Vinyl to DVD

[hut49]

I've got a bunch of really good vinyl from the 70s/80s that I just re-discovered in my loft - all in pefect condition. I would really like to get them onto my MediaCenter. I have a Technics deck and amp - what do I need to do to get the analogue output from the amp onto the hard disk?

[ThePassenger]

3.5mm stereo jack to twin Phono.

Phono in the amp or deck, 3.5mm jack goes in to the Line-In on your soundcard (or Mic if you don't have it).

Cheap n' cheerful software like Audacity should handle recording and saving as PCM .wav files; after that depends on what you want to do? Save the PCM's to DVD? convert to MP3? DVD-Audio?

[zumbruk]

Make a list of what you have.

Borrow the CDs from the record library.

Rip to MP3 as usual.

Take the CDs back.

Hell, you already paid for the music, so to Hell with the RIAA.

[hut49]

Thanks for that - cable's on the way from tvcables. So what would I need to covert the .wav files generated by Audacity to AAC files for my iPod?

[hut49]

zumbruk said:

Borrow the CDs from the record library.

Hey, isn't that one of those malaprop things? Surely you borrow records (i.e. vinyl) from a record library?


That's the easy way - sure - but there's no crack, hiss and pop on CDs. I want these recordings to be like they were when we used to listen to them, not squeaky-clean and clinical.

[ThePassenger]

hut49 said:

Thanks for that - cable's on the way from tvcables. So what would I need to covert the .wav files generated by Audacity to AAC files for my iPod?

well dunno about AAC but if you get the lame plug-in for audacity it will do mp3's.

[PJR]

ThePassenger said:

3.5mm stereo jack to twin Phono.

Phono in the amp or deck, 3.5mm jack goes in to the Line-In on your soundcard (or Mic if you don't have it).

Cheap n' cheerful software like Audacity should handle recording and saving as PCM .wav files; after that depends on what you want to do? Save the PCM's to DVD? convert to MP3? DVD-Audio?

This will work if the recording software can apply the correct RIAA equalisation curve, which is what a 'vinyl' preamp would do. If the software cant do this, then the recording is going to sound very bright, and generally crap.
You can buy phono preamps relatively cheaply though, and they will spit out a much friendlier line out type signal.

Cheers, P

[zumbruk]

hut49 said:

zumbruk said:

Borrow the CDs from the record library.

Hey, isn't that one of those malaprop things? Surely you borrow records (i.e. vinyl) from a record library?

If "biblioteque" is French for "library", why isn't a "discoteque" a record library?

hut49 said:

That's the easy way - sure - but there's no crack, hiss and pop on CDs. I want these recordings to be like they were when we used to listen to them, not squeaky-clean and clinical.

Well, you're sorted, then.

[hut49]

PJR said:

ThePassenger said:

3.5mm stereo jack to twin Phono.

Phono in the amp or deck, 3.5mm jack goes in to the Line-In on your soundcard (or Mic if you don't have it).

Cheap n' cheerful software like Audacity should handle recording and saving as PCM .wav files; after that depends on what you want to do? Save the PCM's to DVD? convert to MP3? DVD-Audio?

This will work if the recording software can apply the correct RIAA equalisation curve, which is what a 'vinyl' preamp would do. If the software cant do this, then the recording is going to sound very bright, and generally crap.
You can buy phono preamps relatively cheaply though, and they will spit out a much friendlier line out type signal.

Cheers, P

So taking the analogue signal from the phono after it been through the amp will not be good enough? What's a preamp and where in the system does it need to be?

[PJR]

hut49 said:

PJR said:

ThePassenger said:

3.5mm stereo jack to twin Phono.

Phono in the amp or deck, 3.5mm jack goes in to the Line-In on your soundcard (or Mic if you don't have it).

Cheap n' cheerful software like Audacity should handle recording and saving as PCM .wav files; after that depends on what you want to do? Save the PCM's to DVD? convert to MP3? DVD-Audio?

This will work if the recording software can apply the correct RIAA equalisation curve, which is what a 'vinyl' preamp would do. If the software cant do this, then the recording is going to sound very bright, and generally crap.
You can buy phono preamps relatively cheaply though, and they will spit out a much friendlier line out type signal.

Cheers, P

So taking the analogue signal from the phono after it been through the amp will not be good enough? What's a preamp and where in the system does it need to be?

Aha, well if you are recording via one of the tape outputs from your technics amp, then you should be all set. You wont need to worry about the phono preamp which is built into the phono stage of your technics amp.