Vinyl rip sharing thread?

[jrfhoutx]

Thought I had, just couldn't remember. I'll have to look it over and maybe update it and add some more detail...

[bkramer10]

Vinyl rips are so ridiculously easy to do... download Audacity (it's free) and install it on your computer, run a cable from the headphone output of your receiver to the line or mic input of your computer (if you have a mic input but no line input, turn the input volume in audacity way down), drop the needle, hit record in audacity. at the end of a side, pause, stop your TT, flip the record, drop the needle, un-pause. stop it at the end and then edit out the lead in and lead out grooves and add in and name track markers, 'export multiple' to your preferred format...takes an extra 10-20 minutes on top of the LP run time.

only recommendations I have are:

1 - do this and adjust the volume output on your receiver so that the max on the VUmeter stays between -12 and -6 (you can use amplify later to increase the volume), then stop, start a new session and delete the old one, then drop the needle again at the beginning and hit record (this assures that you will not get any distortion or clipping).

2 - hit record, then pause, drop the needle, then un-pause (this keeps the big spike of the needle drop off of the VUMeter).

3 - use a good pair of headphones (something that won't color the audio too much and sounds very clean, I like a pair of Grado SR-60i for this) to monitor the recording (plug them into your computer's headphone jack).

4 - clean your vinyl and stylus before recording to minimize clicks and pops and surface noise as most click/pop and noise removal algorithms are terrible, and will always degrade the audio quality when removing clicks/pops/surface noise, and won't always completely remove what they're supposed to.

5- If you have a line output on your receiver and a line input on your computer (or soundcard) use that combination. If you don't have a line output available on your receiver, use the headphone output and volume control to adjust the output level going to your computer (whether it's line or mic input that you're using). If you don't have a line input on your computer/soundcard, then you'll have to use the mic input on your computer and the headphone output and volume control on your receiver. Just remember to turn down the level of the mic input in audacity or in your soundcard settings, or you can ruin the soundcard.


This really is extremely easy to do, and I do this with almost every album I buy (except some used ones that have too much surface noise or clicks/pops), even the ones that come with download cards and/or CDs, because my soundcard records at 24/192 and I can export straight to WAV and then convert to FLAC (for archiving) and Apple Lossless (for listening on my iPhone, and on my stereo through my Apple TV2 if I don't feel like actually getting out the record and dropping the needle, plus my wife prefers that to actually playing the records).

[rsimms3]

Some recommendations from personal experience:

1. Turn off your speakers. It wasn't mentioned specifically other than to monitor with headphones, but turn off your speakers and only monitor through headphones to reduce potential vibrations of your TT.

2. Don't place your TT near computer monitors, TVs, etc. Electrical gadgets can introduce noise that may not be apparent during your transfer. I used to have my stereo in the living room next to my LCD TV. Looking at the spectral analysis of one of my recordings I noticed it had a spike in the high frequencies that later I found out was due to having my TV on at the time I was doing the transfer.

3. Put your TT in the most stable place available and check the alignment of your cartridge. Noise can be introduced through vibrations of people walking on the floor nearby. Channel imbalance can occur if your cartridge is out of alignment.

4. I've found ClickRepair to be a good declick/noise/hiss program. Nothing will be perfect but it suits my needs well for declicking noisy records. Records should be cleaned prior to transfers and in general prior to each play, but most people don't have access to a wet cleaning machine like a VPI.

[jrfhoutx]

Thanks bkramer10 for digging that up, and thanks for the pointers rsimms3.

If no one has any objections, I'll work on an actual tutorial for this (I know there are many out there, but having one here would be helpful), and go a little more in depth in regards to process and gear and add some photos, links, etc.

[achouza]

To the heck with it all. I'm not capable of digitalizing any of my records and I'd really like to have some of the Vault releases in digital format to listen to when I'm not at home. So if the mods allow it and people are up to it, I would be happy to send photos of my records and receive a download via PM.

i really hate it that many labels dont include downloadcards,, i can see why the vault releases try to keep it off mp3s and mass consumption,, but alot of other records (like ty segall goodbye bread) dont,have downloads and thats just plain stupid

im all for artists making money but i dont feel bad torrenting albums i own (and even some i dont own),, i pay enough money to artist through vinyl and concerts to feel guilty,, most people in this forum are in the top 5% of consumers for music artists,, in vegas terms we are their fat whales, buying an album in 6 variations (hello fuzz)

btw all vault releases have been ripped by somebody and are posted on torrent sites,, really easy to find,, i downloaded them and while they arent great they arent horrible