Which soundcard for converting my vinyl collection to CD?

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Gringo

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Hi guys,

I'm a DJ that is making the move from Vinyl to CD (thats the way the dance music industry is heading unfortunately).

My vinyl collection is quite substancial, so to re-buy them all as MP3 downloads would be very costly, so I want to convert my vinyl tunes to CD, as that is the cheaper option.

My current soundcard is nothing short of dire to be honest, so in order to get high quality recordings, i'm going to invest in a new soundcard for my PC, and a new cart and stylus for my turntables.

The question i've got is, which Soundcard would be best for converting my vinyl collection to CD? I'll be connecting my DJ mixer and Turntables to my PC to do the recording, so i'll then need a very good recording quality soundcard.

I've been looking at the M-Audio Audiophile soundcards. Would they be suitable for the job (ie, top quality recordings), and if so, which is the better soundcard for recording - the 2496 or the 192?

If there's a soundcard that you think would be even better for the job, please make your suggestions :D

I'd appreciate any help you can give me guys :D

Thanks in advance. :)
 
I don't know all that much about DJ turtables, but have you seen the Numark TTUSB?

http://www.numark.com/

It's a turntable with USB outputs and it ships with Audacity. I don't know anything about it's quality (or Audacity) but it's something I've seen.

I may not be telling you anything you don't already know, but the majority of USB sound cards out there don't have Phono level inputs. So unless your turntables have a Line/Phono switch, that won't work. My friend Jimmy2Sticks (also on this board) said whatever you do, don't recommend the Art Phono Pre. It said it was very noisy and not worth it.

So if your turntable can output a line level signal, then any of the sound cards with a stereo line input will do. If however your turntable only outputs a phono level signal, then you need an interface with phono inputs, or a stand alone phono pre to connect between the turntable and the sound card.

Also there are some neat software programs out there made for dubbing vinyl/cassettes to computer that look for the breaks in the music and will "create" tracks, so you don't need to start and stop the recording between every song, but you also don't end up with one long track.
 
His DJ mixers are already gonna have the phono pres in them or he wouldn't be able to play them at gigs ....... the phono pres also have to do the RIAA thing.

Don't know anything about soundcards but when you're done with the vinyl don't toss it ..... send it to me!
 
Lt. Bob said:
the phono pres also have to do the RIAA thing.
Click to expand...

I know that, I just don't know anything about the state of DJ turntables. For all I know they didn't have pres in them and you have to hook them up to a pre before the power amp/speakers.

Assuming you just need do just need something with stereo line inputs. Here's something from Behringer for pretty cheap (of course) that I just found.

http://www.behringer.com/UCA202/index.cfm?lang=ENG

It will do the job, but I can't speak to the quality.

Or here's something real simple from M-Audio for $99. It's a got a stereo 1/8" line in jack.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html
 
The Audiophiles would be just fine - had one for 5 years before going the Firewire route with a Mackie Onyx 1220.

I say save a few bucks and just get the 2496 over the 192.
 
Anyone mentioned the DMX 6fire 2496 already?

Are external USB soundcards better (less noise) then a Terratec 6fire?
 
I've been converting my vinyl by just using a standard turntable into a stereo receiver (which has phono inputs) and then using the Tape Out to connect to the computer (actually a mixer which connects to the computer). Not the cleanest signal path but it works well for me.

I would also recomend the Audiophile cards, I use a 2496 card. They will record in 24 bit. If your records are in pristine shape you could just record them straight to 16 bit and then burn to CD. But if you have some scratches or noise you want to try to get rid of, you will want to record in 24 bit , then use a plug-in to remove the noise, then convert to 16 bit for CD burning.
 
The best soundcard A/D converter you can afford really
&&&&& then waverepair as the recording, editing & restoration program. Anything less that w/repair (and most are less well thought out & featured) & you're wasting your time.
Oh, & don't convert them to MP3 - why bother with a good sound card if you're going to take the heart out of the music? Keep 'em as wave files & burn 'em to CD.
I'm slowly working through my 1200+ LPs as I type.
I did 2 LPs last weekend.
BUT if you can buy the CD for approx $10 is much more reasonable than the time it takes to record, restore & burn the LP to CD.
Remember you'll need to clean the LP, record the LP, sep. the tracks & restore the song files then burn them.
It'll depend on how picky you are but an LP in good nick might only take 3 - 4 hrs to make almost pristine.
Then again, if you're just going to archive the LP & split the tracks it'll take a few minutes more than the time to clean & record.
 
Mmmm.. Anything less and your wasting your time? Those are some big willy words...
What about simple cooledit and this third party plugin called "clickfix" (not from adobe)? Works marvelously!
Waverepair (as I can recall) doesnt really automate and really takes a lot of zoomin in and out. And lets you be the judge. Most will like the idea of total control. But clickfix does the job just as well. in 1 go.
 
The M Audio cards should work fine , I use a card that is no longer sold, and it works great. There are as many different ways to do what You want as there are Opinions.

I usually don't respond these questions , because of the Opinions that some
people have, it seems it's their way or no way ... just an observation on my part.

I use a program that " I " like and understand, it works very well for me. I have tried Sonic Forge , Cool Edit , and I ended up buying Diamond Cut ' DC 5.
I have taken LP's that sound terrible , pops , clicks , rumble , and surface noise,and cleaned them up. The music sounds Great... but it takes some time to understand when too much filtering is too much ... as in a loss of Sound Quality.

I will post a link to Diamond Cut, they have a free trial, download it and try it , and try the other products too , then Decide for Yourself.

http://www.diamondcut.com/Downloads/Downloads.htm

As far as recording the music to mp3's, here again, there are so many opinions on what is best. I record my lp's from the turntable thru my soundcard's breakout box into the pc, and after all the processing of the files
( I save as WAV files ) , I place the songs on an external harddrive , I also make a copy of the song as a mp3 , for my childrens MP3 players.

I suggest that You look at HyrdogenAudio , it a site that is all about encoding music to different formats, I found the people very helpful there.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=idx


As far as what format You use , I would think will depend on how well You want Your music to sound. In my opinion, a Wav file would be best, however the size of the files might be deal breaker . If You're using a laptop , maybe a
external harddrive is the answer, there are 400 to 750 gb hard drives , even up to 2TB (terrabit).

I know I haven't really answered your original question very well , instead, I probably brought up more questions . . . there are answers awaiting You . . .
You just have to ask.

Stephen
 
There's plenty of automation in waverepair & the ability to enhance that with macros too.
IF you just use automation you have to accept that there will be small clicks or smears that actually end up worse after being "processed" than they were before.
I tried most of what was available & you end up with something archivable but NOT restored.
wavrepair has a trial version - does the work but doesn't save it - for a suss out. Also waverepair is upgraded FREE each time the author tweaks it a little more - he uses the program to do the task for his collection so has an insight into the processes and frustrations of recording a collection.
"Anything less & you're wasting your time." may be big willy words BUT ture enough nevertheless if you are after a restored LP to put on CDR.
Background noise, crackle, pops, ticks, smears all processed in a batch bya single button MUST involve compromise.
I have a friend who happily uses waverepair in automated modes & he enjoys the results - after all he'd just be playing the LP in that state if he weren't using a CDR version.
IF you want to restore your collection OR if you want to use the results for DJ'ing/remixing/mashups you would probably want something pretty clean.
IF I could find a prog that did the job faster & easier I'd be on it in a sec. I don't actually enjoy spending time doing the restoration - I did for a couple of LPs - but I do enjoy the results.
The previous poster has some very good points about files, sizes, etc. pay heed to him.
 
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