LP to mp3 questions

[ronin]

Just got a new turntable so I can start converting my old vinyl. It has a built in pre-amp. I also have a pretty good, older JVC stereo amp with phono input. I plan on trying it out using both to compare performance, but I'm guessing the separate amp with the phono preamp turned off will be better. The tech data says the phono preamp has output of 200mV, while the JVC puts out 240 mV at the tape record line-out. I don't think I can connect the computer to the speaker line-outs as they connect with 2 stripped wires for each spkr out of the back of the stereo amp and the adapter for the computer requires RCA connectors. The tape rec out has an RCA jack and I can use the SEA graphic equalizer with it (but not the volume). Anyone with experience here?

[TromboneAl]

If you have the 2 RCA to 1/8 inch stereo mini phone plug converter, just plug it into the line in on your computer and you'll probably be good to go. You can do your volume and your equalization after the sound has been digitized using Audacity (free) or any other sound application.

Audacity.jpg

[ronin]

Thanks Al. I do have the converter and a sound app program. I just wonder if there is a significant difference with the built in phono preamp vs the separate stereo amp. Also I don't have a color code with any of my user info on the sound card, but I think the blue input is the line-in (it's Sound Blaster Audigy 2 thx).

[ronin]

Slowly climbing the learning curve.... so, there doesn't seem to be any significant sound difference, to my ear, between using the phono's built-in preamp vs running it thru the stereo receiver amp (once I remembered to turn off the preamp when recording thru the stereo!). Now I have 2 quite nice sounding Ozark Mountain Daredevils albums loaded in my digital library (apparently the 1st crate I grabbed was my country rock period). I can drive my wife nuts at the touch of a button. I have to say, it seems that if these old albums are available as a CD, it'll be a whole lot simpler to just crack open the wallet and buy the damn things! Hopefully it gets easier with time, but it is pretty time intensive to mess with all of this. We've got hundreds of these old platters. I have totally forgotten much of the stuff I collected way back when (like the 3 volume of the History of Surf Music... or Sons of Champlin - no clue what that's gonna sound like).

[TromboneAl]

Here's something that I do in a similar situation to save time:

I start Audacity and record the entire side (or bunch of songs) while I'm doing something else. I end up with a, say 40 minute recording. I then come back, select each song by noting the quiet spaces between songs, and save each selection as a wave file.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronin Now I have 2 quite nice sounding Ozark Mountain Daredevils albums loaded in my digital library (apparently the 1st crate I grabbed was my country rock period). I can drive my wife nuts at the touch of a button. I have to say, it seems that if these old albums are available as a CD, it'll be a whole lot simpler to just crack open the wallet and buy the damn things!

You had a country rock period? When will mine end? I think I have a few Ozark Mtn Daredevils in my pile! Mostly John Prine and Little Feat in that box, though.
I agree that it is really labor intensive--I've only done a handful, and mostly the ones I know I won't buy on CD. One favorite is the No Nukes live album, recorded in NYC in 1979--it has a really great version of James Taylor's Captain Jim's Drunken Dream and Bonnie Raitt's Angel from Montgomery. Those would be hard to get on CD. The condition really affected which ones I copied--my Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John was too far gone, but Commander Cody was just fine, including stems and seeds. Have fun!

[ronin]

That's basically what I'm doing too. Except I am sampling the recorded songs to see how much touch up they need - clipping off the front and rear dead space for less scratchiness, seeing if it needs de-clicking or equalization help - relabeling the files, retagging the track data, converting to mp3 and saving the tracks, organizing the files into folders that make sense, deleting the original files, adding to my music library in Musicmatch Jukebox, figuring out which tracks I don't really want and deleting them, let's see... what else? One album is taking me a couple of hours at least. I guess if I do a couple albums a week, I'll eventually put a dent into it. Have to figure out when I'm going to listen to music now.

[teejayevans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl Here's something that I do in a similar situation to save time: I start Audacity and record the entire side (or bunch of songs) while I'm doing something else. I end up with a, say 40 minute recording. I then come back, select each song by noting the quiet spaces between songs, and save each selection as a wave file.

There is also a tool out there called mp3gain, that can be used to adjust
the volume of mp3s that come from different sources. It just changes
the mp3 header, doesn't modify the music directly.

Be careful when recording that you don't have a IM or other program
that put out sound effects that will be picked up in the recording.
TJ

[ronin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC You had a country rock period? When will mine end?

I know! I love Bonnie and especially like her "angle of montgomery" duet on Road Tested (live). Saw her perform once on the beach right in front of where I surf for a Save the Whales gig. Sat in the water on my board and heard her and Graham Nash among others. Must have my Commander Cody in another crate with my Asleep at the Wheel, Pure Prairie, Firefall, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Outlaws, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Old and in the Way, Flying Burrito Bros., etc., cuz this box is full of Poco, Marshall Tucker and more Ozarks!

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Be careful when recording that you don't have a IM or other program that put out sound effects that will be picked up in the recording. TJ

Hey, it's fun to be driving down the highway and hear "You've got mail!" in the middle of a song. Sure surprised me the first time it happened.

[Sarah in SC]

T-Al, you just admitted to having AOL?
...or does another program have that, too?

[pfpelican]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC T-Al, you just admitted to having AOL? ...or does another program have that, too?

You can make that the mail notifier for many mail clients. It's called gotmail.wav .... find-able via google.

[ERD50]

If I can find the CD of an album I own in the public library, I burn a copy.

I'm pretty uptight about copyright laws, so I don't do this with stuff that I don't own, but it is so much easier (and usually better quality) than the old LPs. Of course, LPs can be very good to great if in tip-top shape, but a lot of that vinyl was poor quality with surface noise right out of the jacket.

I keep meaning to convert the odd-ball stuff in my collection, but I guess I am just lazy. Some of it I just listen to on the turntable occasionally, hey, at my age I'm not worried about wearing them out anymore!

-ERD50

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

T-Al, you just admitted to having AOL? ...or does another program have that, too? You can make that the mail notifier for many mail clients. It's called gotmail.wav .... find-able via google.

Right, there are a lot of varieties, too: Example

Actually, in my case my computer doesn't say that. But I've substituted voice messages for all the ambiguous beeps and buzzes that Windows has, so the things I hear when listening to recorded music are things like:

"A device has been connected"
"A device has been disconnected"
"You have an appointment"
"Attention"
"Warning, battery charge critical"

[Sarah in SC]

I had one that was the voice of Lundberg, the boss from Office Space, every time I got an email that said, "yeah, so did you get the memo...".

[ronin]

2 questions for my sempai:

how do you clean your records before playing them?

Is there anything that can be done for a skip in a track? I have one song on an otherwise perfect album that skips in the same spot every time. How does a blowdryer, fine sewing needle and a magnifying glass sound?

[LeatherneckPA]

I've tried doing this, so far without any success. I went to Radio Shack and bought a pre-amp for my '70's era turntable. That boosted the levels alright, but anything I transfer to CD just comes out sounding really tinny.

Would love advice. Anybody who is willing to listen to a file to hear what I'm talking about would be appreciated to. I've only got about 250 albums or so that I'd like to copy. Everything from Abba to Zaeger and Evans. And from Rossini to the Merle Haggard, Johny Paycheck, and Harry Chapin.

[ronin]

What I did was get this package deal from Costco online. It came with an Audio-Technica turntable w/built in preamp, adapter cables, and Cakewalk Pyro 5 software for about $90, shipping included. It works really well all things considered. A little light on the software instructions, but once it is set up and working, it's relatively easy to do and sounds quite good.

[LeatherneckPA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronin What I did was get this package deal from Costco online.

COOL!! That sounds like a plan to me!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lthrnckpa I've tried doing this, so far without any success. I went to Radio Shack and bought a pre-amp for my '70's era turntable. That boosted the levels alright, but anything I transfer to CD just comes out sounding really tinny. Would love advice.

Was it a PHONO-pre-amp, or just a 'pre-amp'?

'Tinny' tells me something. Vinyl is recorded with an RIAA equalization curve. What that means is that it boosts the highs and cuts the bass when recorded. This will sound 'tinny' if you do not apply the opposite equalization curve on playback to make it sound normal again. PHONO-pre-amps have that eq curve built in, as well as amplifying it.



If they did not boost the highs and cut the bass, the surface noise on the record would swamp out the highs. And, big bass notes would cause really wide grooves, and the needle would jump out of the track.

So, you need a PHONO-pre-amp I bet. Most old receivers (available at garage sales if you don't have access to one) have phono inputs and 'line outs'. That's all you need.

-ERD50