Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Who doesn't love vinyl records? It seems as if everyone, upon reaching a certain age, hid their collection somewhere, and everyone who is younger than this certain age is pulling their little hands to her. Vinyls have great sound quality, they're incredibly reliable and they're just great. However, they also have disadvantages: they are not very compact, you do not want to carry 50 kilos of records to a party, for example, and, of course, you cannot listen to them in the car, and many are not so easy to replace. Fortunately, you can fix these problems simply by rewriting your recordings to CDs. It can be a time consuming process, but when you do it, you will have high quality copies of your irreplaceable relics. Plus, you can enjoy your favorite Stevens Cat collection in your car on your way to work.

Steps

1. 1 Install an editor and recording software on your computer. The standard recording software that comes with most computers will not be able to record sound from vinyl to your hard drive. However, there are many programs that record audio, ranging from free to very expensive professional editors. Some work better than others and have more features, but in general, all you need from a program is for it to write files directly to your hard drive and so that you don't have to make a lot of edits to those files. For a more in-depth discussion of recording programs and editors, including their reviews, follow the external links provided in the sources and citations, specifically on the Clive Backham page.
2. 2 Decide if you need an amplifier. You will need to amplify and equalize the sound from your turntable in order to record it on your computer. If your turntable has a built-in amplifier, you can connect it directly to your computer's sound card. If you don't have a built-in amplifier, you can either plug your turntable into a stereo receiver and then plug the receiver into your sound card, or you can buy an amplifier from most computer hardware and electronics stores and plug your turntable into it. Be sure to buy an amp labeled “RIAA Equalization” - cheap models may not have this feature, which is required for vinyl made after 1950.
3. 3 Check if you have all the necessary wires, cables and adapters to connect your turntable, stereo, or amplifier to your sound card. You may need to buy cables - most likely they will be standard RCA cables, they will help to connect all the equipment. Depending on the type of input and output connectors on your sound card, turntable, receiver, and amplifier, you will need adapters that allow you to connect components one after the other. You can buy wires and adapters at most electronics stores, and if you're not sure which ones to choose, just bring your hardware there. In most cases, if you have already connected your turntable to your stereo system, all you need is an inexpensive 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable to connect the receiver to your computer, which can also be used to play music from your computer through your audio system.
4. 4 Connect all components. If you are not using an amplifier you will need to route the headphone cable or the “audio out” external jack of the audio player to the “line in” jack of your sound card.If you have an amplifier, connect the turntable cable to the “line in” connector on the amplifier, and then connect the other “audio out” cable of the amplifier to the “line in” connector on your computer's sound card.
5. 5 Clean the records. Obviously, clean vinyl records sound better than their dirty counterparts, and you will want the best possible sound when recording. The best solution for this is to use a dedicated cleaning machine, but they are expensive and difficult to find. (you can achieve similar results if you have a vacuum cleaner and cleaner). You can also wash them in the kitchen sink, use special brushes to remove dust from the surface. You should be very careful when cleaning, there are many more tips and caveats out there, so check out the external links for more details.
6. 6 Set the recording volume. You can adjust the volume either on the stereo receiver or within the recording software. The stereo line outputs are usually at a fixed volume, so it is best to control the sound on your computer. Make sure the recording is loud enough so that the resulting CDs are not significantly quieter than the rest of the CDs. It is even more important that the sound is not too loud. If your recording level exceeds 0 decibels at any point - the sound quality will be distorted, it is very important to stay below this value. Try to determine the peak volume (loudest part) of the record you want to record. Some computer programs can do this for you during playback, otherwise you have to guess. In order not to spoil the sound, set the peak volume (from the plate) at -3 decibels.
7. 7 Do a test run. Make sure the player, receiver and amplifier are turned on and working properly. Start playing the recording and press the “record” button in the recording program. Record a small section to be sure everything works and change the settings in the program and in the player, if necessary. You may have to listen to the entire disc in its entirety to prevent sound breaks.
8. 8 Make a record. Press the “record” button in the program before starting the vinyl. Play the entire album while recording to digital media and only turn off recording when the record stops playing (you can trim the silence at the beginning and end later). Your program can cut the recording into separate songs, if it can't do that, don't worry about that now.
9. 9 Edit the resulting entry. If the record you are recording is in excellent condition, your equipment is high-quality and everything is well-tuned, you won't have to spend a lot of time editing. You may want to remove the long stretches of silence at the beginning and end of the recording, and it is also worth cutting into individual songs now so you can switch between them on the CD. Depending on the quality of your sound editor, you can remove imperfections and background noises, normalize the sound. The editing procedure is not the same in different sound editors, so it is best to refer to the user manual or instruction files.
10. 10 Organize and burn songs to CD-R disc. As with the editor, the procedure for writing to a disc may vary depending on the program selected. See how to do this in the user manual and instructions.
11. 11 Insert a CD into your stereo system and enjoy your music!

Tips

• If you do not have good recording equipment and software for this, and you only need to record a few records, it would be better if you just buy discs with recordings. You will be surprised how many old records are in digital format. Unless you have a large collection of rare vinyl that cannot be found commercially on CDs, it is not worth the investment and time to record it yourself.
• If you don't need CDs at all, and just want to convert your recordings to mp3 format, you can immediately save the finished recordings directly to mp3 format (depending on the software) and this way you get rid of the recording / rewriting process. This also works for other formats such as oggvorbis.
• A single program for recording and editing is the easiest way, but you can have two or even three: a sound recorder, an editor, and a disc burning program like Nero. We highly recommend the following programs [GoldWaveGoldWave], Wave Repair, PolderbitS, Audacity (free and open source with a whole set of useful functions) and VinylStudio. In the search, you can enter “sound recording” and you will get a large number of results, some of which will be free.
• Probably the easiest software to use is all the steps associated with a computer and a sound card if you have a good CD-RW recorder. You can plug these directly into a stereo receiver, so you can record your LPs as easily as you would record on old cassettes. If you want to edit a recording, you can use the disc as a medium to transfer files to your computer, and you can even make additional copies using the recorder in it.
• You must have a good turntable. If you have a collection of records, then obviously there is a turntable. And even if you can listen to your recordings on almost any turntable, digital recording requires quality equipment. Granny's basement turntable is not good for this.
• Purchase the sound card you want. You don't need a professional sound card for recording, but the standard card that comes with many computers will not be enough. Especially if they don't have a "line in" input (Jacks labeled "mic in" are usually mono and won't have enough sound quality for your purposes). If you already have a sound card, try recording with it. Maybe it will work, otherwise you should improve it.
• When editing finished recordings, feel free to resort to the noise reduction and EQ functions often until you get a good sound. This is a trial and error method, always keep the original recordings and only then rename the edited recordings. That way, if your efforts only make the sound worse, you can go back to the original recording without having to re-record everything from vinyl.
• Some recording / editing programs allow you to change the recording speed (the "Change Speed" button in Audacity) so that you can record audio at 33 rpm at 45 or even 78 rpm, and then convert back to the desired speed. thus saving recording time. Depending on your equipment and settings, this may cause a degraded sound quality. In general, this method should be left for special cases, for example your turntable may not be able to provide the desired speed for your recording.
• There are CD-Rs that look and feel like vinyl, and are generally inexpensive.
• If you are using a laptop, you may not be able to use the sound card. In this case, use a USB connected audio device. As with other hardware, these devices also vary in quality, so take a closer look and read the reviews before buying.

Warnings

• Amplifiers are very sensitive to vibration. Of course, you can expect a pause in the sound from the player when you push the table, but even other, less significant vibrations can seriously affect the sound quality. When recording, try to reduce background noise - soundproof the room and walk gently.
• Be extremely careful when cleaning records.Vinyl is generally quite stable, but even a small scratch can lead to hissing or squeaky noises, and if you damage the record, it will be very difficult or impossible to restore it. If you are unsure of what you are doing, it is better to contact the sellers of your local music store or find out on the Internet how to do it.
• Do not directly connect your computer sound card to the speaker output on your stereo receiver. The signal from the speakers is very strong and can most likely cause serious damage to the sound card.
• Turn off the power on either the computer or the sound source before making the final connections. The initial burst can damage the circuit between the sound card and the audio source. Sound cards are especially susceptible to this kind of damage.
• If hardware installation is required, follow the usual precautions: turn off the power to the computer, ground yourself by touching another metal before touching the inside of the computer and back up all the information you need on it (for example, “Another Big Novel,” which you were writing), just copy it to floppy disks, email it to a friend or relative, or just save it as a draft for yourself. You can get it yourself at any convenient time and no one can access it.

What do you need

• Valuable vinyl records
• Electric turntable (audio record player)
• PC with sound card or external USB device with "line in" input
• Cables and / or adapters for connecting a PC with a player or amplifier * Preamp or stereo receiver
• Sound recording programs and editors
• At least 700 megabytes of free hard disk space
• CD burner
• Blank CD-R discs