Analog to digital converter for LP transfer

[ob1]

I just dig out my old 7 inches (easy tiger!) and really would like to transfer them all in to digital format. Being me, I would like to get close to the best analog sound as possible, I already own a yamaha hard drive thing which will take an analog input but I rather would use my Mac mini as, I would imagine, it will be easier to rename the tunes and organise all the songs in folders.
So has anyone here done a Vinyl Rip before?
Do I need an ADC or extra soundcard of some sort? Which software should I be looking for? I hope someone could help

thx
OB

[Purite Audio]

You will need either a sound card with A/D ,Lynx would be a high quality choice, or a seperate A/D box, for software audacity is popular.
Keith.

[Mullardman]

I just dig out my old 7 inches (easy tiger!) and really would like to transfer them all in to digital format. Being me, I would like to get close to the best analog sound as possible, I already own a yamaha hard drive thing which will take an analog input but I rather would use my Mac mini as, I would imagine, it will be easier to rename the tunes and organise all the songs in folders.
So has anyone here done a Vinyl Rip before?
Do I need an ADC or extra soundcard of some sort? Which software should I be looking for? I hope someone could help

thx
OB

I take it your 'Yamaha Hard Drive Thingy' is a CD recorder.

Record your singles to the hard drive of this device and drop them onto a CDR.

Take the CDR to your computer and play around with the digital files to your heart's content.

Job done!

Or you could read the manual of the Yamaha and do the same tricks with that device, though it is a little more tedious.

Mull

[ob1]

Thx Mull, but...but if I recorded on to CD then would it be going through Yamaha's average DAC first? I would like to take this to the MAX, not to mention I have over 700 singles....ripping all that on to CD could be a nightmare.

Keith, hi I will look into Lynx (I have 2 cans in my bathroom!) sorry I shouldn't joke really, this is a serious matter.

[vacdac]

VinylStudio is wot I use, totally brilliant, versions for mac/pc , if you need both versions the second license is half price.It has all the features you mention & loads more too. Will link to various d.b.'s to download Album art/track listings etc so sorted for "tagging", suite of tools manual & auto for editing/cleaning up de-clicking etc if necessary/separate set of tools for recording from tape Fab value at around £30'ish & can be got cheaper if you do a search for coupon offers or third party sellers, a useful saving for a little legwork. Paul Saunders is the softwares developer, really helpful chap, I've had speedy responses on B.H. W/ends when I've expected to be contacted the following week.

You can record straight to flac, set bit rate/wordlength etc , U.I. is good & easy to learn & the metering is decent & I've tried a few & not all are & it's kinda important.

A decent Pro Audio interface is the way to go. This is my new one http://www.thomann.de/gb/alva_nanoface_black.htm , an Alva Nanoface, got mine last week as I've been waiting for it to come onto the market & I was previously using a Cakewalk(Roland) UA1G which I've made some excellent recordings with. However the Nanoface is much better in terms of controls/meters/flexibility/build & connections it comes with phono ins/outs on the "Breakout cable" but there is an option for a fully balanced breakout cable.

Mine was £162 from Thomann, not bad as list is £250. Not used it much as a recorder yet tho' as I've being taking a break from that but when used with the Lappy outputting recordings I've made into my Dac it does sound better than the cakewalk so early days but I like it so far

Later Fella

Chris oooooooooot

p.s. (ACTUALLY MORE OF A FULL ON LATE EDIT)

I've got no issues with using Audacity/Others(I've Played with a few open source/Licenced Pro Suites too) on S.Q. grounds. BUT I will say this if you want to use one of these, then it will turn into a LONG WINDED, TOOTH PULLING EXPERIENCE. VinylStudio is a true One stop solution that is designed 4 the job & once mastered can turn the process into a pleasurable task.

On some threads in the past, when I've dared to suggest paying 4 V.S. as an alternative to using Open Source(Free) Audacity, I've been hazed a little by some. It makes me smile tho' , esp. in the light of some of the cheapskate comments aimed at me in my recent t.t. belt thread(FYI tho' this was started as "A bit of Fun" , & actually it was & I learned some useful stuff too ).

The truth is I got busy last year & managed to record over six hundred l.p.'s , so I do know what I'm talking about & t.b.h. I just don't think I could have made this sorta headway if using audacity

[Bruce]

Hi, Is the Analog Ripper from Wales still around?

Bruce

[meninblack]

The Behringer UCA-202 is great for this. RCA inputs from your phono stage (or the tape out on your pre) and USB output to the PC, straight into Audacity. Supports bit rates up to 48k.

The UCA-202 is about £20, Audacity is free. Behringer even do a model with a built-in phono stage, but I suspect it isn't great! The DAC/ADC chip seems to be pretty good.

[ob1]

Thanks Chris and MIB, seem like some great advises, I will investigate.

Anyone else have any more tips please let me know

[ob1]

Hi, Is the Analog Ripper from Wales still around?

Bruce

Not sure who he is but there is a scottish wammer use to do analog rip, I couldn't remember his handle name though, something fish?!
If you are reading this mate

[Bruce]

Not sure who he is but there is a scottish wammer use to do analog rip, I couldn't remember his handle name though, something fish?!
If you are reading this mate

Yoh, By George he is!-- I've used this and got excellent results.

Bruce

http://www.hotwork.org/TAR/MainTAR.html

[Simon Slater]

All you need to do is to connect an aux out such as tape out to the blue socket on a sound card on a pc. Download Audacity (Free open source software) and away you go. Then export from Audacity to wav format if you wish you can convert this to FLAC to save about a third of file size. I find recordings of LPs at standard 44.1/16 sound better than the commercial CD version of the LP.

[vacdac]

He's said he doesn't have a soundcard & is using a mac. He's also said what feature set he wants. No one is denying this can be done with audacity. I've used it myself but having to import etc. & not have all the features you need in one piece of software can turn out to be a Royal PIA.

Fella, please read the OP properly & what has been said since.

Cheers

vacdac

[nat8808]

Hi, Is the Analog Ripper from Wales still around?

Bruce

This is the wrong forum, but I don't think another act has been committed since 1889 and they never found out who he was.

[meninblack]

The Behringer and Audacity will both work fine with a mac.

[vacdac]

Yup Mibby,

Totally agree but OB1 did say what feature set he wanted & VS does it all in one nice easy package, as said I've tried many of the alternatives inc Audacity. VS is properly thought out in terms of what vinyl/tape home recorders need. The UI is brill & the workflow that is possible with this software.......franky leaves Audacity for dust...no way would I go back to using Audacity. We're not exactly talking arm & a leg money for VS either.

The Behringer and Audacity will both work fine with a mac.

[nat8808]

Your Mac Mini (assuming this is your only computer) is loads better than the old Macs that people have been making professional music on for years and years.. So there are plenty of older, excellent quality, audio interfaces you can use.

They'd have to be Firewire or USB and in general Firewire interfaces are of better quality IMO as they've been designed with the professional in mind, after all Firewire was designed for audio/video whereas USB was designed for mice and printers etc but more popular with home consumers.

I'd look at getting an older version of say a Motu interface, secondhand. I must admit I'm not well versed in Mac audio gear or even Firewire gear as I'd rather use a PC with an internal card on a budget, but I'm sure there must be other things around that are now out of favour because they don't do the latest 192 or 384KHz.

It is tempting to think that technology is so advanced now that it is only the ADC chip inside that matters and bad design or cheap components and manufacture won't upset the abilities of a ADC but I'd always go for slightly out of date pro gear over current consumer gear any day.

Alternatively, maybe there is a Firewire/USB digital only interface with S/pdif in and out. With that you could use a studio quality ADC if you can find a good one. Finding a good one with more modern 24/96 at a good price might be more hassle than you'd like though. As a studio gear lover too, I picked up a dCS 902 ADC for £300 on eBay a few years ago, 24/96 and used in many of the top classical studios in the late 90's. I also have a Meridian 607 ADC which is 20bit 44.1/48 KHz and they are about ~£220 when found - used by Tony Faulkner sometimes back in the mid 90's and also by some audiophile specialist labels (where mine came from). There were some other high-end ish Hifi ADCs by PS Audio and Wadia too but will only be 20/48 maximum. Maybe the Yam CD recorder has a digital output and has a good a ADC section?

You might be interested in a piece of software around that is designed for archiving vinyl and replaying vinyl rips to the extent that it generates a visual of the record's surface and you can drop the vitual needle at any point! Unfortunately I can't remember what it is or where I saw it... sorry!

With all this, it would be a case of recording like you would with cassette - press record in the software and drop the needle etc.

[cjr]

http://www.ikey-audio.com/rm3

If like me you cant be fazed with computer programs like Audacity good ole fashioned digital MP3/WAV SD/USB recorder, you set levels, you hit records and off you go, of course feed quality is whay your get at end of the day. You can also connect a USB cable between this and your PC and it will save MP3/WAV wise down that. I just use SD cards and transfer between recorder and PC.

[meninblack]

Yup Mibby,

Totally agree but OB1 did say what feature set he wanted & VS does it all in one nice easy package, as said I've tried many of the alternatives inc Audacity. VS is properly thought out in terms of what vinyl/tape home recorders need. The UI is brill & the workflow that is possible with this software.......franky leaves Audacity for dust...no way would I go back to using Audacity. We're not exactly talking arm & a leg money for VS either.

Fair enough - I find Audacity pretty simple, but I've never tried anything else!

[ob1]

Wow, this is new to me and it's great to have suggestions from many angles. Catcando has been kind enough to let me play with his thing (Behringer UCA-202) that MIB advised. CJR's Ikey seem like another nice & easy devise to do the job. NAT mention some exotic names which always get my box swapping blood flowing again. As for software, I use to be a Quark & Illustrator operator so I can learn thing however time is not on my side so the more simple software - the better.
thx again

[Dik Dolan]

ob, here is a guide to using audacity to rip LP's.

http://nostarch.com/download/Audacity_Ch3.pdf