Digital Transferring

Part 1 – Intro
Part 2 – Home conversion with existing turntable
Part 3 – Using a USB turntable
Part 4 – Have Someone Else Do It

For 6 decades, records were the most common music format and turntables and players were commonplace. Now however, unless you’re willing to spend hundreds of dollars, it is very hard to find a quality turntable, not to mention a good sounding cartridge and needle.

Compared to today’s technology of MP3s and MP3 players, records are big bulky and inconvenient. They only hold around 12 songs, you have to flip them over half way through, and don’t forget about trying to blow the dust out of the grovves before you play them! Even compared to CDs, records still require a lot more work. If you want to listen to track 4 on side 2, you have to flip the record over and try and count the track lines on the vinyl to figure out where track 4 starts, then drop the needle in the right spot. Not easy compared to just hitting the ‘next’ button on your CD player.

Despite all these shortcomings, there is still a huge collectors market out there for LPs. There are thousands of albums which were never re-released on CD and oly exist in someones record collection. Then there is the audiophile’s argument that the sound quality of CDs and MP3s are no match for the rich full sound of vinyl pressings. They claim the compressing of MP3s and the over-produced sound of CDs just don’t cut it.

But for the rest of us who love our vinyl collection, or even just have a few treasured records which were passed down from our parents, or that we listened to as kids, the inconvenience of records and rarity of proper playback equipment often prevents us from enjoying the music which we only have on records.

So how do you go about converting our vinyl to CD or MP3? There are a few options out there depending on the equipment, time and skills you have: home conversion with a standard record player, home conversion with a USB record player, and professional conversion. In the next few blog postings, we will consider each of these options, their drawbacks, advangtages and how-tos! Check back soon for the first posting!

Part 1 – Intro
Part 2 – Home conversion with existing turntable
Part 3 – Using a USB turntable
Part 4 – Have Someone Else Do It