What is this "Vinyl to Digital Journey" you ask?
Some of us still have records that spin on platters connected to a device called a record player. These players revolve at 33 and 1/3 RPM. A record player is connected to an amplifier, which in turn has speakers connected to it. We play records because we like to. And we like the way they sound. It's a hands-on type of experience. An analog experience. CD's generally sound OK and are convenient. MP3's are OK, usually small in file size, but clip audio at the upper and lower registers of the audio range.
There's plenty of information on the web about all this. I'll spare you the details as you can find related information using your favourite search engine.
For the record (pun? was that a pun?), I have just completed converting my entire vinyl collection to a digital format.
Here are the tools I use -
- Audacity 2.02
Audacity is hands-down the best open source conversion software you can get. I've been using it to record in the field since version 1.[something]. Think live recordings, microphone setups, mixer, laptop and lots of cables.
Audacity can be used for other audio functions too. I'll let you discover those other options. Audacity can be installed in PC's, Mac's and Linux systems. My experience has been only with PC's, so I cannot share info about either MAC or LINUX functionality at this time.
Find Audacity here: audacity.sourceforge.net
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- Soap and water version 1.12, a big clean towel, and five clean hand towels
- Soap and water
I use Dawn dish washing liquid to clean my records. A gentle clean, rinse and dry is adequate enough to remove any grime, dust and oil from finger prints that my be latent on the record. DO NOT SCRUB. Be gentle. Allow the warm soapy water to saturate into the grooves to soften up any hard 'stuff'. Then mop up with the rinse towels.
- Five clean hand towels
Hand Towel One - used for the soaping process
Hand Towel Two - used for the first rinsing process
(clear clean warm water)
Hand Towel Three - used to remove excess water from the record
Hand Towel Four - used to dry the record
Hand Towel Five - used to make sure the record is really
clear and clear of any water
- A Big Clean Towel
Used as a platform to support the record during the
cleaning process
Please take note: In the final rinse process it is recommended to use distilled water. Distilled water is (usually) devoid of any impurities, such as salts and minerals that are present in tap water.
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A digitizers notes:
Contrary to popular belief , records are remarkably resilient. Provided that you do not impose heavy scratches, drop them, scrape them against hard objects. 99% of all the albums in my collection came clean and after applying my cleaning method appear just like new. There were several records that apparently were not handled right in their lifetime. These records were heavily scratched and found to be not suitable for digital archiving. Luckily, they are not of the rare variety and if desired can be replaced.
Analog VS. Digital
The audio produced by records into a digitized state are remarkably rich in tone. In my opinion, it would be difficult to discern between the record and the digitized version. Let's have a sitting test, shall we?
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Questions & Answers
What Audacity settings do I use?
Audacity will convert records to either 44100 hz (this is the default), 48,000 hz, 96000 hz (these last two are available settings in preferences) or any other setting in between. It's ultimately up to you. I use 44100 hz for my A/D conversions.
What file format Do I Convert to -
At this time, all the audio I saved out to disk is in the Audacity format. Eventually, I will slice and dice the record sides I digitized for each album into individual songs, save them as Microsoft .wav files (a lossless file format) OR FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), then again convert to MP3 format at a bitrate of 320. It's possible I may again convert to 256 bitrate for portability. Time will tell
The Process -
It is a process. ALL OF IT. Each and every step. If you decide to plunge, be prepared to spend time for each step. Way back when, I decided to convert my records and found it a very difficult process. I then was using a Thorens TD-124 turntable, decent amplifier (not a tube amp), good cartridge and needle. The software of the day was Cool Edit Pro (Adobe bought the rights to this, changed the name to Adobe Audition and, in my opinion has done nothing to promote it since), which was a very nice piece of software. It was a daunting experience. I thought it was going to be easy piece-of-cake I'm a geek kinda-guy. Easy was not the case. I bailed. My record collection digitizing could wait. And it did for several years until the beginning of this Fall 2012.
Equipment -
Today I am using a borrowed Ion-Audio USB iTTUSB05 turntable. The iTTUSB05 doesn not ship with the best needle/cartridge combo, but it's certainly not the worst either. The USB port from the turntable into my computer makes ALL the difference in creating successful digital copy of any record you can throw at it.
Also, purchase a dedicated hard drive for the sole purpose of saving your music files to. In fact, buy two. It's worth every penny you will save in lost time. Make a backup at incremental steps. Time is something that can never be replaced, so CYA along the way. You have been warned.
Workflow -
Workflow is an important aspect in any type of project. Your workflow may differ significantly than mine. But, all the required steps will be similar. One you get rolling into this digitization project/process you will figure out what works best for you.
Some Links -
CoolEditPro - See "Adobe Audition" or search the web for more details
Adobe Audition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Audition
MP3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
ION Turntables - http://www.ion-audio.com/products/home-audio/turntables
Distilled Water - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_water
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© 2012 Robert Cazares - All Rights Reserved
If you would like to link to, reprint this article, or use in any other format, please contact me for attribution format and permissions.
Find me at: robertcazares@gmail.com.
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Created: October 16, 2012
Updated: October 16, 2012
