Vinyl records to Digital:

You can have the best of both worlds

The best vinyl records are found at The Laughing Papillon.

Introduction

Hardware/Software Required

First Steps

Software

Summary

Introduction

If you want to buy music recorded in the last 10 years then, for the most part, your only choice is to purchase a CD, and I own a lot of CDs. There are many reasons to collect vinyl records and record albums and that discussion is handled at collecting vinyl. Here we want to discuss how to take a vinyl record or cassette recording and make it digital.

Collectors, you may have some rare, hard to find vinyl records that are worth quite a bit of money. Keeping that vinyl record safe may be more important to you than enjoying the rich sound of the vinyl. Collectible hard to find records can be recorded onto a CD and now you have a copy that can be played without risk.

Once a vinyl record or record album is digital it is possible to make CDs for use in a car or on a portable CD player. The MP3 or WAV files can be played while sitting at a computer and it is possible to use them on an MP3 player - these little devices are relatively inexpensive and hold a lot of music. It is also possible to start an Internet radio station (see www.live365.com as an example).

If you are a collector of vinyl records or want to become a collector then you are probably spoiled. When compared to CDs most vinyl records are inexpensive. Vinyl records and record albums can increase in value. Elvis and the Rolling Stones vinyl records, and much of the music you want to listen to may be difficult to find on CDs. My experience is that most of the music I like falls into one of the following categories:

1. Not available on CD;
2. Available on CD but not remastered, or remastered by someone who didn't know what they were doing (these CDs tend to have very poor audio quality);
3. Available on CD but only on a greatest hits or compilation format, which means that most of the music I want to hear isn't available;
4. Available in box sets that cost 4 to 10 times what a normal CD costs - I get more music than I want for much more than I want to pay. This seems to be particularly true when it comes to rare, hard to find records;
5. Available online but now I have to pay for each song downloaded which adds up very quickly.

In other words, if I buy CDs of classic rock or jazz (my favorites), I get to spend more money and I get to listen to the music someone else thinks I should listen to and live with his or her decisions on the audio quality of the music.

If you are experiencing some of these same frustrations and want to listen to your music outside your home, then this article may help you take the plunge into vinyl to digital transfer. I decided that making my own CDs couldn't be that hard, and I was right, but I did run into some bumps along the way. I want to share my experiences so you can avoid the mistakes I made, some of which cost me money. You will still have your own challenges, but this gives you a place to start.

Hardware/Software Required

You probably have most of what is required for converting your vinyl record albums or 45s to digital format. Here is a list of requirements:

• A computer - desktop or laptop it doesn't matter.
• A lot of memory isn't critical but the process goes faster with more memory.
• A sound card
• Turntable for vinyl records and cassette player of you want to go from tape to digital.
• An amplifier or pre-amp (this will be discussed in greater detail).
• The appropriate cables to connect the turntable or cassette player with the amp or pre-amp with the sound card (discussed later).
• Software that will allow you to clean up your recordings after you have converted them to digital format.
• If you want to make CDs then you need to have a CD-RW drive that allow and some blank CD-R.

First Steps

The first thing I needed to understand was how to get the sound from my turntable into my computer. This turned out to be pretty simple.

1. You will need a turntable, an amp or preamp, a sound card and cables to connect the amp or preamp to the sound card.
2. Do you need a new amp or a preamp?
1. Before you make that decision, take a look at your vinyl or cassette tape collection and decide how many hours it would take you to listen to everything you want to convert to digital format CD.
2. Now multiply that by at least 2 to get an idea of the number of hours it will take you to do this conversion. A 2:1 ratio is probably conservative. I would say it would be more like 3:1, but give your self the benefit of the doubt; you are a fast learner.
3. If you own an amplifier, it probably serves some purpose - home theatre, audio system, etc. Ask your self if you and your family are willing to have a home theatre system that won't work or an audio system that can't play music for the length of the conversion.
4. If the answer is NO, then you need to either buy an amp or a preamp for this project. (see the discussion on Blaze software below)
3. If you are using an amplifier, the connections from the turntable to the amp are just as you might expect - the cables or wires coming from the turntable plug into the "Phono/Turntable In" connectors, usually located on the back of the amp.
4. The next step is to connect the "Cassette Out" on the back of the amp to the sound card. To get these cables you may have to visit a Best Buy, Tweeter, Circuit City or another electronics store. Most of the big electronics stores will have exactly what you are looking for. Take a little drawing of what the "Cassette Out" connections on the back of the amp look like and they can set you up. I think I paid $25 for the cables I needed. It is best to get good cables if you can, as the quality of the connection will make a difference in the quality of your recordings.
5. If you are not going to use an amp but want a preamp (see the discussion on Blaze software below), the process is the same but the preamp may come with the extra cables you need so you don't have to buy them. Do your homework and avoid extra cost.

Software

You are probably thinking, "how hard can this be?" I take a record or cassette and play it; while it plays I record it with my computer - anyone can do that. You would be absolutely right; but I can guarantee that within an hour or 2 of starting your project you will want more - a lot more. I believe you will want software that will:

1. Remove clicks, pops and background noise from the recordings;
2. Use presets to set default filters for cassettes, CDs and vinyl recordings;
3. Allow you to restore an old recording by adding effects like reverb;
4. Accomplish the entire process - recording, cleaning and processing the audio file and then cutting a CD;
5. Allow you to set your equalizers for your own enjoyment. I have a family member who is losing part of their hearing. What a neat thing to be able to take their music, alter it so they get more treble, and then cut them a CD. They can now hear the music the way they used to, even though it doesn't sound that way to others.

These software requirements are where we separate the men from the boys. There is a lot of software out there that I'm sure works great if you know all about the frequencies and filters of audio recording. I am not trained as an audio engineer and don't want to be; therefore I needed something that was pretty idiot proof.

1. I evaluated a lot of software and even purchased a number of different programs. I quickly determined that I didn't have the knowledge or skill to use most of the software on the market or that the software didn't work as advertised.

2. My recommendation is that you take a look at Blaze Audio LP and tape conversion software. These products sell for between $40 around $100.00 and you can get a better price on-line than in the stores. a. Blaze or Audio Cleaning Lab will help you from start to finish. It gives you an easy way to record the audio, clean it up and then cut an audio CD. b. Both programs offer an easy to use interface with check boxes and slider bars. They also allow you to hear what each filter is actually removing from the audio track. c. You can also enhance each track with a lot of different options. d. The best part is these can all be done on the fly. As you listen, you check a button and you hear the sound with the filter active. Uncheck it and you hear the sound without the filter. e. This software can also clean up the sound normalize the volume and burn a CD automatically. Very cool. 3. If you really want to go all out and be able to do virtually anything you want with the sound file that you record then I would recommend Sound Forge. It is very popular with those that really want to play sound engineer or really are sound engineers.

Summary

Taking your vinyl recordings or cassette tapes and converting them to digital format is easy: all you need are the right tools and some time at your computer.

I hope this helps. It isn't meant to be a college course, but it does give you an idea of what I have found that works and what doesn't. Your experiences may be different. I hope you will send me feedback as you work on your projects.

Rick Morey

rcmorey@thelaughingpapillon.com

P.S. - I should probably say something about the "right" and "wrong" ways to use this digital music technology. I am not an attorney so let me say that The Laughing Papillon does not promote or condone any activity that would be considered illegal.