How to Transcribe old records to CD?

I assume you mean the old phonograph or vinyl record players.

No, you cannot plug the phonograph output directly into the microphone input unless your phonograph has a built-in RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) equalization circuit. If you do, the sound will be terrible. If it does have the equalization circuit, you can use that to connect to the line-in (not the microphone input).

Most, if not all, PCs today have a line-in in addition to the microphone input and speaker output. If your amplifier has a line-out (don't use the speaker output), connect that to the line-in of the PC.

Be aware that Copyright laws may prevent this from being done lawfully in many parts of the world.

Not for personnel use, surely old chap?

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/2755#newcomments

Easiest way is to purchase a USB turntable

e.g. : http://www.numark.com/ttusb or http://www.ion-audio.com/ttusb.php

Many come with software, such as Audacity that removes pops etc & cleans up the audio.

It will cost you some money, but if you have enough to do, it is cheaper than buying them all over again.....copyright laws not withstanding.

All you need is a turntable with an amplified output, and software to convert the signal to digital. Such as AudioMagic.

How about an analog/digital, A/V signal converter: I got one of these cheap at radio shack closeout, anticipating that (when the computer materialized) I would try just what Cerreb (IP) asks about--and hopefully find the way to also do a little groove-wear audio repair (lp record remastering of sorts).

Output selection options from the converter unit's component inputs (of feeds from amp (etc) outputs) are PCM or Toslink on the audio side; S-VHS on the video side. There's a sync feature but not yet sure what that provides or how. I'm guessing it is related to direct recording...or keeping audio & video in step. Since computer is not equipped for optical, what sound card input [SB Audigy 2] would the PCM patch go to? [Yes, that was a question] I'm guessing Not the stereo unless I have a creative use for noise? The S-vhs is easy enough--the only one it will fit. But I'll probably try just the sound/CD part first before tackling recording of TV/VHS/ movies w/o then w/ sound track.

Hope this helps Cerreb and me both.

Go to amazon.com and type in usb turntable

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-9231152-7052963?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usb+turntable&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

This will cost you a little bit but it sure makes it easy.

She can connect her output jack into the soundcard's "Line-in" socket, then use sound-recording and editing software (Sonic Foundry's SoundForge is good) to record the music. Finally, use CD writing software such as Nero to burn the CD.

first assuring all that he has no affiliation with any of the software discussed below, snowman sez:

This is good advice, but if you don't have the RIAA, a preamp out from your home stereo amplifier is a good source to connect with your computer line in jack. With most setups, you'll need an rca cable out from the preamp out jacks, and then a "Y" splitter that is female RCA to female 1/8" stereo, so you can use the standard male to male 1/8" stereo cables everyone has lying around or can buy anywhere. If you can't find the "Y" splitter, use the more commonly available female rca to male 1/8", and find a good 1/8" stereo headphones extension cable, to get from the "Y" splitter to the soundcard on your computer. Any combination of cables and adapters that gets you stereo into the line in on your sound card is good, and the fewer connections the better. If you own the LP, screw the copyright, it is fair use as long as you don't share it. In case of any translation issues, change "screw" to "forget."

Now you are into your computer with the signal, and you need to record it. Most PC users have a sound recorder (riding under various aliases) in the Accessories folder of the programs folder. In XP it is aptly named "Sound Recorder." This will allow you to record the signal to your hard drive, as a wav file. But it won't give you the degree of control over the recording that you want, so blow $15 US, or under 8 Pounds, on a program, and there is a very good (no affiliation) try before you buy called CD Wav Editor, that many use for this. It shows you the wav file, and allows you to edit out the dead air between when you hit record on the computer, then walk over and drop the needle, and helps you deal with the noise as the needle bounces around the end of disc groove at the end of each side. And it allows you to split each side of the LP into separate tracks. Make your splits so you leave the silence at the END of each track, and if you are a purist, don't delete any of that silence except the bouncing in the end of disc groove for each side, maybe. Hold off on making splits if you are going to boost the signal, because it is a lot less work to do this to the one big file than it is to do it to all the split tracks separately, but more on that in a few.

Now, I left out a detail, and that is that you to get good results, you want to set your input levels, and you can't do that in CD Wav, you need to do that at the controls on your preamp out circuit, if possible, but unless you have a separate preamp and amplifier on the home stereo, that may not be an option. The idea is to get as hot a signal as you can without causing distortion. There is a 25% boost or cut available in Sound Recorder, and you can always open a wav file recorded in Sound Recorder with CD Wav to get all of its benefits after the file is on your hard drive, so Sound Recorder is an option still. If you can't adjust this, don't worry about it, because there is a chance to boost that in another program. There is a good freeby out there called Audacity. I use Cubase, so I can't walk you through the steps in Audacity, but whatever program you use, you want to boost the signal (turn up the volume) to a point a little short of distortion/clipping, and then save the boosted file to your hard drive. Audacity and other programs for editing music let you see the waveform and monitor playback for clipping, so you go through a playback of the recording, checking all the places where it gets louder and might distort, and you set the volume so that it does not clip. This is complicated software that is not real intuitive, so plan to spend some time in the help files and checking online faqs and discussion threads. Some people try to "improve" the sound, by adding compression or adjusting the equalization, but others feel this is messing with someone else's work and should not be done, and I share that view. Some try to control the "pops" from dust or damage to the grooves of the LP, and others think that counterproductive. All I think you want to do is avoid having a CD as an end product of this (or just the computer file) that sounds weak and lifeless compared to record label produced CDs because the levels are too low, so I say just boost it and avoid distorting it, and move on back to CD Wav to split the tracks so you can do something with them, like record to CD or playback in Winamp or whatever you use. You can split tracks in Audacity too, but that is a lot more work. If your goal is to play back on the computer only, consider saving some drive space by compressing your wav file splits in a lossless format such as flac... and there are free converters available for that, and a plugin for Winamp for flac playback.

Have fun! Follow the rules and don't share the results.

Dear cirreb217,

I provide a service for transcribing old records (both 78, 45, and 33) into computer files, readable by Windows Media Player.

The quality of transfer is extremely good, and it is not just your friend in Tashkent who is interested in doing it. The fact of the matter is that many of these old recordings are irreplacaable. Nowadays there are so many Re-Recordings (made by the Artist when they are 50-60 yrs old) on the market. These are nowhere near the quality of the original recording made by the artist when they were 20-30yrs old (and their voice in perfect pitch and able to reach all the notes).

Hoping this helps. you can reply direct to me at cedricb@btinternet.com if you want to. Hope this helps.

Bennos

Assuming that she has a good HiFi system she will have a rec line out on the pre amp.

The sound on a phonograph disc is heavily distorted, the phono preamp corrects this.

Use this rec out to go into the line in of your computer sound card.

Now comes the tricky part: software: the XP sound recorder only allows you to record 5' mono. You can buy other software that enables you to record but what you also can do is installing the Planet CCRMA add-on for Fedora Linux.

This is an extension software bundle that turns your computer into a home studio, with several great recording and editing tools. Only one but: the computer has to run in Linux. There is a good reason for it (although modern computers might not need it when this is the only thing that you ask him to do, but in a network you never know what windows is going to do. Having a link with the internet is a network situation)

Lots of half useful answers here - the trouble is picking out the various bits to make a workable system. Can somebody bring us up to speed on what modern PC based equipment has in order to integrate with the old stuff.

If you are trying to record from 78's then it is essential to have a stylus that is 'mechanically' compatible (weight and profile) with the groove - and this point is not made clear in the 'ads' of new record players. In fact the matter is so critical (and being a relatively costly item) the omission makes me wonder if the ads are deliberately misleading here. If the punters ask questions - tell them poor quality reproduction is due to the record itself - and hope they will go away. Rubbish! in fact old 78's were as hi-fi as you could get.

Or you use an old turntable. The problem here is the output (no RIAA in those days). It is probably no more than the basic signal generated by the stylus. This has to be amplified.

The questions are:

1) If a simple turntable - which PC input socket should be used for the un-amplified 'stylus' signal?

2) If the turntable is part of a record player - is it still the output from the stylus - or has it been pre-amped. Where is this plugged into?

3) If it has a phono socket - where is this plugged in?

4) If it has external speaker sockets (and thus amplified) - where is this plugged in?

Help.

Some years ago I read something on a program that can scan a disk and convert the grooves to sound. The actual status then was that you could recognise the song.

Dive into the Planet CCRMA system, read some stuff there.

To keep it simple...try and use an amp, less hassle! My sound card has a stereo input jack for a microphone, the amp plugs in there. You should find that you can then play you records through the PC's speakers. That means you've got your signal, you then need to convert it to digital..thats where the software comes in. I keep banging on about AudioMagic because it not only converts your signal to digital, you play your record/tape/whatever into it and record it,then you can filter it as well, at your control, to eliminate scratches, hiss, crackle etc. I save to a WAV file then convert to MP3 to save time.

No. Recod player catridges do not have a flat frequency response, they are pre-equalized to a standard referred to as "R.I.A.A" (Recording Industry Association of America). It will be necessary to obtain and use a "phono preamplifier" between the cartridge and the sound card. Then things will work fine. If her stereo player has a "line out" feature, she could connect this to the computer sound card as well (assuming that the stereo has a "phono in" feature. Again, you need that equalization to obtain a listenable signal).

I purchased a USB Plug'n'Play set up for this purpose. It is the Xitel INport.It comes with an interface, software, and 30' of high quality cable for making the connections to the amp. It allows for the recording of LP's, tape, or radio. In my opinion it does an excellent job. It costs around $70 US, but you may find a better price by doing an online search. For what I believe to be an honest evaluation of this product visit http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1231752,00.asp.

On thing I did not see mentioned is CD/DVD degrade over time. (the prerecorded stamped ones less so)

My sister had some cheap one only last three years and lost a bunch of photos.

Look for archive quality or similar. Digital data is only as good as its carrier.

Good luck, to much is lost because there are not more people like you.

On thing I did not see mentioned is CD/DVD degrade over time.

Probably because it's easier to recopy a CD/DVD (the ones you make yourself) to another CD/DVD should the need arise.

Personally, I don't see the need to store music since you can buy them. Some shops have CD/DVD versions of some really old music. Personal music and photos are different.

If you're really serious about preserving music and digital photos, you'd make two copies and store one (the master copy) in a vault or something. From time to time, you'd make a new master copy.

Now if I can only remember to do that, and what was the other...

I have many records that you can not buy. Some day I'll get them remastered to digital, say 32bit. With that much effort I'd like it a bit more permanent.

But you are very correct. As long as the CDs are copied before there is any loss of data, digital makes great copies. Oh and did I say cheap too.

I have a slightly different situation. I'd like to know the best way of dumping the output from a series of grammaphone cyliders onto a CD disc; to do it for prosterity. The best I can think of currently is to place the input microphone of the recorder into the bell of the grammaphone and dump the sound to the computer to make a file, but the sound is not very good.

Thoughts?

I purchased a unit (digital converter adaptor) for doing just that. It converts analog to digital and includes software for putting all your tapes and records onto CD using a PC. Got it from TigerDirect.com, seen it in Best Buy also. Works good and is 1/2 to 1/4 of price of new turntable (about $60).

I'll try to find a CD for the record first. Unless you have a highend sound card with good recording software, the result won't be pretty. Also consider the amount of time you'll need to record. You maybe picking up static, noise while recording. If the record skipped, you'll record that too. You can try one and then decide if its worth it.

Pineapple

Audacity [freeware], mp3 cut [freeware], ID3Renamer[Freeware] & finally ITunes cause I like the interface better than the windows player. No need to spend any $'s just time. I never bother to name every song, just artist, album & year. Mp3cut lets you chop the albums down to songs [ I usually do 3-5 albums @ a time]Buy a nice mp3 compatible cd player for playback 10 hr discs, will keep your radio off.

As many of the other posters have stated use an amp, the RCA line outs are 250mv hooked to a y adapter to 1/8 stereo for the line in on your pc.

I've used the freeware method to import 10'000 songs & use ITunes to play & burn. The quality is as good as the original source [LP or cassette]. You can import [record the files, to audacity] while you do something else.

I would install a ground wire between the pc & amp, this pretty much reduces the hum to whatever the amp produces. you usually have to fuss around w/the volumn from different sources.

I would import [to ITunes]a cd produced w/in the last few years for a reference volumn level, it's easy to overdrive the sound card on a pc. CD's from the dawn of the CD era tend to have lo levels. Classical music tends to have alot of dynamic range, so this will be important if your friend wants to use a portable mp3 [Ipod] for playback.

Editing & labeling of the tracks is the most time consuming part of the process.

I use audacity to delete out any sections where the lp skips, looking @ the graph, you wil see a section where the same pattern repeats for several minutes [that would be a skip] & then export the whole file into my documents, I have 1 folder labeled mp3 & 10 folders labeled lp1,lp2,lp3..... for use after cutting into songs w/MP3cut.

Once you use MP3cut a few times, you can watch the graphic eq to see the songs w/out having to actually listen to them speeding up the process.I then rename the contents of the lp folders w/the renamer program & import the whole folder to ITunes.

The LP's are mine & so are the files, to do with as I please. I used cassettes for the same purpose for many years.

Complications arise if you start sharing them, on the internet.

what do you suggest as a very high quality mp3 cd player, especially one that might read other formats such as .OGG or .WMA, or that have open source firmware that one can add CODECs to at will?

Almost all cd players are wma, mp3 as to ogg & open source, not that I've seen. Probably something high end with a hard drive may offer the more artist oriented ogg.

Personally I don't bother dealing w/clicks & pops. Yes the controls on audacity are flaky, but what can you expect for the price [0]. I stick w/fairly clean lp's, these usually have a bit of crunchiness @ the beginning & end of the sides. Quality of conversion compares quite well to store bought Cd's, better than early Cd's. Mp3cut has an ok pause detector, I don't bother using it. I like to break longer tracks into 5 minutes chunks, & use random playback or shuffle on my IPod. choosing 10 hours to burn for mp3 discs is a different editing task, lots of different ways to go about it. All favs, different styles, all of an artist, variety,era's......... When buying playback equipment, check out the way the random function is set up & the display of the track, album, artist, info

i have transcribed a fair amount of vinyl to digital and found that the Roxio CD Creator set of applications has a "Sound Editor" that does an excellent job of removing noise, once the file is on the computer as an audio file. Just select the entire track and choose "apply effect to selection" and a menu pops up called "de-click" and you can set it to both "de-pop" and "de-crackle." i thought it worked much better than audacity. in audacity, when i selected a "noise" sample and applied it to the entire file, it produced a lot of very weird distortion. going through and removing individual noise is extremely time intensive and did not yield disciminably better results. I found Audacity to be better for some tasks, though that was probably because i did not explore sound editor very thoroughly. I was really surprised how well the packaged, automated "declick" feature worked on Roxio. if the clicks are high in intensity, once they are removed, you may want to "amplify" the selection again because if you amplify a track and do not allow clipping, one isolated high amplitude sound will limit the amount that can be done. if it's a click and you remove it, you can amplify again and you will "saturate" the file quite a bit better. jhw

Before there was all these new great programs out there there was a program called Voicepilot. Allowed you to run input into mic on computer to ear output from phono, still do. Turned input to .wav file from wav Win. Media will change to mp3. Believe voicepilot is now shareware.

Not to hard to do. There are many out there with great edit controls too.

It is best to use the output from the gramophone via an audio cable to the CD burner, (a computer or a dedicated CD/DVD burner), using a microphone is not a good priactice as it will pickup other stray sounds in the vicinity

I guess I could do the same with my Reel to Reel tapes that I wanted converted to CD right?

Yup, if you have 250mv signal [ line out ] you can convert it to a mp3, wav.