RalphO Wrote: > Thanks for your comments, I will try and answer all your questions > > Yes I have a deck that is still in regular use. The deck is a Thorens > TD321 with Linn arm (cannot remember the model) and a Supex catridge. > I still play the vinyl records but for convenience and to preserve them > I would like to record them on to the hard disc. > > The pre-amp is an Audio Research SP9 and works fine with the turntable. > > Quite a few of my records are not easily available these days > > Not really sure about the answer to this. I have whatever came with > the HP Pavilion media PC.
I realize that you asked for best quality back in your original post, so I might be going out on a limb here. I've ripped quite a few LPs and I started reading this thread and said "yikes!". I didn't know it was so hard. Anyway, if you're a true audiophile, you should probably stop reading here. I ripped my LPs because (1) I wanted them to be as easily accessible through my SB as my other digital music, (2) I'm too cheap to buy CDs of all this old stuff, (3) Many of my albums are not available on CD anyway. My quality standards were simply this: The ripped copies should sound pretty much the same as the original album played on my existing equipment. In other words, if I played back a ripped copy and it sounded pretty much the same as if I plugged my record player into the system and played the record, I'd be happy. And even if there was some reduction in quality, I'm not going to be anal about it. Did I say I was cheap. Anyway, I have an ATI All in Wonder card with a breakout box for audio input (and yes, I have a Soundblaster too) I bought a cheap pre-amp and plugged my 20 year old Realistic linear tracking turntable into it. I should add that I also bought a new needle. So the totality of my investment was about $50. To rip, I use the Audacity, which is free open source software from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. After recording each LP, it takes me maybe 20 minutes to label the tracks, do some minor editing, and export the files. Easy stuff. I'm pleased enough with the results since my recordings sound pretty much the same as the original record *on my equipment* (which, I'll admit, is not real high-end). The bottom-line is that when I rip my LPs it is NOT my goal to try to create some kind of "remastered" golden digital copy. If you want that, leave it to the pros. It's just to let me enjoy my LP collection as conveniently as my digital music, at a reasonable level of quality, and on the cheap. If you haven't tried it, you might be surprisingly pleased with the results. Dave -- Gildahl ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gildahl's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4102 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21836 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
