How To Transfer Vinyl Records to Digital using audacity - no usb turntable required!

[wizzieG]

omg.. He is complaining about noise, but than he saves it as mp3...

Please don't use mp3. If your harddrive is big enough, use wav file format. With mp3 you bring in noise into the beautyfull quality of vinyl

[jpdylon]

@wizzieG You are partially correct. Using a lower bitrate will compromise dynamic range and frequency response, but won't bring noise into the recording. Lower quality bitrates below 160kb will give the illusion of noise because of the compression artifacts squeezing the high frequency detail into what we hear as a blob of noise. In most applications 320 is suitable for most listeners. There is also FLAC, apple lossless and of course the pure WAV. All is up to you. My video uses MP3 as example.

[theoryg]

Simply sensational.

[UniPocalypse]

is there a way to play through and album and then cut and export the individual songs?

[jpdylon]

@UniPocalypse Yes. You highlight the section of the audio you want, cut, then paste it into a new project. Then export it to the desired format (mp3, AIFF, WAV, etc) from audacity.

[UniPocalypse]

@jpdylon thanks thats a huge help, but i seem to have another problem on my hands now. whenever i record anything from my turntable (and yes, i got one of those "awful plastic" ones) a LARGE part of the audio is ruined due to clipping. i figured out how to adjust the line in volume, but that only condenses the wavelength, and the clipping still exists. the output meter on audacity isn't working also and i believe that may be part of the problem. any thoughts on this?

[jpdylon]

@UniPocalypse If you are connecting the turntable through a preamp or receiver that has a phono input, make sure the turntable's internal preamp (if it has one) is turned off. Also, make sure that there are no extra gain or boost setting enabled as part of your sound card control panel or system preference settings. Often times there are boost / gain settings for extra mics. Also make sure you're in line-in and not mic in. If its USB direct, I'm a little stumped.

[SenorCajones]

To ANYONE who can't keep windows mac shit out of their commentaries...fuck you...just for being a twat. Good tute otherwise.

but as for me...too many problems with macs to justify their prettiness and your pettiness.

[albytarzia]

a very good and useful vid, thanks very much...btw, it's funny that you're using martin denny's version of "ruby" as an example; that whole album was a favorite of mine back in the '60s...

[sgtpepper1138]

That rug really ties the room together...... Nice vid btw.

[twinkletoes687]

ahh, okay,What you are saying does make sense, I stand corrected

[noblsht]

one of the better videos related to audacity on YouTube thanks, I would also mention that a turntable can also be run through a small preamplifier into the computer, which I have heard is actually better than using an actual stereo amplifier, that is that you are dealing with an analog turntable,( non-USB turntable)

[jpdylon]

@noblsht There really is no difference in quality between a phono preamp inside of a receiver and one external in the principal of design. Its all up to the build quality of the manufacturer as to how the finished product will sound once its in the computer.

[lorome]

Thx for the vid , helped me out alot !

[oatstao]

A good video yet still abit skewed and I can see this confusing the heck out of a lot of people. I'm familiar with your amp. It looks like my HH Scott 222 c- Now , what percentage of views you think use Tube amps? This thing is foreign to them.

ALthough I LOVE listening to my vinyl on my Tube amps, not for master LPCD-other applications..maybe.. This is where Transistor stages blow tubes away. For linear transparancy and hi def. Do yourself a favor and get at least a Yamaha Natural sound amp

[jpdylon]

@oatstao You're close. The amplifier used is a Scott LK-72 which is basically a 299c in kit form. The purpose of demonstrating the amp was more of an example as to how to locate the tape monitor output - not so much to shun those not using tubes or indicating tubes must be used for highest fidelity.

I'm just not that much of a fan of the transistor sound. You're very entitled to your opinion. Yamaha in fact tried to emulate tubes using transistors with their V-fet series amps and preamps.

[jpdylon]

@oatstao Nelson Pass has expressed that V-fets were the closest to tubes that transistors could be. Mosfets were a close second. In most cases a tube is quite a bit more linear than a bi-polar transistor and is better at transient response time because its always in a "full on" state. I don't care for the bi-polar transistor sound because I find it too accurate - if you can call it that. Just too cold and sterile. Transistors may be more accurate, however my ears tell me tubes sound better. YMMV

[oatstao]

Did you realize that there is also music / room information you take away when you go crazy with the pass filter? Also, if there truly is some extra rumble present (c'mon man, not on all records, and depends on your set up- I see you have your turntable next to speakers, other gear ect- yeah I can see your turntable exposed to rumble, and high frequency noise) .. you have to fish for the right frequency to kill, it's not a general preset..

[jpdylon]

@oatstao Its true that a low pass filter could take information away. However just about all forms of music created with instruments made in the 20th century do not reproduce music below 20hz. Using a filter to eliminate low frequency rumble below 15 hz really does not compromise the music inless you're listening to some synth that registers below 15 hz - very unlikely on vintage albums. Most manufacturers put high pass filters in their amps then because there wasn't enough headroom for rumble.

[jpdylon]

@oatstao Also, the turntable is quite isolated from the speakers. The stock feet are now spring loaded, the table on which the equipment sits is mechanically isolated with rubber spikes, and the speakers are isolated from the floor using polyurethane foam discs. There is almost NO measurable acoustic feedback in the turntable.

[youcancallmebiscuit]

hey this video is great You are very knowledgeable about this. Only issue is I didn't realize you were using the "beta" and thus I could not find and of the apple built in effects once. They are not present in 1.2. I got the beta version 1.3 it was fine. I did go back into your video and you did say the version but it didn't occur to me to check that yo were using a beta version.

[jpdylon]

@youcancallmebiscuit Yes, sorry I didn't clearly mention the beta version - which I was using. I haven't found any glitches that make the beta unstable and it has alot of features the stable version doesn't. Glad this vid was helpful to you.

[jamie1234591]

Can you use garageband for this?

[jpdylon]

@jamie1234591 I can't answer that question, as I've never used garage band. Audacity is free, extremely easy to use, and is frequently being changed and improved by its supporting open source community. I'd give it a shot unless you're really familiar with garage band.

[Decodermusic]

Clean your Mac dude. It looks awful......

[jpdylon]

@Decodermusic Yeah, it is grimy. It gets used in a work environment where I'm always greasy. It does get cleaned from time to time.