On Aug 27, 2007, at 23:50 , R. D. Preston wrote: > Hello, > > I'm planning to convert my vinyl LP collection to digital. > I have a standard turntable with my stereo system, and a > G4 Mac Mini w/ a combo-drive on hand. > > What other software or hardware will I need for this task? > ...for the basics? > ...for the [snap, crackle, & pop] noise elimination?
I've converted a bunch of my albums to digital with a standard turntable + Griffin Technology's iMic [1]. You hook the phono-out cables to it, and then hook the iMic to the computer via USB. The best part of it is that it comes with FinalVinyl, which is software that undoes the RIAA curve used to make records. [2] I don't use Toast to burn the music to CD's, since this seems pointless nowadays. I instead import the recordings to iTunes using AAC with a faster- than-usual sampling rate to boost fidelity slightly, and back up the originals to a large external drive. I've not bothered with taking out cracks or pops, because they're part of the sound of the albums to me... The one thing I've had trouble with from time to time is ground hum, but that can be eliminated with a good grounding wire. Audacity is a piece of freeware which can be used for post-recording editing, though I have to confess that I've used it more for podcast editing than any conversion editing. I've found that setting levels properly (loud as possible w/o clipping) and the time it takes to convert large amounts of music to digital might make you less willing to post-process each and every album. Bill R. [1] http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/ [2] Vinyl works by how much the needle bounces around in the groove. Bass requires more bouncing than treble. So... to keep the grooves from being too wide, the original music is run through a conversion which greatly reduces the bass. (Hence the tinny sound of records when not amplified.) Only amplifiers with a 'phono in' jack have the circuitry to undo the RIAA curve and make the music sound as it should. So... to avoid an amplifier between the turntable and the computer (or to avoid buying yet another turntable), you need something to undo the RIAA curve.... which would be FinalVinyl. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/pkcs7-signature Size: 2413 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.math.louisville.edu/pipermail/macgroup/attachments/20070828/8a455204/attachment.bin
