Have you converted LP's to CD's? How?

[razz]

We have some lovely LP's and I would love to save them to CD's. I bought a Crosley turntable with built-in conversion and returned it to Sears since the CD player did not work well. What else can I do? Which LP turntable works well?

[ToomuchStuff]

I can't answer the software side, since I doubt we use the same choices, but do you already own a turntable? Most tuners these day (at least on the low to mid range end), have no phono jacks on them, so you have to buy a phono preamp. Some of the ones I looked at, had usb connections on them, so you should be able to directly use your turntable with them.

[JaneV2.0]

Here's one product that sounds promising:
http://download.cnet.com/Golden-Records-Vinyl-to-CD-Converter/3000-2140_4-10437151.html

[early morning]

We bought a program called Magix and hooked our turntable to the computer (it came with instructions, lol). After recording the LP to the computer, you put in the track markers and then burned it to CD. I thought the quality of the end CD was outstanding, but the program got whacky and I have not uninstalled/reinstalled it, since moved the computer and now the connections don't reach the turntable...

[bUU]

I just kept my eyes open for the albums to get discounted on CD and bought the CDs at that time and I just live without the music on albums that never made it back around as discounted CDs. Much simpler.

[nswef]

I used Polderbit several years ago to record some albums- I liked the idea of only recording the songs I liked, but it was long and tedious. The quality was not great. I am just not listening to music enough to make it worth the work. So, now what to do with all those old viny LPs. Rubbermaid tubs are full! An odd thing too was that music thought I liked just made me depressed, so I'm thinking just new music!!! I have an mp3 player but don't use it except when walking or for meditation and hypnosis tapes that are on it.

[razz]

I saw a Sony LP player on Best Buy with a USB port so that the music can be loaded to an MP3 player.

I googled this question looking for a new LP turntable since mine died but the thought expressed in the reviews of different LP players is uneven in result.
I bought a Crosley which had a conversion capability but the CD player didn't work so returned it to the retail outlet the next day.

[SteveinMN]

I've done it dozens -- actually, scores of times (no pun intended). I have an actual turntable, so I still listen to records. But for years my contribution to our work group's charity auction was transcribing albums onto CDs for people who no longer had turntables. I put the output of my receiver/amplifier into an external DAC which then fed into a USB port on my laptop. I used a program called Amadeus Pro (Mac only) to record the sound so I could edit out pops and clicks and that noise at the needle drop. Then it was converted into CD bitrate and burned onto a CD.

Not everyone wants to acquire all that equipment (or acquire it and then sell it off). There are a number of turntables out there which can do the conversion on-board. razz mentioned the Sony; I know Audio-Technica, Gemini, Pro-Ject, and Numark also make them. So do some other companies, but I would stick with a company that made real turntables recently, which is all the brands I mentioned as well as the Sony (unfortunately old radio brands like Crosley, Philco, Sylvania today are purchased names slapped onto random-quality electronics). While it is possible to spend hundreds on such a turntable, there are several good choices available for under $100. And all of them will plug right into your computer. Burn to a CD or move the files to your MP3 player/iPod and you're done.

If you have only a small number of records to transcribe, you might consider conversion services available in larger towns or cities. The Yellow Pages and craigslist contain listings for people who do this with their own equipment; around here prices to do that run around $8-12 per album depending on what they hand back to you and how involved they are in the process (it took me about three hours from putting each album on the turntable to fitting the scanned-and-printed CD-sized album art into the jewel case, but I was quite fussy about it).

[Gardenarian]

My husband has done this a lot. No special equipment; he uses a free software called Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/).
I have never tried it, but he says it's really easy (though time-consuming.)

[razz]

Good info about the turntable makes to look for and the software to explore. Thanks.

[Tussiemussies]

Razz I recently read on Facebook that LP's are making a comeback. You might not want to throw them away...:). They said that people like the sound quality better...

[Tussiemussies]

I used Polderbit several years ago to record some albums- I liked the idea of only recording the songs I liked, but it was long and tedious. The quality was not great. I am just not listening to music enough to make it worth the work. So, now what to do with all those old viny LPs. Rubbermaid tubs are full! An odd thing too was that music thought I liked just made me depressed, so I'm thinking just new music!!! I have an mp3 player but don't use it except when walking or for meditation and hypnosis tapes that are on it.


Nswef, I also don't listen to old music anymore or watch old shows, they make me feel so old and I usually cry over it remembering myself when I was much younger. I have just cut it out and I feel much younger...and that's a great thing for me to live in the here and now and feel like, hey I am still young!:)

[nswef]

I hear you Tussiemussies. I am a happier person now that I was back then, but I didn't know I was unhappy....ah well. Age works in some very good ways.

[razz]

For me, the old LP's are part of me and timeless (classical, Nana Mouskouri, et al) but some of the funny songs that the kids grew up listening to are really worthwhile cherishing.

How many remember - May the bird of paradise fly up your nose?

[SteveinMN]

How many remember - May the bird of paradise fly up your nose?
I remember! :)

You remind me of one other point about doing this -- some of the novelty tunes and more obscure musical acts I have on LP never were reissued on CD and likely won't make the cut to any other format, either. Maybe MP3, but that won't sound as good (at least while I can still hear the difference).

[clara24]

I don't have WiFi in home but my neighbor has and it was really nice that he share his password to me.