LP records
 

Just a heads-up for the Pelican audiophiles:

I was looking at the Radio Shack website, and they have turntables that enable LP records to be recorded onto our computers, for under $100! This is way cool. I'm going to get one. I like doing business with Radio Shack; they have a good return policy if something doesn't work as it should. :)

Turntables - Stereo systems & components - RadioShack.com

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I do not have a "Dummies" guide but I saw this recently on LP to computer conversion.

LPs To CDs - LPs to MP3s - LPs To Your iPod - Vinyl To CD Perfection Turntable And Interface Mixer

GL
John

What's a Radio Shack?

For cryin' out loud. This should be as easy as plugging your regular turntable into the computer, and using the right software. There are excuses I don't permit IT folks to get away with, and this would be one of them. The signal is going into the computer. Soft ware should convert it to the mp3 file. Simple as that. In fact, the software should recognize the spaces between songs.

uh, we bought one of those about three years ago for our daughter. I don't think that technology is late breaking.

If you are an analog man then why would you want to put the music onto the computer anyway?

Free: LP Recorder - CNET Download.com
I think it might just need the audio plugs->usb thingamabobs.

I've been thinking about doing this as well. I just don't have the storage in the usage space.
ELO awaits baby:D.

There are a couple different brands of those dedicated LP rippers.
Some play through just like regular phonographs through an audio system.

Only thing from buying one now is the audio quality (not advertised on box), and that some only convert to mp3.
It would be nice to burn a cd for the car/etc.

I keep it old school. 5 more turntables scattered about.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351828389.jpg

Yep. Actually, it's hard to find a turntable that doesn't have this "feature".

Not if you walk into a real hifi store. Vinyl is still alive & well in a small niche way.

The signal from a standard phono cartridge must go through a phono preamp before you can use it to record. It must be processed with a reverse RIAA curve & then amplified before it has the same equalization & voltage that a normal hifi input (CD, tape etc) has. Those RS units will probably do this - albeit poorly.

Ian

http://www.needledoctor.com/Bellari-...eamp-image.jpg

Properly done. That $100 turntable will sound like absolute rubbish. The HIFI shop I frequent bought one of those $100 types just for the hell of it to inspect. It didn't even have bearings.

You'd be better off (actually MUCH better off) getting an old Technics off ebay and running it through a cheap phono into the stereo in on your computer.

Something like the unit pictured above goes a step further by having a halfway decent A/D converter built in, so you just hook up the USB to your computer and send it 0s and 1s.

LINK: Bellari VP-530 USB Phono Preamp

Oh, I agree. I looked for a turntable a few years ago and it seemed that the vast majority of what was available was designed without the preamp and with a USB output. I had to look to find one with the preamp (I had specifically bought a 2-channel receiver with phono inputs)...

Also, there is no such thing as a "real hifi store" within 200 miles of where I live. :(

Last time I was in Target they had turntables with USB

Many years ago I bought an inexpensive preamp for no other reason than to use the phono stage into my power amp.

There are turntables and then there are turntables.....one of my favorites:

http://www.redpoint-audio-design.com/red_2.jpg

Alas I can only afford these (which are darned pricy in their own right):

http://www.wallpaper.com/images/0688_142335_110_clearly.jpg

http://www.thorens-info.de/td318_tp21_1.jpg

There is only one way to hear Tracy Nelson sing "Down So Low".

That is a growing problem. There is a guy opening a high end boutique in Nashville Jan 1 . . .

Our Canadian version sells Rega Turntables & does very well with the line.

Ian

thorens is about as good as a all in one turntable gets

the better ones just sell/sold the spinning bit [platter]

then you go to another company for the tone arm

and yet another for the cartrage

I have a old collins with a A-something tone arm and a pickering cart

so who makes a good quality usb or digital cart ?

Hah! The belt on this will cost more than one of those Target USB TT's!

Check Jerry Raskin's website. He has several options - Rega, Pro-ject & Alesis - the latter is only $49. You plug your TT leads in & USB out. They have built-in DACs.

Ian

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6161/6...6b4d55eb_b.jpg
Porsche RennSport 4 Monterey_ 880 by Max_911S_fahrer, on Flickr

For whatever reason I envision turntables as kind of an old school work of art. The act of getting out the record, cleaning it, setting the stylus down and reading the liner notes while its playing is something I really enjoy.

Yeah I know, carbs, LPs and clutches are obsolete. I don't give a rats ass.

It's sad to say.....
but I could potentially tell my grandchildren that "when I was young", there were no mp3s, computers, cell phones, VCRs, or even internet.

(edit: I'm only in the 40's. Life goes fast.)

my dad was before radio

I was before tv was in existance most places

Dad always wanted a Garrard.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351968535.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351968558.jpg

Me and my Dad SOLDERED AND BUILT our own HeathKit TUBE radio.



tell that to the kids today that can't even wear a belt or hike up their pants so their underwear isn't showing...........

Heathkit.
It cost a lot more then buying a comparable fully assembled item. But the fun and satisfaction of the assembly was worth it.
I miss Heathkit.. I think I still have some of the stuff

The days of learning of electronics................it was DANGGG FUN going to the tube tester at the local store.

those days are so long gone when you can buy a DVD player for $16-$20 on sale.


heathkit stereo - Bing Images

I've got one of these (not my video):
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GJ5asLJ7pdM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Mitsubishi Quartz Logic Direct Drive Linear Tracking

^This. To me, listening to music on a turntable is an experience. It's all about putting the LP on, adjusting bass/treble/loudness/etc. and then relaxing on the couch (positioned at the sweet spot between the speakers) and reading through liner notes and lyrics that I have read many times before. It's why I know obscure things like Fran Sheehan played bass on the first Boston album or that Geezer Butler's first name is actually Terry (or I suppose "Terrence"...). SmileWavy

here's mine... VPI HW-19 MK IV... yes, it is interaction, it is warm sound, it is beautiful LP artwork, as IROC said, "it is an experience"

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369542147.jpg

For the cost of a turntable, I could probably just download my collection from Amazon or iTunes.

I have read that an MP3 file has 10% of the analog signal. Like those msispeleld words that you still recognize, you 'hear' the song.

But she's not there.

The human brain does an amazing job of filling in the missing pieces, same thing can be said for 30fps video vs. real life. This processing does not some for free; there is a fatigue factor.

Sampling of the original analog sound is used for digitization and storage. In an analog playback system, there is no sampling; all information is present. While excellent sound can be still achieved with sampling, there is reduction in quality and information by method - period.

Don't get me wrong, I love the modern conveniences of youtube and hundreds of records on an SD card in my daily driver, but when I really want to listen and enjoy music for the sake of music, nothing beats vinyl.

I have turned on many folks to this and to their own amazement opened their ears up to a whole OLD level of enjoying music.

Sorry, I simply don't believe that. I have some very good (not reference quality, but pretty darn good) headphones, and I simply cannot hear the difference between a WAV (bit-for-bit copy of the CD track) or the same track rendered as FLAC (lossless compression).

Audiophiles truly despise MP3's because it's a lossy compression. And there are very many crappy MP3's out there.

But with high-quality renderers (LAME), correcting rippers (Paranoia) and suitable (high, preferably variable) bitrates, MP3's can be produced which I cannot audibly distinguish from either WAV or FLAC. And neither apparently can audiophile snobs with music PhD's and a sound engineering background (yeh, tested on the ex).

It's quite ludicrous for this even to come up come up in the context of a "music conversion" system that costs sub-$100. There's the smoking gun for ****ty quality right there. A $5 DAC might be digital, but not all digital is equal.. And a turntable without bearings? Please - folks who cared used to spend more on a STYLUS - 30 years ago - than that entire system costs :)

Just don't do A/D at all unless you're going to do it right. Ripping audio digitally from CD's - reading ALL the bits that were recorded - means that the only A/D converter involved in the whole process was an expensive one with lots of blinky lights in the recording/mastering studio run by a professional.

^^^^ This!

I have hundreds of albums and 78s that are long out of production and unavailable on CD/MP3. I am preparing to do A/D for preservation and want to do it right. I have gotten excellent A/D results in the past with high quality A/D converters to 320 bit MP3s. I plan to do these archives in WAV. I have worked in the professional music production side and while I don't consider myself a "golden ears audiophile" I do have minimum standards. $100 turntable simply won't do.

For reference, a full digital audio file is 1411.2 bit. MP3 compression ratio looks like this 128=11/1(9%), 256=5.5/1 (18%), 320=4.4/1(23%)

Can you hear the difference between sample rates? Take the test: http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/mp3-sound-quality-test-128-320/

I still tinker with turntables. Whn I'm in a "close 'n play" mood, I use one of my old Bang & Olufsen models. I also like to take old AR XA's, re-do the suspensions and power supplies, then add a fairly low mass arm like the old Infinity Black Widow or even a Grace. My favorite table since the 70's is the tried-and-true Linn Sondek LP12. (Someone mentioned Heathkits, I love modifying old Dynas).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369616005.jpg

Clip 1 was obviously 320kHz sample rate and I could hear that in bed on my laptop's garbage speakers.

I am not saying one can't achieve amazing results but ALL conversions have a loss - PERIOD. The sound at the mic, console, mixing, mastering and production, loss, loss, loss, loss.... This is true in the analog and digital domains.

Vinyl playback has mas many inconsistencies that digital media is not plagued by. Nevertheless, there is no information missing in the stream and extended frequencies surpass that of digital media. It is my preferred playback method.