Archiving/copying vinyl to CD

[Rupert]

Hi All,

I have been wanting to transfer some records to CD for a while now, to play in the car and copy to my wifes ipod etc. I've not tried doing this before. I was wondering what we are using out there to copy LPs to our computer CD drives?

I don't have a dedicated sound card on my PC, which doesn't have an ubundance of empty slots, maybe a couple of lowly PCI ones, and was thinking an offboard USB analogue digital convertor might be the way to go. Quality doesn't have to be the last word, but something decent.

Also what authoring (is that the right word?) software is out their for editing tracks etc. Again I don't want to do anything spectacular, mind you I don't really know what can be done these days.

Any advice gratefully received

Rupert

[I love my records]

I've got an XITEL Inport off-board A to D converter, which slots into the USB port and takes power from it. It's much better than using the input on most soundcards (apart from the top of the range ones with dedicated inputs). You simply connect the output from your phono stage into it.

It comes with simple software to 'split' an LP side into 'tracks', which I then input into CooleditPro, to remove the odd click, trim the beginning/end of side etc.

It works a treat, I've done 100 albums for the car so far. It cost me about £50 and was money well spent.

pm me if you need any more advice,

Dave.

[pre65]

Hi-the cheapest i can find is this seller on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INPORT-XITEL-W...QQcmdZViewItem

if anyone is interested i would like one as well,but i have a problem with deliveries as their is no one at home during the day,and with pay pal they will only deliver to the registered address.

i am happy to pay "up front" if any one is interested (even more so if an eggfest participant)


Philip

[John Caswell]

Hi Rupert,
At present I use a Griffin iMic into my Mac laptop and a free software editing package "Audacity" from "http//audacity.sourceforge.net"
The Griffin iMic is a USB output and 3.5mm stereo jack input, and Audacity is written for Windows, Mac OSX/9, Unix, Linux etc.
I think iMic is about £35.00.

John aka Dr John

[BOONDI]

Originally Posted by Rupert

Hi All,

I don't have a dedicated sound card on my PC, which doesn't have an ubundance of empty slots, maybe a couple of lowly PCI ones, and was thinking an offboard USB analogue digital convertor might be the way to go.

Rupert

Hi Rupert, does your pc motherboard have any sound capability whatsoever?

If it has a line input, just connect the phono outputs direct to this.
I have a spare 3.5 mm stereo to stereo phono plugs adapter that you can have for postage costs......approx 40pence.......Infact, just pm me your address and I will post it to you.....

[Rupert]

Thanks for the offer of a jack lead Bondi, but I have a few knocking around myself. My motherboard does have a sound chip, an integrated Sound Blaster Audigy Stereo audio one according to the specs, so I'm sure I could input some audio that way, I am just dubious about the sound quality I will get using it.

I found both the Xitel and Griffin convertors you guys mention with a Google search, I could try one of these. What sort of results are you getting using them. Are they likely to be better than the integrated Sound Blaster chip on my motherboard, difficult for you to say I know. I'm not interested in spending a load of money to get mega results, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of copying vinyl it would be worth doing a half decent job of it.

A quick question, as my computer is in the next room to my hifi, a long lead will be needed, maybe 5-6m. What would be better, long USB lead or a long audio lead, indeed how long can a USB lead be?

Thanks Rupert

[BOONDI]

THe max USB lead length is 10 M, the max I/C length is about 5 M...

If you use the outs from your phono stage into the motherboard inputs you may be quite surprised by the quality that you can get, esp if it's free..... ........

I used an Audigy card in my PC before getting my 24/192 pro audio card. Check the specs for your Audigy further and you should find that it can record at 24/96. That's better than CD quality..... ........Try it, it's free......

P.S. it is probably worth dragging your TT into the same room as your PC so that you can use I/C cables that you already have.

Best......

[andrew ivimey]

Thought you were talking about Cool Edit, Adrian .... Anyway isn't there (still) a shareware version that has multitasking disabled but is otherwise full functioning???? There certainly used to be, and, sure it was a tad slower, but a wonderful piece of software - as is the real thing.

I still have an Audigy as it is marvellous dealing with 192kHz 24 bit easily.

Does this mean, if I have a DVD writer (which are v.cheap these days) that I could do my own DVD-Audios, or just short CD DVDAudio standard or DVDs with 192kHz,24bit data but isn't quite the 'real thing' ???

[Stratmangler]

Andrew

If you use something like Minnetoka Discwelder you can made proper DVD Audio Discs at 24/192, provided of course that you are working from 24/192 files.

You will need another software tool to actually record and edit, as the Discwelder does not have this facility.

As you say, DVD writing drives are cheap nowadays - I prefer to use NEC writers because they are quiet (I don't know what drives Dell fit in their machines, but when they are in use when reading discs they sound something akin to a helicopter hovering about outside).

These folks are very keen on prices www.microdirect.co.uk

Regards
Chris

[BOONDI]

Sorry 'bout the delay in answering you Andrew.....

I thought the standard for the Audigy was limited to 24/96, but we live and learn......

I use Cooledit to capture a wave from my TT at 24 bit 192 Khz sampling rate. Then I use cooledit to chop it up into tracks etc.....As this saves me loading it into another program to edit and remove ticks and pops. I tend to leave most of the files alone tho as they sound much better the less cleaning they get....

Next I use disk welder bronze to burn my DVD-A copies. THey sound as good as the vinyl for all intents and purposes..... ..... I also use NEC ND3550A DVD burner. Very reliable so far.(Approx 1000 disks to date).....I suppose it will burn out eventually, but they cost about £30 delivered to the door, so it's no great shakes......The worst thing is that some compilation disks that I have done are about 4 Gb. size so hard disk space soon becomes an issue....

See this thread also.....

http://www.world-designs.co.uk/forum...ead.php?t=1973