Community Newsletter: Q&A: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital

USB Turntable

In reply to: 10/20/06 Converting old vinyl records and tapes to digital by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

I recently purchased a USB turntable and have found this to be an easy, straightforward and relatively inexpensive way to convert my 500+ vinyls to digital. The process is simple and with a bit of experimentation, the solution that works best for me is as follows:

I purchased a TEAC GF-350 for approximately $200. I tried the connecting-directly-to-the-computer routine and found it both expensive and complicated and the wiring was, well, messy. The TEAC is a simple box player (like the old phonographs with built-in speakers. The lid opens to reveal a 3-speed turntable. On the front of the box is an AM/FM radio and a CD/RW drive with button controls. There is an auxillary input jack on the back to connect a tape deck for reel-to-reel, cassette and 8-track.

To Record:

1) Power on the player/recorder. Then,
2) place a record on the turntable.
3) Next insert a CD-R in the CD drive. (CD-R is recommended by TEAC for best results--the read/write kind may not be compatible with other equipment)
4) Next press the red RECORD button. The readout display will change to indicate track number [1] and start time [00:00].
5) Gently lift the tone arm off its rest and place the needle on the record (make sure beforehand you have the correct speed by adjusting the small black lever at the right near the base of the tone armature).
6) As soon as the record starts, press the PLAY button. The start time indicator will not begin counting. (If you want each song (record band) to be a separate track on the CD, you will have to do this manually by pressing the Track Increment button on the front panel of the player/recorder.) At the end of side one on the record, you can press the PAUSE button or wait and the player/recorder will automatically pause and increment the track number to the next track number on the CD.
7) Flip the record over and repeat steps 3 thru 6.

You can fit approximately two LPs per CD or about 20 45s. Manually incrementing the tracks is a bit tedious so if you have the patience to sit by the machine and press the Track Increment button every few minutes, you can do this but it does require some patience and freedom from distractions. What I usually do is begin the recording and convert one whole side of the record to a single track and later transfer the CD track to the computer then use music editing software like Cool Edit or something similar to break the songs into separate tracks. While the recording is going on, I take the record jacket and scan it into the computer so I can have the original art work (and the related jacket text) to go with the digital albums. (I sometimes print out a jewel case cover for the finished CD.) Of course, it goes without saying that the faster the processor, larger memory and large capacity hard drive space you have, the better.

I have really spent more than a few minutes on each song. I was amazed at the clarity of many songs after the TEAC converted the analog to digital. Some records have a lot more hissing, popping, etc. inherent in vinyls but for my purposes, the occasional hiss or pop was part of the nostalgia of the record age. Occasionally some recordings were so bad I had to do a bit of digital enhancement to make listening to the recording more pleasant. (Usually records that had a lot of wear and tear and are very old.) I found some old 78s that my mother made in the late forties when she studied voice and piano. Those I spend a lot of time on (several hours on some that were badly degraded) to fix them up. I am making them into CDs as Christmas gifts for my family this year. That was my motivation for making the purchase as my mother passed away three days after Christmas three years ago. That makes this machine priceless to me. But really, it turned out to work far better with better results than I had thought possible and I am very pleased with my purchase. I've converted all my 45s and approximately 60 albums in less than a month in my spare time. I thought it would take years and I only planned to transfer a few select albums and songs. Now I am planning to convert my entire vinyl library and all my cassette tapes as well.

Good luck to all of you with your conversions.