Converting vinyl to mp3 or wav

[cadillac_man]

Like many aging former DJ's I have hundreds of 12" vinyl I want to slowly convert to digital. What is the best software to use for this and what is the best hardware to use so you can keep the stereo sound? I have a quality soundblaster card. Is there any software that filters out the snap crackle and pops? Also, what is a good source these days for a record cleaning system?

Back in the day i had something with a spray and 2 hand held dust brushes.

Thanks

Mark.

[ol'skinflint]

Like many aging former DJ's I have hundreds of 12" vinyl I want to slowly convert to digital. What is the best software to use for this and what is the best hardware to use so you can keep the stereo sound? I have a quality soundblaster card. Is there any software that filters out the snap crackle and pops? Also, what is a good source these days for a record cleaning system?

Back in the day i had something with a spray and 2 hand held dust brushes.

Thanks

Mark.

I'm saving up to buy TEAC's LP to CD recorder system as the computer software needed to convert vinyl to digital seems to require Steve Jobs-type knowledge. I bought 2 sets of the software (the Roxio CD creator and the DAK Music system, advertised here on discomusic.com) and couldn't master either. The instructions always seem to assume everyone is already computer literate and they use terminology that may as well be written in a foreign language....I've learned my lesson, though. NO MORE buying software and hoping I can learn to use it.

[BrunoRepublic]

I use Adobe Audition for recording, restoring, and mastering needle drops. Having said that, I use a rather tedious set of manual techniques to get the best possible results at removing surface noise.

[spacebass]

Hi first post,

Thanks for having me,

there is hardware device from 'K-World' called V-stream expert that retails for about GBP23 and is available from www.svp.co.uk that is designed to make DVDs from tape but of course has sound ins and outs too. So I guess you play your 12" and take an ouput from your aux in to the V-stream and out comes digital!!

I have not been in the UK since I discovered this searching on ebay and my 12 s are in UK, but I certainly intend to MP3 the lot when I get back to Uk. If anyone gets into this please post results.

Keep on truckin!

[tony98]

I recently bought a Ion USB turntable for converting my vinyl to digital. I invested in a Acoustica MP3 Converter Plus to help with it ,and i'm really pleased with the results. with the converter you can put your vinyl onto MP3,WAV or WMA.

[vectone]

"Cool edit pro" might do the job! I use it, you can add or take many effects, EQ, even do mixes (like I did)....

[BrunoRepublic]

Cool Edit Pro is now Adobe Audition.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

[Naso]

I used FlexiMusic Wave Editor to record my granny's voice and to convert and save the vinyl to digital audio as Mp3 files. It worked great for me.

[ol'skinflint]

If you use and are familiar with Audacity software, can you give me a couple hints here? (THEY will not return my emails and offer no voice to voice customer service). When you transfer album tracks onto your computer's sound card, you're given 3 options for labelling the tracks as files..."Export WAV", "Export MP3" and "Export ogg vorbis". All 3 of these seem to convert the album tracks into files but when I transfer the files onto CDs there's no audio, even after converting the files to "audio files". What's the trick? thanks.

[BrunoRepublic]

If you use and are familiar with Audacity software, can you give me a couple hints here? (THEY will not return my emails and offer no voice to voice customer service). When you transfer album tracks onto your computer's sound card, you're given 3 options for labelling the tracks as files..."Export WAV", "Export MP3" and "Export ogg vorbis". All 3 of these seem to convert the album tracks into files but when I transfer the files onto CDs there's no audio, even after converting the files to "audio files". What's the trick? thanks.

Audacity is freeware, so I think it's a bit much to expect *any* support from them. :)

First of all, if you care about sound quality, use WAV as those other two formats are lossy.

Secondly, for making audio CDs, you'll want your WAV files to be 16-bit, 44.1KHz sampling rate. Anything else will have to be converted.

Third, you need a program that can burn audio CDs, not data discs. I don't know if Audacity even has this capability. Nero, EZ-CD Creator (or whatever they're calling it these days), and iTunes can all do this.

Audio CDs (i.e. the kind you put in a regular ol' CD player and listen to) are formatted very differently from data discs (i.e. the kind you back up files to). You must ensure that the discs you are burning are formatted for audio, and are not data discs that just happen to have audio files on it.

[ol'skinflint]

Audacity is freeware, so I think it's a bit much to expect *any* support from them. :)

First of all, if you care about sound quality, use WAV as those other two formats are lossy.

Secondly, for making audio CDs, you'll want your WAV files to be 16-bit, 44.1KHz sampling rate. Anything else will have to be converted.

Third, you need a program that can burn audio CDs, not data discs. I don't know if Audacity even has this capability. Nero, EZ-CD Creator (or whatever they're calling it these days), and iTunes can all do this.

Audio CDs (i.e. the kind you put in a regular ol' CD player and listen to) are formatted very differently from data discs (i.e. the kind you back up files to). You must ensure that the discs you are burning are formatted for audio, and are not data discs that just happen to have audio files on it.

THANKS Graham, sure is handy to have an audioexpert on here. And I want to repeat what I said earlier, after I master the LP-to-CD transfer process I'll be happy to share a few of my recordings with others. I know there's nothing more frustrating for a music lover who wants a certain recording and is having trouble locating it.....

[ol'skinflint]

THANKS Graham, sure is handy to have an audioexpert on here. And I want to repeat what I said earlier, after I master the LP-to-CD transfer process I'll be happy to share a few of my recordings with others. I know there's nothing more frustrating for a music lover who wants a certain recording and is having trouble locating it.....

Still trying and feel I'm getting closer. The big, BIG problem is that both Audacity AND Roxio Easy CD creator have "gaps" in their tutorials that keep tripping me up (for example, certain functions have to be performed in a certain sequence). You're probably right about it possibly being unreasonable to expect customer assistance from the manufacturers of free, downloadable software like Audacity but Roxio costs money and they offer no real customer service either, which wouldn't be so bad if they responded to email requests for help. Oh well, I've learned most computer functions from trial and error and if that doesn't work I'll try the other software you mention. Thanks again.

[BrunoRepublic]

I take it you're still having problems?

[ol'skinflint]

I take it you're still having problems?

Graham: you're gonna love this. I finally got through to the Customer Service Representative at Newark (I bought a Newark Plug 'n' Play) and told them the trouble I was having converting vinyl album tracks to audio files even though I was following the Audacity Owner's manual to the letter. They said something to the effect of "you're having trouble because the owner's manual we sent with the turntable is outdated and useless." They sent me revised, current instructions and NOW I can finally do these transfers. I could have just used software other than Audacity but since I DID know how to use all the effects they included (like noise reduction and other features) I was pretty determined to master it. I'm still learning how to control the quality of the sound but at long last I can now do transfers. As for these "plug and play" turntables themselves, the fact that I can plug one directly into my computer almost makes me overlook the features they have that I don't like (I suspect they were rushed onto the market for the holiday season). By the time I get tired of this one hopefully there will be others available with better features, but at least now I'm no longer planning on spending $20 just to get CD versions of "Midnight Love Affair", "If There's Love", "Brazil", "African Queens" or other favorites. And I'm planning on making a CD compilation of all of Alec Costandinos' disco suites since I doubt they'll ever be officially released.

[QUINNY]

WARNING
NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!!

I've done about 1200 12" transfers to digital over the past few years (I tend to have spurts of activity, then get really fed up with it) and have a few tips for anyone willing to risk the outcome.

Rumble, Crackle and pop is a particular problem, especially in the intros of tracks where the density of the sound may not be as bludgeoning as later on. I tried soooo many different techniques to help with this and two actually work. Apart from having as good a copy as possible (even mint copies can have terrible noise, so even this isn't a guarantee), try the following.

Firstly, place a little liquid soap onto the record, add a little water and lather. What you need to end up with is a fairly thick consistency of bubbles (you'll soon get the hang), that'll last for a few minutes. As soon as you have the lather all over the 12", transfer to digital ASAP, before the lather dries out too much.

(2) If this doesn't work, (this is where real alchemy takes over).......have a drink and place as much saliva as possible onto the affected parts of the 12". This may sound a tad gross, BUT it really can work. Just don't do it after you've had something to eat, as you'll end up with food particles on the record. Once again, transfer ASAP to digital, before the saliva dries up. After doing this, make sure you give the record a good wash.

Neither will fully remove crackles and pops, BUT it is amazing how much cleaner, soundwise, the records actually can sound. I don't know how or why this should work, but it does....(probably something to do with the catilever of the stylus having its travel limited and static being fully discharged).

Apart from that, I have a single ended noise reduction unit (...actually I have a rather expensive piece of kit, a TC Finalizer that I have programmed to emulate single ended noise reduction) that helps with rumble, hiss and low level crackle/groove noise. If bad crackles and pops still exist, I will do some noise removal via Audacity, but I find this rather tedious. Forget the noise reduction and click removal add ons in Audacity, in my experience, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY USELESS!!!

Secondly, if you can, put the record deck through a mixer of some decription that allows you to E.Q. the tracks. Virtually every record can do with some E.Q. tweaks to beef up the bass end (at around 50-80 Hz) and add some sparkle to the top end (above 12.5 KHz). Since doing this, my transfers sound sooo much sweeter (but still relatively flat). WARNING: When adding E.Q. DO NOT overdo it, otherwise you might end up destroying your speakers. Most records are relatively flat from 90 Hz up to 10 KHz, maybe 12.5 KHz, so a little boost at the audio extremities is all that's required.

I ain't saying I end up with perfect tranfers, BUT they sound sweet enough, some slightly nicer (to my ears) than the same tracks I have on commercial CD.

[Noman]

Wet play with Soap or Saliva !:icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek:

Are you serious.. ??

I know that a record can sound better when played wet but according most other sources the record get even worse if you ever try to play it dry again.

I'm not that brave, Maybe I'll try it on a record that is unplayable even after normal cleaning attempts. :icon_lol:

[Mixmachine]

WARNING
NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!!

Firstly, place a little liquid soap onto the record, add a little water and lather. What you need to end up with is a fairly thick consistency of bubbles (you'll soon get the hang), that'll last for a few minutes. As soon as you have the lather all over the 12", transfer to digital ASAP, before the lather dries out too much.

:icon_smile::icon_lol::icon_lol: For a moment I thought you were describing a new method for getting a close shave :icon_lol::icon_lol:

[normvork]

I find Audacity really easy to use. The book "Burning Down The House" by Elliot Van Buskirk is perfect as a guide for anyone who wants clear step by step instructions (with Pictures) on the process using audacity. The book can usually be gotten cheaply as a used book via Amazon.com.

[OneMixDJ]

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to contribute information based on my ongoing experiences with hopes that readers will find it useful.

First, Audacity is a great program to use.

I use it on an old Pentium2 desktop running Windows XP using a 20GB drive and 384MB RAM and it works great. My whole point of doing it this way was to be able to convert my vinyl at the lowset costs possible.

The signal I feed the XP desktop that runs Audacity is the output signal coming from my mixer and signal processing components.

Please note that the signal processors that I used have been all tweaked via research and loads of "trial & error" have been done in learning to produce the highest sound quality possible.

Signal path:

• Mixer channels have Lows, Mids, & Highs set exactly at 0.
• Output of mixer feeds compressor.
• Compressor output feeds EQ#1 with EQ db set at exactly 0.
• EQ output feeds Expander (brings out clarity).
• Expander feeds EQ#2 with db set at 2.
• EQ#2 output feeds XP machine running Audacity.
• Audacity project file is normalized to 0, saved, and converted to MP3.

With ongoing tweaking the signal components, I've been able to produce sound that I can burn to a CD and play in the factory auto sound system in my truck and it sounds very clean.

At the same time, you don't have to go with lengths like I did using the setup above. I only did this setup so I can record clean mixes for my promo CDs. A turntable with a 2-ch mixer connected to the computer is all you really need to convert vinyl using Audacity.

I just rebuilt another desktop which is similar to the XP system, but this will run Linux (Ubuntu) instead of Windows. Reason being is that Linux uses way less system resources than any Windows OS, especially memory.

With this desktop, I will install Audacity (which originates from Linux) and feed a mixer output to convert my vinyl to digital for DJ use. I'm not going to run signal processing equipment this time around because I want to keep the sound as original as possible, but I still want the quality to be clean. The music I convert here is to use for mixing music using Serato or a similar program (like Mixxx) in my laptop. This is the challenge that I'm working on now.

Mind you, I'm not using any sort of high quality sound card at all. I am using the factory sound cards of the desktop themselves. I have a gold plated 1/8" to RCA female adapter connected to the Line-In port which accepts the RCA Male end coming from the signal output.

For every recording, I clean my vinyl. I've used a number of different methods in making a good cleaning solution for my vinyl. First method was 20% alcohol and 80% distilled water in a 12oz spray bottle. Second method was a full 12oz bottle of distilled water with 1-2 drops of Dawn (really, or else the solution gets very soapy). Either way cleans the vinyl well and you really just enough solution on the applicator to wet the vinyl (not much). Either way, it comes out clean.

Hope this helps clarify a bit to those who remain unsure.

If anyone needs any help, by all means let me know...

[canadiantire]

Thanks for your input!


I have yet to crack the recipe to the very expensive "PURE 2" fluid to be used in my Nitty Gritty record cleaner.

I know it's made of nothing but distilled water, soap and pure alcohol.

The trick is to find in what proportions...

I don't mind experimenting with my worn 12 inches but I don't feel like ruining my classics and high quality pressings with a home brewed potion.

[Cory Ander]

I find Audacity really easy to use. The book "Burning Down The House" by Elliot Van Buskirk is perfect as a guide for anyone who wants clear step by step instructions (with Pictures) on the process using audacity. The book can usually be gotten cheaply as a used book via Amazon.com.

I've chatted on the phone with one of Audacity's representatives and was VERY surprised to find them patient, helpful and best of all, able to explain things without using a lot of computer lingo. I've had similarly good experience online with ION's representatives. But don't get me started on Roxio, DAK or some others I've had the displeasure to use. DAK, in particular, almost moved me to violence and I'm disappointed they continue to advertise on this site.

[Cory Ander]

Wet play with Soap or Saliva !:icon_eek::icon_eek::icon_eek:

Are you serious.. ??

I know that a record can sound better when played wet but according most other sources the record get even worse if you ever try to play it dry again.

I'm not that brave, Maybe I'll try it on a record that is unplayable even after normal cleaning attempts. :icon_lol:

I've tried cleaning records with various materials and found anything I used left a residue that ruined the record permanently. And the nice record cleaning cloths I used 20 years ago don't seem to exist anymore.

[OneMixDJ]

I don't mind experimenting with my worn 12 inches but I don't feel like ruining my classics and high quality pressings with a home brewed potion.

I don't blame you, I wouldn't either.

The solutions I made came from different audiophile sites that I surfed over. I tried the alcohol/distilled water method first because I already had a giant bottle of alcohol and distilled water at my disposal.

In testing it, I tried the solution on a very worn record using a very soft applicator with very good results.

I tried the Dawn solution too, and it was fine for the most part, except that Dawn is concentrated and I used about 3 drops in a 12oz bottle. I determined that 1-2 drops would've be better because 3 was a little sudsy.

Just remember that in applying, apply on applicator, not directly on the vinyl, and you're good to go.

[canadiantire]

This is the machine I am using:



The fluid is applied onto a fixed brush and only then it's transferred to the vinyl.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...mtid=824&kw=lg

[OneMixDJ]

A Nitty Gritty cleaner is great. Could be in the budget for me in the future, but not now. I probably would need to spend about the same amount of money for fluid as I would the machine itself to cover my collection.

I use a soft applicator similar to the ones that come with the Gruv Glide solution. I spray the solution on the applicator to clean the vinyl.


Cory, I heard the same regarding DAK and it's a shame.

Back in the day, all you heard was good things about DAK; they were awesome.
I bought good stuff from them myself.
I don't what the deal is with them now.

I do know that the president (Drew Kaplan) went through a tough ordeal some years back, managed to revive DAK, and is trying to keep it going.

Back in the day, they were never like that.
I bought an EQ from DAK (an ADC, my first).
When I got it, it worked one day then the right channel went dead.

I called them and told them what happened and they told me to ship it back.
When I shipped it 2 days later, the replacement already came.