USB Turntable

[voicey]

Looking for some guidance here on digitising my record collection. I have a large collection of vinyl from when I used to be an amateur DJ 20 years ago. I still have my 1210s and Vestax mixer but don't have the space for them to be out so the music cannot be enjoyed. I was given a Traktor Kontrol S2 as a birthday gift so I'd like to start converting my records. I also require a line out function so I can hook the turntable up to a sound bar if needed.

I have been looking at the Sony PSHX500 which seems great but the Traktor supports the following audio formats: MP3, WAV 1, AIFF, Audio CD, FLAC & Ogg Vorbis and the Sony seems to have it's own file format (DSD?)

Any help or guidance is gratefully received - thanks!

[otherman]

If you connect any turntable through an amp, and into the line in on a computer, you can fire up any recording software and save the music in any format you like.

[Biker 1]

otherman said:

If you connect any turntable through an amp, and into the line in on a computer, you can fire up any recording software and save the music in any format you like.

+1
I had a Denon turntable with a USB socket - I think I used it once, but it was a bit of a gimmick.

[Crackie]

voicey said:

Looking for some guidance here on digitising my record collection. I have a large collection of vinyl from when I used to be an amateur DJ 20 years ago. I still have my 1210s and Vestax mixer but don't have the space for them to be out so the music cannot be enjoyed. I was given a Traktor Kontrol S2 as a birthday gift so I'd like to start converting my records. I also require a line out function so I can hook the turntable up to a sound bar if needed.

I have been looking at the Sony PSHX500 which seems great but the Traktor supports the following audio formats: MP3, WAV 1, AIFF, Audio CD, FLAC & Ogg Vorbis and the Sony seems to have it's own file format (DSD?)

Any help or guidance is gratefully received - thanks!

One of these should fit the bill perfectly...... https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers...

The link has a video showing the product being used for the purpose you described. They cost next to nothing and are super simple to use. Measurements are pretty decent irrespective of cost........and remarkable for the money.

I use Audacity software quite often..........it has some useful 'trick' features which can be used to clean up your vinyl rips and 'erase' pops, crackles and surface noise. There's a huge number of online tutorials showing how to use the software.

[Boom78]

Just as a warning copied vinyl doesn’t sound great even when processed via audacity.

I too have my 1210s, new pioneer gear and loads of vinyl. I found it much easier to simply buy new files from places like beatport, Juno etc. sound quality is much better and discount codes come out very regularly, you can get most stuff for under 99p a track.

[Crackie]

Boom78 said:

Just as a warning copied vinyl doesn’t sound great even when processed via audacity.

I too have my 1210s, new pioneer gear and loads of vinyl. I found it much easier to simply buy new files from places like beatport, Juno etc. sound quality is much better and discount codes come out very regularly, you can get most stuff for under 99p a track.

Fair enough.

I've had very good results but I was using an STD 305M turntable, SME arm and a Shure V15 cartridge with a microline stylus. The phono stage was the one built into my Audio Analogue Bellini Pre amp and the interface a Tascam that I can't remember the name of. It

The results were extremely good to my ears.........Audacity's automatic scratch removal software was a bit of a blunt instrument and removed some low level details, ambient sounds and harmonics; I preferred taking the time to remove any major glitches manually. Very happy with the results when used that way. It's also important to make sure that Audacity's settings are such that MP3's file is exported using the highest resolution possible or exported as full WAV, unsurprisingly can sound poor if the export settings are not correct.

[Lucid_AV]

The thing about ripping vinyl is that it takes money and a big fat slice of time to get decent results. The 1210s are good decks with okay arms. What your cartridge is like could be important. Changing it for something more suitable for detail retrieval could be pricey but is possible. Cleaning your vinyl takes time too.

The ripping software will try to split the audio signal in to tracks, but there'll always be false positives to filter through and change. Then you'll need to title those tracks. It's all a bit of a ball ache. It makes sense for stuff that's unique and not available in other formats, but for the rest of it, just go for downloads or rip CDs.

[voicey]

Thanks guys - some real food for thought, especially on the download front.