Phono preamps and digitizing old LP's

S

stevem5000

New member
I'm going to digitize some LP's...
I need a phono preamp...

Should I get one with RIAA equilization built into the preamp...(easiest solution)
Or one without RIAA and use software to build the RIAA equilization
back into the recording...???...

Whichever way I go...should the preamp have a USB connection or plug
into my audio card...???

Any recommendations for preamp, with or without RIAA equilization...
And the audio card...

Right now I'm using a Diamond XS51 card...and Audacity digitizing from R2R tape at 16 bit at 44.1k...

Any thoughts and ideas appreciated...
If you need more info...please ask...
Thanks
 
First question..
What is the quality of the pick up arm and cartridge and to a degree the turntable?
If these are of Audiophile grade, i.e. about a £3000 setup then that soundcard is not good enough.
If however you have a fairly "domestic" turntable with moving magnet cartridge you just need an RIAA pre amp. But!

A good pre amp will be costly so get yourself about the Cash Converter and charity shops for a modest hi fi amp. Anything from Sony, Hitachi, Yamaha, Denon or other good names will be fine. Something 20-50WPC will suit. You will need a stereo RCA to 1/8th stereo lead to connect to the card from the amplifier's tape out sockets.

Pity the soundcard is 16bits only but anyway KEEP LEVELS LOW! record at an average of -18dBFS because clicks and scratches will push things over peak level. Even a cheap 16 bit card should beat vinyl for dynamic range even recording that low!

Dave.
 
A few months ago I did some measuring of two phono preamps I had lying around, the one in my receiver and a Realistic (Radio Shack) outboard pre. The Realistic has more gain but rolls off more below 100Hz.

onkyo-vs-realistic-phono-preamp.jpg
 
The turntable is a JVC JL-F50 direct drive...pretty much middle of the road consumer...Audiotechnica 3003 cartridge...This is low end and I'm planning on replacing it...probably Stanton 500 or 681 series...

Ok...if I am understanding you correctly...you are telling me that I can hook the TT up to my receiver..Onkyo 2500 something...
Play the LP thru the receiver...then from the tape outputs go directly into my sound card...???

what an idea...never thought of that...that gets me RIAA, out of the receiver...

The final output will be CD's...so 16 bit should be fine...

Another question...I'm seeing "audio restoration software"...pop, hiss, scratch reduction etc...
Have you any experience with this...???
Any recommendations...???

Many thanks...
 
Yep, tape out to sound card.

The reason for recording at 24 bit is to have plenty of headroom to accommodate peaks and processing. But you can get it done recording in 16 bit.

I fooled around with cleaning up some LPs using Cool Edit Pro many years ago. You could fix a lot of stuff but not everything. I'm sure there are better tools these days.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Yep, tape out to sound card.

The reason for recording at 24 bit is to have plenty of headroom to accommodate peaks and processing. But you can get it done recording in 16 bit.

I fooled around with cleaning up some LPs using Cool Edit Pro many years ago. You could fix a lot of stuff but not everything. I'm sure there are better tools these days.
Click to expand...

Yea, recording at 24 bits allows you to keep signals WAY down at -25 or so (remember, for all that people love it, vinyl is technically crap!). I dare say the "over" spikes in the red do no harm but I don't like to see it. There would be little point in duping tape at 24 bits for example since such spikes do not occur, but since my systems are all geared up for 24/44.1 I would not bother to change it unless I was doing a monumental amount of work and wanted to keep HDD space down.

Clean up software? You can download a 30 day demo of Sony Soundforge. So, get the discs on HDD raw then get processing. NB The click and noise suppressors work well but use a light hand or it can get gargly!
Mind you I dare say those clever Reaperpeople have something in the DAW's locker by now?

Dave.
 
Agree completely on using your receiver into your sound card. I'm less worried than some of the others about 24 bit--even at 16 bit the system noise will be buried way under the noise you're going to get from the vinyl itself. Just be careful that the peaks don't get too high.

I'm a fan of the clean up capabilities of Adobe Audition which is the modern incarnation of the Cool Edit Pro previously mentioned. There's a 28 day trial of Audition on the Adobe web site. However, before you get to electronic fixes, gently clean your vinyl as much as possible. Some (including me) think that playing the disk while it's wet improves the transfer as well.

There's some very high quality restoration software out there but at a sky high price--for example CEDAR. However, sit down before you read the price then go back to the Audition free trial!
 
I've used & loved Waverepair for about 12 years. Great editing and lots of scope for building Macros within if desired. It's about $30 as an online download.
Using a tuner/receiver/reamp/amp set up is easiest and best - the RIAA settings may vary (you'd expect that this far from the intro of CDs) with a line to your soundcard or interface.
I've had some real successes with my digitizing/restorations. Recently I bought a CD of an album I did 10 years ago the CD sounds terriffic but the restored LP, (burnt to CDR) sounds much better - more vinyl like etc etc.
Clean the vinyl, clean the stylus before every use, record 16 or 24 as suits you (WRepair runs at 16 because it was built to make CDs) then repair carefully - preferably as manually as possible - presets are easy but in my experience the results are preset as well.
 
Thanks guys...

I've downloaded about 4 different softwares....try them out...
Some are bit pricey...

I have digitized some reel 2 reel and burned CD's of a couple concerts...used Audacity for that
and was pleased with the results...But this is my first time with LP's...

Appreciate your time and expertise...
 
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