Need Advise: Transcribing LP Albums to MP3 Files

[Foxbat]

First off, let me say that this is research for a possible Christmas Present. I have a friend who has a large number of LP albums and a fairly decent stereo system which includes a Luxman Direct Drive turntable he has had for 20+ years. I was over at his house the other day and he mentioned that he had seen one of those USB Turntables for $75 while going through the Black Friday ads. He showed me the ad and I took a look at the turntable... The plastic mold marks were obvious even in a 1" photo. It just looked C-H-E-A-P! I told him that there were USB adapters that use a "real" turntable and captures the music via any Audio Stream to MP3 software.

Of course, I thought I knew what I was talking about... Turns out that I have not been able to ferret out this elusive module at all! It seems that the market for this product revolves around USB turntables. All I was looking for was a USB dongle that had the RIAA Phono Preamp built in.

I did find a company that sells a $70 box that is overkill as it not only has the phono preamp but a mixer as well. It doesn't even do USB; it's intended to be connected via your computer's stereo Aux In. While something like that would work, I'm curious if any one here on the SatelliteGuys.US site has tackled this job and what you used?

 

[dfergie]

Let me know... my Sister in Law got my Brother one of the USB turntables, all of his LP's are in storage here so I need to dig them out as well as mine as I know he will be picking though them... I haven't had a working turntable in years but have a pretty good collection of LP's...

 

[8bitbytes]

Put a Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium card in your computer and then run an optical cable from your receiver to the optical input of the Titanium sound card. Now you can record in ANY audio format you want with the right software. Audacity is a good free open source program to start with. Record the entire LP as one file, then open it in something like audacity and split the songs out into separate files and save in whatever compressed format you want.

 

[dfergie]

Personally If I catch the bug, I'll save as Wav files and play with the settings to save as much of the fidelity as possible...

 

[Paul Wozniak]

NAD - PP-3 - Digital Phono Preamp with USB Interface-Audio Advisor

This is about $179.00

 

[Paul Wozniak]

First off, let me say that this is research for a possible Christmas Present. I have a friend who has a large number of LP albums and a fairly decent stereo system which includes a Luxman Direct Drive turntable he has had for 20+ years. I was over at his house the other day and he mentioned that he had seen one of those USB Turntables for $75 while going through the Black Friday ads. He showed me the ad and I took a look at the turntable... The plastic mold marks were obvious even in a 1" photo. It just looked C-H-E-A-P! I told him that there were USB adapters that use a "real" turntable and captures the music via any Audio Stream to MP3 software.

Of course, I thought I knew what I was talking about... Turns out that I have not been able to ferret out this elusive module at all! It seems that the market for this product revolves around USB turntables. All I was looking for was a USB dongle that had the RIAA Phono Preamp built in.

I did find a company that sells a $70 box that is overkill as it not only has the phono preamp but a mixer as well. It doesn't even do USB; it's intended to be connected via your computer's stereo Aux In. While something like that would work, I'm curious if any one here on the SatelliteGuys.US site has tackled this job and what you used?

You are absolutely right about these TT's being crap. Check the link I posted above.

 

[snathanb]

Personally If I catch the bug, I'll save as Wav files and play with the settings to save as much of the fidelity as possible...

That's a lotta' space. I'd go FLAC. No audio loss, 40 to 50% smaller, and you can tag them.

 

[bhawley]

I use this: http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp?type=90&cat=13&id=128
Works ok. I have to run the files through pop/click software, been spoiled

 

[charper1]

That's a lotta' space. I'd go FLAC. No audio loss, 40 to 50% smaller, and you can tag them.

concur about FLAC

 

[Foxbat]

I use this: Applied Research & Technology: ARTcessories™
Works ok. I have to run the files through pop/click software, been spoiled

Hey, that is exactly what I was looking for! :up Thanks for the link. I was able to find it at B&H Photo for about half the list price (out of stock) but I see that our local musical instrument dealer carries it, so I may be giving them a call.

 

[Inno]

A few years back I transferred a few albums using Audacity and let me say for a free program, it really was useful! I used a stereo mixer I had with phono pre-amp built in although you could use any old stereo receiver with phono input and plugged it into the input of my computer's sound card.
I'd record one side at a time then split the tracks and remove pops crackle etc. then I believe I saved them as WAV files to preserve the quality.
I learned a few things in the process. First, it is VERY time consuming if you want to do a good job. Second, pay very close attention to your audio levels as you do not want any clipping. Third, the better the turntable the better the end result which only makes sense and as such I'm sure those cheap plastic LP to USB units would sound like absolute crap. Fourth, do NOT over process with the "tick and pop" reducer. You'll end up with garbled, "computer" sounding music. And fifth, it is what it is........if your records are in questionable shape to begin with, you're not going to end up with a perfect end result, you're still going to hear distortion, clicks, pops etc. even after the software does it's thing.
Having said all that, it was a satisfying experience and a good way to burn up a few cold winter nights.

 

[Foxbat]

B&H Photo & Video sent me an e-mail that the ART device was back in-stock, so I called my friend and let him know it was available for $60. It's too late for a Christmas present at this point, so I made other plans. He sounded excited and thought it would be a good activity for him while he waits for the golf courses to thaw out...