[Macworld]

Post your comments for Digitize your cassettes and LPs here

[captainflab]

If you plan on recording a lot of vinyl you simply have to give ClickRepair a try (http://wwwmaths.anu.edu.au/~briand/sound/). I have found no better tool for cleaning up recordings of old, scratchy records. The results border on the miraculous. And at $40, it's an absolute steal.

[imjeffp]

If one downloads a song from a peer-to-peer network that one already has on vinyl or cassette, is that still "stealing?" The end result is the same as ripping it from the original media, right? Is it the process that makes a difference?
I'm not condoning or condemning P2P, just wondering.

[mdawson]

As far as the music industry is concerned, even ripping from media you legitimately purchased is theft. Copyright law states otherwise, but then that is the reason the RIAA, like most corporate lobbyists, have been paying off Congress to change the laws to favor their interests ahead of those of the People. From a fair use standpoint, there should be no difference between ripping a copy form media you own onto your hard drive and downloading pre-processed music files of songs you have already puchased legally. Unfortunately, in the current political climate you could very well find yourself facing the RIAA SS for downloading music for free despite having proof that you do own physical media.

[kimbarator]

For a USB turntable, I'm considering the Stanton T.90 instead of the Ion TTUSB05. I know that a lot of Ion purchasers on Amazon and elsewhere are happy, but I was unimpressed with the apparent quality of the one I got at Best Buy. I didn't get to try it, since it was missing a part, so I returned it.
The Stanton is considerably more money, but has gotten great reviews, has direct drive, 3 speeds for those of us with 78s, basic DJ features, and looks like a solid, excellent piece of equipment. (Where I live, Guitar Center is about the only source for it.)
I've got no connection to any of these companies, just reporting on what I've found so far.

[kimbarator]

I've been shopping for a USB turntable and, to make a long story short, there are some very good reasons to consider choosing the more-expensive Stanton T.90 over the Ion TTUSB05, if you're able to consider investing in a piece of higher-quality equipment.
(I have no stake in any of these companies.)

[kimbarator]

Weird. My original post was put up, then seemed to have been wiped out, and now it seems to be back again. Sorry about the repetitiona??a??I just thought it might be useful info.

[brazilianheat]

I must have an alien version of CD Spin Doctor because my experience with that program is the very opposite of the one described by Mat Honan. Even following his instructions step by step, my previous experiences with this program that's bundled in Toast 8 was re-confirmed: it's buggy, unintuitive and absolutely frustrating to use. Audacity still does the trick for me.

[Slartibartfast]

IMHO -- If you already have a good turntable as opposed to the Ion or the Stanton, and you truly want the best transfer (within reason); then start with finding a good digital phono-preamp (e.g. http://nadelectronic...Preamplifier/).
If you need a good turntable too, the better turntables have heavy platters (10.0 lbs (4.5 kg)) which neither the Ion nor the Stanton have. When listening or recording vinyl, vibration is definitely not your friend; thus the requirement for heavy stable platters.
There are some examples of good turntables from Thorens. http://www.thorens.c...index.php?id=en2000_

[rwolfman]

NOTE: Finaly Vinyl is not yet compatible with Leopard. I found this out the hard way by getting horrible recordings, then trying to figure out which part of my configuration was "sour".

[kimbarator]

Thanks!

It looks like these eBay guides on turntables and on vinyl-to-digital conversion have some good info too.

[Slartibartfast]

You're welcome. And thanks for the eBay guide link.

[Steven Swift]

Has anyone used Wire Tap Pro to assist in LP, cassette digitizing?
At MacWorld Ambrosia reps said that using Griffins iMac and Wire Tap Pro would do the trick. As I have both I was wanting to hear feedback on that solution.
Would use that along with my old turntable. Prefer not buying a new turntable for this process, and would prefer not getting another software fix if WTP would do the trick.
Any experience with either/ or Griffins Imic and Ambrosia's Wire Tap Pro?
Many thanks.

[mdawson]

For the average person, the USB turntables are “good enough” if they do not already have turntables given that most people are none-too-critical about sound quality. For audiophiles, such as myself, devices like these are sub-par. I have Technics 1200s and plan to get high-end cartridges and styli when I am in a position to start digitizing my vinyl collection. Low quality turntables are definitely a poor choice for vinyl transfers.
I plan to record music on records to CD-RW using my Philips dual-deck CD recorder. Then I will be able to import the music into Bias Peak Pro for processing using SoundSoap Pro for cleaning up surface noise. Once the music is processed, I will then import it into iTunes and convert it to AAC. The processed Peak music files will be archived in an uncompressed format on CD-R.