Convert. 33 record album 2 a file: I recognize this is not a photography question however many of you are multi talented. How do I convert an old 33 record album to a digital file.

Rotorhead Loc: Midwest-Fly-Over Country

I recognize this is not a photography question however many of you are multi talented. How do I convert an old 33 record album to a digital file. Pointing me in the right direction will be much appreciated. Thank you

RicknJude Loc: Quebec, Canada

Rotorhead wrote:

I recognize this is not a photography question however many of you are multi talented. How do I convert an old 33 record album to a digital file. Pointing me in the right direction will be much appreciated. Thank you

Buy a turntable that plugs in a USB port. Easy as pie. They don't cost a ton of money. About $100 in the USA.

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

There is software and a hardware connection to play the record on any player and capture the sound as mp3 files on the computer.

There are also players from $60-300 that will allow a USB connection to record to the computer, and some have built in SD card slots for directly captured the songs as MP3 files.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Or instead of buying the 100.00 conversion turn table...just buy the MP3 album....that's the cheapest way.

the average album in MP3 format is $6.00 to $12.00

what album are you trying to convert?

RicknJude Loc: Quebec, Canada

Good thinking. :thumbup:

Rotorhead Loc: Midwest-Fly-Over Country

I am converting the 75 albums

RmcBUDDY Loc: Morris County, NJ

Rotorhead wrote:

I recognize this is not a photography question however many of you are multi talented. How do I convert an old 33 record album to a digital file. Pointing me in the right direction will be much appreciated. Thank you

I have found this player

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033DP200US/Denon-DP-200USB.html?tp=200&awkw=25289075185&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=6488534665&awdv=c#q-and-a-tab

It is a little pricey, but the cheaper ones were...... well..... cheap.
You can transfer from the LP to a thumb drive and you don't need to hook it up to a computer.

bw79st Loc: New York City

Approaching this from a different angle, you may find that you already have a turntable and a preamp with a good quality phono input. In that case you may be reluctant to buy a cheaper turntable with the bare minimum TT preamp built in. The problem then becomes how do you convert to a USB output. I found a converter made by Roland called the "Cakewalk" for under $100 that will do that and give some control over levels. I have some LPs and other sources that have never shown up on CD so this was the way to go for me. Cakewalk has a line level input so you can't put a turntable directly into it. You need the output of a preamp, but this opens up the possibility of easily transferring tapes and other sources also. BTW, I've been reading posts for a few weeks now and this is my first post.

singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

rpavich wrote:

Or instead of buying the 100.00 conversion turn table...just buy the MP3 album....that's the cheapest way.

the average album in MP3 format is $6.00 to $12.00

what album are you trying to convert?

Actually Roger, there's a stereo audio input for line-input on the rear of sound cards and some MOBOs that can be used to digitize the music file and store as a digital MP3 file if you have the software. Even a simple sound card costs a lot less than a digital USB output turntable these days. However there is some controversy as to the ambiance of digital recordings and the argument that vinyl has a richer sound but this may be more personal preference than actual fact with recent MP3 data files and the equipment used to amplify this music for speakers. There's still something to be said for quality analog audio equipment.
In Germany, vinyl is booming and there are a few companies still producing records. They're not cheap anymore though and you can spend well over $1000 for naked diamond needle pickup cartridges and quality turntables with ZERO to 2 gram balance arms.

tomd01 Loc: Allentown, Pa.

Rotorhead wrote:

I recognize this is not a photography question however many of you are multi talented. How do I convert an old 33 record album to a digital file. Pointing me in the right direction will be much appreciated. Thank you

I had the same problem last year, trying to convert my 33 albums to cd. I found that dak.com sells a mixer, the sound signal goes goes from the turntable into the mixer and then into your computer where you can store your music file or convert it right now. It also has with the mixer a program to take all the scratch and hiss sounds from your recording.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Generally speaking the $100 usb turntables are c**p. If you have access to a decent TT with a good magnetic pickup and the appropriate preamp/receiver with tape recorder or line level outputs you'll get much, much better results. MP3 files hardly do justice to the original source.

If you check with Parts Express http://www.parts-express.com you can find converters from analog to digital and digital to analog. IIRC prices run $30 and up.

Explorer Loc: Eastern Iowa

tomd01 wrote:

I had the same problem last year, trying to convert my 33 albums to cd. I found that dak.com sells a mixer, the sound signal goes goes from the turntable into the mixer and then into your computer where you can store your music file or convert it right now. It also has with the mixer a program to take all the scratch and hiss sounds from your recording.

I found the dak unit on the web about a year ago, but did not purchase. If you purchased and used it, how was your experience and were you satisfied with the quality?

Rotorhead Loc: Midwest-Fly-Over Country

thank you very much for your response is there a very very informative and helpful. I knew you come through. Thanks so much

tomd01 Loc: Allentown, Pa.

Explorer wrote:

I found the dak unit on the web about a year ago, but did not purchase. If you purchased and used it, how was your experience and were you satisfied with the quality?

Yes I bought the program complete with the mixer and software used to record, cancel out any hisses and cracks. There were other features on the software that I haven't used but were nice to have if you wanted to use them. Overall I liked the program and transferred around 20 albums to cd.

bw79st Loc: New York City

tomd01 wrote:

Yes I bought the program complete with the mixer and software used to record, cancel out any hisses and cracks. There were other features on the software that I haven't used but were nice to have if you wanted to use them. Overall I liked the program and transferred around 20 albums to cd.

I looked at the website and it does appear that the Dak mixer has a built in phono preamp, something you need to play back LPs with the proper RIAA Equalization curve. I don't know how good that one is but I know my own pre-amp is far superior. Nevertheless it does seem like a good way to go for someone who doesn't want to get too involved with audio issues. I use the Cakewalk and transfer the sound into Audacity, a free program that Dak implies is not as good as their own software. Audacity is actually excellent but it is a steep learning curve. Something I'm sure we all dread facing.