loud, it will be distorted, if it is too quite, you won't be able to hear it over the background noise, especially LP's). Once transfer is complete, you can burn MP3's to CD's as MP3, or you can make a CD from MP3 files (a lot of CD player won't play MP3's, but if your friend has one that will, you can store a lot more on a MP3 CD than you can a plain old CD). The only negative is if you record an entire record into a single MP3, you'll have one really long track. So you can either pause playback and recording and make multiple MP3's (stop playback and recording, start recording to different MP3 and start playback and repeat every 4 or 5 minutes). Or you can use what I used, another freeware program called mp3directcut found at mpesch3.de - Homepage of mp3DirectCut and 1by1 - free mp3 editor+recorder and audio directory player so that you can take long MP3s and divide them up into smaller MP3's and therefore when you record to CD, you'll have multiple tracks, instead of one big one (five different MP3's recorded to CD will be 5 tracks on CD). This software allows you to listen to playback of MP3s, and therefore allows you to choose when to cut it (your friend gets to choose where each track is).
Like I said, low-tech, but it worked for me. The tapes I had were owned by me, and since I didn't have a tape player in my car, I wanted to listen to them, and it worked out great.
If your friend don't have mic out on record player, you can either set up a very quite room and a mic to record LP's or you could use some old speaker wire for left and right speaker combined into single plug to be plugged into microphone jack on computer. Just make sure you don't turn volume up real high.
If he's willing to spend a small amount of money Audio-Technica has several turntable models that connect to the USB port of a computer. Costco has one that includes all the software needed to transfer his vinyl for about $90.
Costco Audio Technica LP Turntable to Digital Recording System
You can buy turntables that have usb connections. Amazon.com: Ion iTTUSB Turntable with USB Record: Electronics
All he needs is a sound card.
Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External - 24-bit ADVANCED HD, USB Setup, CMSS 3D
Cost around $50
Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External - 24-bit ADVANCED HD, USB Setup, CMSS 3D
Cost around $50
You don't need a new turntable, any will do but you do need a cable to connect it to the PC which has a stereo mini plug on one end and two RCA plugs on the other (can be purchased at Radio Shack). Plug the RCA plugs into the turntable where the existing plugs are and the other end into the audio in jack on the computer. That's it for the hardware side. As for recording software, Spin it again is the easiest to operate, most reliable and offers many options to clean up the recording. You can download and try it for free to see if it meets your needs (which it will unless you are a recording technician who loves complication). And here is a link - Spin It Again - Transfer vinyl LP to CD or convert tape cassette to CD and MP3!. Hope this helps.
Audacity is the easiest to use analog to audio converter I've found... Just plug in the cord to line in on soundcard, choose your bitrate and stuff, get the lame dll to convert to mp3 and hit the record button!
I thought most turntables will need a pre-amp to connect to a standard line-in. Anyone try a direct connect of a magnetic turntable to a sound card? Is there enough gain?
Could first run the turntable through a receiver then use a tape out. Radio Shack also sells:
RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Receivers & amplifiers: Pyle® Pro PP-999 Phono Pre Amp
RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Accessories: Audio accessories: Turntable accessories: Magnetic Cartridge Stereo Pre-Amp
Geronimo: Just how un-tec-savy is your friend. Does he even want to mess with a computer?
They used to make stand-alone CD recorders. That might be the easiest. # 2 might be the turntable w/ usb port (just because it makes connecting easier).
But it's probably not much harder to use the old turntable, preamp, and line-ins.
Most CD/DVD suites include someting for capturing audio.
Could first run the turntable through a receiver then use a tape out. Radio Shack also sells:
RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Receivers & amplifiers: Pyle® Pro PP-999 Phono Pre Amp
RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Accessories: Audio accessories: Turntable accessories: Magnetic Cartridge Stereo Pre-Amp
Geronimo: Just how un-tec-savy is your friend. Does he even want to mess with a computer?
They used to make stand-alone CD recorders. That might be the easiest. # 2 might be the turntable w/ usb port (just because it makes connecting easier).
But it's probably not much harder to use the old turntable, preamp, and line-ins.
Most CD/DVD suites include someting for capturing audio.
- Sep 9, 2003
- 12,308
- 2,007
Thanks to everyone that offered help on this. The thread is almosta month old and he has accomplished what he set out to do. Perhaps i should ahve madea post to tht effect earlier
