The ideal vinyl to mp3 recording setup?

djtopcatdjtopcat Seattle WA The 206 312 Posts
edited July 2015 in Strut Central
I'm curious as to how some of you guys like to rip your vinyl to digital (flac,mp3,wav etc)
Do you use a pre-amp? usb interface? direct to the soundcard?

I've always just used the line out on my RANE 57 mixer straight to my laptop headphone jack on my Mac. I bought one of those Costco ION usb turntables awhile back and the recordings just didn't sound right to me. There seemed to be a low buzz while recording, even when the turntable was grounded properly.

I know all vinyl is subject to wow and flutter, but do you think the center pitch control lock on say a Technics 1200 is any more accurate than other direct drive turntables without that feature?

I make a lot of diy acapellas from vinyl now, and it would be ideal to find a way to make a carbon copy clone of the disc exactly how it was cut, or at least as close as possible.

  Comments


  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Have you heard of Pbthal of http://vinyldoneright.nl/? His vinyl rips sound better than most CD's.

    He said his setup was:

    [strong]Vinyl Cleaning Process:[/strong]
    27 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaner (Tap water with Sporicidin) on custom rotating assembly at 1 RPM for 15 minutes
    Vacuum off with VPI 16.5
    AIVS Premium Record Cleaner Formula No. 15 applied with Mofi Brush while rotating on VPI 16.5
    McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner applied with Mofi Brush while rotating on VPI 16.5
    Vacuum off with VPI 16.5
    L’Art du Son Record Cleaning Fluid applied with VPI Bristle brush
    Vacuum off with VPI 16.5
    Whole Foods Deionized Water applied with Mofi Brush (Separate from AIVS Mofi Brush)
    Vacuum off with VPI 16.5
    Flip record and repeat
    Place record on Plate Demgnetizer

    [strong]Turntable Equipment Profile:[/strong]
    VPI Scoutmaster with inverted bearing and 300 RPM motor
    Trans-Fi ResoMat
    Gingko Cloud 11 Vibration Control Platform
    VPI Synchronous Drive System turntable motor speed controller and line isolator
    Trans-Fi Audio Terminator T3Pro tangential tracking air bearing tonearm with Tomahawk Armwand
    Soundsmith Sussorro Paua

    [strong]Phono Stage Profile:[/strong]
    Musical Surroundings Phonomena Phono Preamplifier
    Musical Surroundings Battery Power Supply

    [strong]Analog/Digital Conversion:[/strong]
    RME ADI-2 =< ADAT =< E-MU 1212M
    Adobe Audition 3.01 running on Windows XP in a Shuttle PC form factor

    [strong]Post Processing Of Audio[/strong]
    Run thru ClickRepair(if necessary) at level 7 with
    Pitch Protection | off
    Reverse | on
    Simple
    Resample to 96khz in Izotope Rx2 using the default preset
    Manually listen to album in Adobe Audition cleaning any clicks/anomalies
    Flac with Xrecode II for hi-rez files
    Flac with Trader’s Little Helper for redbook files

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    ^^^ I'm pretty sure this guy uses those ceramic speaker cable lifters too

  • volumenvolumen 2,532 Posts
    I just have technics turntable to vestex mixer to Sony amp to apple with GarageBand. Then I have a lot of editing options on GarageBand. I'm sure there are flaws but it sounds good to me.

  • BallzDeepBallzDeep 612 Posts
    I just started doing this and I love it.
    1200 >> ART Phono USB Plus >> laptop
    Record with Audacity, each side as one file.
    Send the file thru ClickRepair: Pitch and Reverse ON, declick at 1 (yes, 1), no crackle, and 100% auto.
    I then send it through CR again, this time with Reverse OFF but all else the same.
    Import file back to Audacity to split tracks and Normalize to -.4.

    Just did Curtis Live (buddy's request) and it's sounds amazing.

    Ultrasonic cleaners... I had two cleaned for free over the weekend, one classical shaded dog joint and the Meters s/t... seriously couldn't tell a huge diff except maybe the classical one was a little quieter.

  • djtopcatdjtopcat Seattle WA The 206 312 Posts
    Aw sheeet Guitar Center had those ART phono rigs on sale not long ago. I actually have heard really good things about those. I have an older M-Audio interface but I'm probably going to buy an ART phono now.

    Oh and that first guy's recording routine is INSANE! I'll have to listen to more of his recordings. I don't really get along with the super audiophile snobs too well though. As soon as the 320kbs vs WAV topic comes up I have to leave the room. lol

  • caicai spacecho 362 Posts
    Technics 1200 > Rane mixer > Lynx Aurora AD converter > Pro Tools 10

    Manual click repair if necessary

    Turn gain up so loudest part of record just under clipping

    EXPORT!


  • the_dLthe_dL 1,531 Posts
    a 1200 or a vestax pdx are what I use and highly recommend. As for pre amp I have heard the guys from Condesa http://www.condesaelectronics.com/ (the makers of the best dj mixer on the market) are looking at making a phono pre amp which will definitely be a great investment
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