vinyl to computer

[nobbyc42]

hi all,
heres a good one for you computer sages out there in cyper land ,how can you take the sound from the turntable on your stereo to your pc ?is it possible?if so what would i need to do this software leads ete?
many thanks
nobby

[katzdvd]

Hi nobby,

There are several ways to do this. Connect the output of your turntable/cassette deck/amp to the line in on your sound card. (Use a cable with a stereo connector!) Next, you need to use some sort of recording software.

You may have software already installed that will do it;
Nero Soundtrax
Roxio ECD Creator

<B>Audacity</B> is a free one.
<B>Goldwave </B>is shareware, has a free trial.

You can either record as one hugh wav file, or record each track separately.
There is software that will record the whole album & split the tracks for you, but it doesn't always put the "split" in the right place.

You can also clean up pops/clicks/hiss etc. with the software, unless you want to retain that warm, nostalgic analog feel!

regards, katz

[toomanycats]

You CANNOT hook a turntable up to your computer as the turntable needs a pre-amp to boost the signal. You could also damage the sound card from an impedance mismatch would would damage the input circuitry on the sound card. You need to run it thru a pre-amp and then use (in one scenario) the tape monitor outputs to connect the line level output of the amp to the line level input of the computer. Make sure everything is on the same circuit or you may get a ground loop which will introduce some unwanted noises.

[katzdvd]

You CANNOT hook a turntable up to your computer as the turntable needs a pre-amp to boost the signal.

Good post toomanycats.

He did mention in his post that he wanted to

take the sound from the turntable on your stereo to your pc

I was figuring that he already had it "amped" from the stereo amp, as in a complete rack setup, not an individual turntable. In that scenario, he would simply come off the line out of the amp. But, if he is using a standalone turntable, your advice is well noted; It is good that you mentioned that. I wouldn't want to be responsible for giving wrong advice & damaging someone's equipment!

regards, katz

[toomanycats]

I know you knew better (Your posts are always right on the money!) I am just cautious because I have seen people (when I had an electronics repair shop) do anything and everything!! So I hope I didn't come off as a know it all!!

[RFBurns]

Isnt it good to have techie folk around!

[katzdvd]

No problem, toomanycats!

That's what makes these forums so great - when we all add our experiences together, we make one heck of a team!

@RFBurns; I was waiting for you to post, because I know you have an extensive tech background, esp. audio related, & I thought you might also want to add to this thread.

BTW, if anyone does know of good automatic "track splitting" software, please let us know. As I mentioned earlier, the ones I have used in the past didn't always "sense" the silent areas properly, hence you would sometimes end up with 2 songs in one track!

[olyteddy]

I use MP3DirectCut to automatically cut my recorded streaming audio. You can tweak the sensitivity. Or, since an LP only has less than 12 tracks typically, cut it visually in Audacity or DirectCut, add labels then export multiple. Either way you'll probably want to label the tracks so you might as well label them in the editor.

[RFBurns]

@RFBurns; I was waiting for you to post, because I know you have an extensive tech background, esp. audio related, & I thought you might also want to add to this thread.

The quickest way is to use a stand alone cd recorder plugged into the stereo systems "tape out" jack. Then simply record as you would to a cassette recorder. Granted it is the fastest way but does not allow you to work up the audio if it needs a little help such as removing pops and clicks or a bit of other processing.

The elaborate way is to plug the stereo systems tape output to the "line in" jack on the PC sound card. Then use any .wav recording program to capture the audio to individual wav files. Then use any wav editor to edit out gaps and pops/clicks.

I use GoldWave to work with wav files. Then I use the Nero Burning Rom program to create the finished audio CD. Nero has some kick arse filters and processing built into the program for audio work.

Sometimes I will use outboard processing gear during the capture process to give the wav files some extra filtering. The S-Com Plus processor is one heck of an outboard audio processor that includes a compressor/limiter with expander/gate function. It also sports de-esser and noise gate filters which helps not only with sibilance problems on high frequency, it eliminates alot of the "wow and flutter" rumble often heard when playing vinyl records on sensitive turntables.

If you dont have an outboard processor to work with, place the turntable onto a solid surface. If the floor is elevated and of wood construction, place the turntable on two or three bathroom dry towels or even a large, 2 inch thick foam piece. This will help isolate the turntable from "rumble" noise and possible "thump thump" when someone walks across the room.

Use magnetic cartridge turntables!!!! Ceramic turntables are cheap and do not provide full frequency response. Your CD'w will end up sounding like modified or beefed up telephone sound....very icky!

Hip hop DJ's use magnetic turntables. These are the best as they are built to take heavy abuse. They also have the variable speed control so you can tweak the pitch of the sound if needed.

BTW, if anyone does know of good automatic "track splitting" software, please let us know. As I mentioned earlier, the ones I have used in the past didn't always "sense" the silent areas properly, hence you would sometimes end up with 2 songs in one track!

Most of the time the reason for this problem is the "wow and flutter" noise picked up by the cartridge which is inherent to turntables. A good method of working this out is to place the turntable onto a solid surface or isolate it from elevated floors with the foam piece or bath towels. I also recommend when transfering, do not turn up the volume to the speakers too high because the low frequency will vibrate through the elevated floor and be picked up by the turntable and end up giving a "rumble" noise on the low frequency end.

Happy transfering!

[OldStuff]

For excellent recording software, try this - Goldwave.

[Abuilder]

Notice!
All you technical geniuses. The Impedes of a turntable OUT! is almost identical as the Microphone IN on any sound card. SO!!!!!!!!!!








YOU figure it out!

[olyteddy]

Notice!
All you technical geniuses. The Impedes of a turntable OUT! is almost identical as the Microphone IN on any sound card. SO!!!!!!!!!!...

Yeah, but the microphone input of many sound cards is Mono. There is also an equalization issue (to prevent the groove from becoming too wide from low frequency sounds, the bass is highly attenuated before recording) but that can be corrected by applying the 'RIAA Curve'. Audacity has that as a standard EQ preset, others probably do too. Since your source is analog, might as well apply the EQ by using a phono preamp and the line in on your sound card.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

[toomanycats]

Not only that, it is spelled "impedance". The only technical genius I have met here is RFBurns. Shared knowledge among friends leads to the correct answer most of the time. I believe that is the intention, so there.

[katzdvd]

[QUOTE]

The S-Com Plus processor is one heck of an outboard audio processor that includes a compressor/limiter with expander/gate function.

RFBurns; I have experienced problems using noise gate/compression on live recordings, or any type of recording where there is applause, severe wind noise, etc. The compression seems to try to compensate too much, resulting an odd sounding "clipping". It can be very annoying to listen to!

@olyteddy - you beat me to that point! True. "Mono in" is definantly not desired! Also, since the mic in is basically meant for "voice", you will end up with a more "treble" sounding recording than you would want.

regards, katz

[RFBurns]

Using outboard processors such as a compressor/limiter/gate unit is a 50/50 chance that the unit will help or not. Plus it also depends on how the unit is adjusted. The source also plays a role in determining if the outboard processor will be of any benefit or make things worse.

If the processor's attack is set too high, then what you will experience is sudden drops in the levels because the processor attack adjustment has the unit attacking and dumping levels to even subtile sound, such as audience or wind or other low level signal. Combine that with the release control of the processor, if set too slow, you end up with "bucket" dumping of the signal, meaning the processor kicks in too hard, and does not let go fast enough so the audio is consistantly low even during low level points of the signal.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that not all recordings are identical from record to record. Even CD or digital recordings are different from one master to another. The producers, engineers and final mixer adjust levels and such to make the music sound its best. That doesnt mean though that each recording has identical low frequency levels, or mid range levels or high frequency range levels. They are all different. So the end result when using a processor is you have to re-adjust the processor to get adequate results from one recording to another.

But wait!!! Why does music on radio sound even and consistant from one song to another????.....Well...I have the answer to that as well.

The radio stations use processors that are extremely accurate and sensitive. Plus these types of processors, which range in price from 5 grand on up to well over 8 grand, adjust more than the level of a sound. These things also process the frequency responses of the signals at various points along the frequency range from about 40 cycles on up to 20 kilocycles. But radio modulation limits of 200 Khz bandwidth is very thin when compared to line level frequency bandwidth.

For example, a typical OPTIMOD of the analog type has up to 50 bands of frequency processors that are constantly adjusting not only level, but frequency response and frequency levels in real time.

A digital OPTIMOD has over 100 bands + of processing plus the analog to digital-digital to analog 1 bit converters. And these work extremely fast...somewhere close to the 1 nanosecond clock rate.

It would be an impossible task to sit in front of a processor with two hands and be adjusting the attack, release, gate, threshold, expand, trigger controls fast enough to compensate for everything in real time for two channels of audio.

In keeping with the spirit of preserving the natural sound of analog recordings, using outboard processing or even computer software based processing MUST be used carefully and adjusted carefully. Too much results in too much....too little results in too little. Often it is not necessary to use processing of any kind. But its nice to know that one can experiment and play with the adjustments, take notes of the settings and compare which sounds the best to their preference.

One may like the sound in the end, and another may not. Our hearing frequency responses are considerably different from person to person, so even though you like the settings of your sound, your friend next to you may think it sounds too muddy, or too tinny.

The good thing that we can all live with is the fact that there are no absolute rules or standards that we all have to follow when adjusting sound to each of our preferences. We have the freedom to experiment, toy around and find what works best.


...ps....the typical impedance of a microphone input on a PC is around 70K ohm. The impedance of a magnetic cartridge (which btw has two channels and a mic input on a PC is one channel) is around 150K ohms. K meaning 1000. Yes it will work, but your loosing alot of the frequency response the turntable is providing, plus loosing stereo to the mono mic input. Also, the mic input on the PC is set for voice frequency response, not music frequency response.