Vinyl to PC/iTunes - anyone used a USB turntable?

[andy400]

Got some vinyl which I'd love to go 'digital' - I'd gladly just buy a replacement CD but some just not available. Anyone used a USB turntable to achieve this? Any good? Any recommendations?

[GlynMo]

Partly for the same reason (vinyl to digital), and partly so that I can stow all of my cds in the music room and clear the sitting room, I've ordered one of these http://www.brennan.co.uk/. The reviews are virtually all positive, and you can choose the quality (compression) that you record. I'm not expecting it for a couple of weeks (they're in high demand), but I'll report back when I've used it.

[andy400]

GlynMo said:

Partly for the same reason (vinyl to digital), and partly so that I can stow all of my cds in the music room and clear the sitting room, I've ordered one of these http://www.brennan.co.uk/. The reviews are virtually all positive, and you can choose the quality (compression) that you record. I'm not expecting it for a couple of weeks (they're in high demand), but I'll report back when I've used it.

I await your report Sir! Thanks

[koenig999]

You don't need an USB turntable if you have got an ordinary one and an amp with tape out, and a PC / laptop with an audio line in.

A twin phono to 3.5mm plug and a free download of Audacity will enable you to convert vinyl to *.wav, and then CD with a CD Writer drive.

I expect this will be better than any lightwieght USB turntable.

Just a thought.

Koenig

[GlynMo]

I tried Audacity about a year ago and found it very flaky. It could have been improved since then of course....

[andy400]

koenig999 said:

You don't need an USB turntable if you have got an ordinary one and an amp with tape out, and a PC / laptop with an audio line in.

A twin phono to 3.5mm plug and a free download of Audacity will enable you to convert vinyl to *.wav, and then CD with a CD Writer drive.

I expect this will be better than any lightwieght USB turntable.

Just a thought.

Koenig

Interesting.... I kept the turntable from my old stereo, just in case..... Might work....

[jet_noise]

Dear andy400,

I've used Audacity regularly and it is fine. Yes 'tis a bit "techie" but it is free FGS!
I am also fond of EAC for copying CDs or compressing batches of files.

Rega Planar 3 RB300 Linn K5 Audiolab 8000A record out -> PC sound card line in and it works just fine.
You can save as .wav or compress to .mp3 at various rates. There may be other options too. I can't check 'coz I'm actually using it as I type ,

regards,
Jet

[celticpilgrim]

I didn't have a turntable, so I got an ION usb turntab;e, comes with audacity software. Once you figure our where to save stuff, it works fine

[Evangelion]

I use Wave Repair for tapes, it's supposed to be for vinyl but I've yet to use it for that.

[GlynMo]

andy400 said:

GlynMo said:

Partly for the same reason (vinyl to digital), and partly so that I can stow all of my cds in the music room and clear the sitting room, I've ordered one of these http://www.brennan.co.uk/. The reviews are virtually all positive, and you can choose the quality (compression) that you record. I'm not expecting it for a couple of weeks (they're in high demand), but I'll report back when I've used it.

I await your report Sir! Thanks

It's a great bit of kit! Compact, but judging by the weight it's stuffed with quality parts. Very easy to upload from cd and mp3, a little bit fiddlier from vinyl but once you've set up a couple of parameters it's just as easy. I'm using 320k compression but you can also use mp3 quality (192k), 128k or lossless. The built-in amp isn't bad, but it sounds great through my proper hifi system.

If you'd use it to 'store' cd music as well as convert your vinyl, I'd highly recommend it. It might be a bit OTT to buy just for the vinyl conversion, unless you have a big collection.

[TonyRPH]

If you're using your original turntable and amplifier, I found this free software to be useful for capturing the tracks to hard disk.

[davepoth]

I just used my original turntable. I have a not particularly fancy recording soundcard which has RCA input, so I just do that with the best shielded cable I have. Then it's pretty easy to emulate a phono stage using an EQ plugin in your favourite recording program.

[andy400]

TonyRPH said:

If you're using your original turntable and amplifier, I found this free software to be useful for capturing the tracks to hard disk.

Looks good, thanks.

Still have to get around to trying something - new baby and new job combination = not much spare time for playing with turntables, unfortunately....