Soooo i write a tech column and recently i had a reader ask me a question about home recording lps to cds. I'm sure it's been covered elsewhere, but I wanted to throw my rough draft answer up here to see if anyone agrees or has suggestions.
um..
thanks
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Dear Prima Data,
I am from the older generation and I enjoy playing my hundreds of LP's. I would like to convert them onto CD's via my computer and how can I install my turntable to the computer so I can "download" them? Is there a conversion software package available?
Sincerely,
Guy P.
Generation LP
Hey there, Guy. Thanks for bringing this up, I love LPs! The first toy I remember was a Fisher Price record player, with a hard plastic “lp” of Camptown Races. This was the start of a very fond relationship that I still indulge today. Shocking, I know, for a digital diva like myself, but it’s true. In my living room next to the home theater PC, two of the latest gaming systems, 5.1 surround sound setup and a receiver that I believe could control a satellite if it wanted, is a standard record player.
Call me old fashioned, but part of what I love about playing records is the process: pouring over the details of the large cover art, carefully pulling the record of its sleeve, blowing off the needle and lying the vinyl down on the turntable to cue up the song. Then flip! Playing music used to be an engaging hands-on process for the listener. Sadly, those days are gone along with the “B-sides” that no longer exist for us die hard fans who loved the traditionally un-radio worthy gems. (CDs have squished all the tracks together, letting our little secret out of the bag!) We can’t hold that against the compact disk though, because of the precise digital reproduction, the high quality and longer shelf life of the music we love. But readers, between you an’ me, I kind of like the scratchy warmth the LPs I grew up playing.
Guy, you want to hear 80 minutes of straight music flip-free and I respect that. So to answer your question in the most realistic terms, your best bet is to purchase the CD. Mr. Data and I have been through the LP conversion process for some of my Dads rare vintage vinyl and my consensus is it was difficult and entirely too time consuming to be worth it.
There is software available that will do the task. We used Sound Forge, a recording program from Sony with an affordable beginner package. The frustrating thing about home conversion is the additional noise that is produced while trying to record. The general noise from record cracking is expected and can be removed with a decent noise filter. The problem is the white noise produced by every piece of equipment along the recording chain, this is: the turntable, the receiver, the cables, the sound card and the computer. Unless you’re using professional equipment, this will generate a low signal to noise ratio, meaning - less signal and more noise. This complicates the process and is where things can get expensive.
On top of equipment costs, I judge projects in measurements of time. What is my time worth compared to purchasing? Records have to be recorded in real time and monitored for problems. Start to finish, we’d spend an average of 3 hours per album for sub par quality. Three hours of my time vs. $15 for a new CD? Not a tough decision.
It is understandable that, like my Dad, you may have some albums that just aren’t available commercially. In this case, I would recommend a professional service that will give your treasured tunes the treatment they deserve. Expect to pay around $30 an album.
Guy, if you have the time and want to do it for fun, there is a very thorough 13 page tutorial written by Gabriel Torres on
www.hardwaresecrets.com. Just search for “lp conversion”. (
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/1)
Good luck!
Heather Hamilton is the Prima Data. She knows your computers and that Camptowns racetrack's five miles long, oh de doo-da day.