Vinyl to digital (mp3, AAC, etc)

Pancho Urbano · « **on:** 11 Oct 2003, 12:54 am »

Hey - I've got a burning question that has been smoldering for some time:

What is the best free or not-free program to use for importing vinyl to my computer? I have a Mac, and iTunes makes me very happy - so I am not necessarily looking for a music management program. There are lots of free downloads from the Mac OSX page:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/audio/

Any success with particular programs? This holds a lot of potential for me because I could buy all the new indie stuff on vinyl *and* digitize it.
-pu

Brad · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Oct 2003, 04:07 pm »

Just noticed this post.
Haven't tried any of the Mac products yet, but I would be very interested in hearing what works for you. Having my iBook w/CDRW, it would make an easy connection to the stereo.

Pancho Urbano · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Oct 2003, 07:33 pm »

Any suggestions? (replys need not be Mac-centric - I've heard Toast is good, but I was looking for something free...)

-pu

Jonathan · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Oct 2003, 03:29 pm »

For my PC I use CDWave. It's a freeware (shareware?) program that allows you to record any anlogue source to your PC as a .WAV file. For recording LPs, I just hook my turntable up to a cheapo radio shack phono preamp and plug the other side into my sound card. Press record on CDWave and off I go. I can also do cassettes the same way, if necessary.

If I need to convert .WAV to MP3 I use Alto MP3 Maker, another freeware program that allows you to simply convert pretty much any audio file to MP3.

I'm currently using Adaptec Easy CD Creator for burning because that's what came with my old Plextor CD burner.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Jon

Pancho Urbano · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Oct 2003, 06:58 pm »

Thanks for the info - I started a thread in the Vinyl section as well that is getting some more attention.

I'll look into your method. Do you think this is better than transfering to a CD recorder (the audio component type), and then ripping to the computer?

-pu

Jonathan · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Oct 2003, 08:53 pm »

Quote from: Pancho Urbano

Do you think this is better than transfering to a CD recorder (the audio component type), and then ripping to the computer?

You may be dealing with higher quality DA converters in a stand alone CD recorder (therefore, better audio quality), but I'm not sure.

Jonathan · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Oct 2003, 01:49 pm »

Quote from: Jonathan

You may be dealing with higher quality DA converters in a stand alone CD recorder (therefore, better audio quality), but I'm not sure.

Actually, I meant AD converters, I think, since we're talking about going from analogue to digital. That being said, there are some pretty nice sound cards out there right now, and you might still have better luck going directly from your tt into the computer (I end up unplugging the turntable and moving it into my office--not a big deal).