copying Vinyls to CD's

I suggest the following:

Get a better turntable and use Adobe Audition. Once you do those two things - PM me for more info.

Second on the beg/steal/borrow/buy better turntable, and I just use Audacity. Works great and free.

Good turntables are inexpensive now and it makes sense to upgrade. But if you only have a few albums to copy the PS-333 may be usable with the right cartridge and phono preamp.

How many albums did you want to "archive" and how much are you concerned about sound quality?

Is there anyone who offers this service?

Reason I ask is that I wish to transfer a vinyl (Steve Hoffman Mastered version of Eva Cassidy songbird), but wish to transfer in as high sound quality as possible.

Here is how I move vinyl to CD. When ripping to digital from vinyl, different people want different things. Many want to stay as close to the original as possible and just burn it without any editiing. However, some people want all the extra noise (clicks) gone and they would use more editing while losing more of the original rip. In other words, what is good for you, may not be good for someone else...

Thanks for the article on copying LP's. Copying albums is really not much different than copying a tape, fm stereo or any other analog source.

Omari, can you turn off the automatic track detection? This almost always makes mistakes, even on standalone CD recorders. The software should provide some way to manually mark tracks, either while playing or when editing the music on the computer. So, you'd record the record as one track per side, then break it up in editing.

Here's how I do it. Equipment:
Rega Planar 5 turntable with Rega Exact cartridge
Graham Slee Reflex phono pre-amp
Mackie 1202 mixer
Alesis ML9600 hard-disk and CD recorder

Technique:
1. Sample the album for loud places and set the level. The ML9600 has no input level control, so I use the Mackie for that.
2. Once the levels are set I record the whole LP to one long track on the ML9600. This is recorded at 24 bits, 96kHz.
3. After recording, I do basic editing: cut off the lead-in and lead-out noise, divide it into tracks at the points I choose, and reduce intersong applause if needed. I can apply fade-ins and -outs too, if needed.
4. Once the playlist is as I want it, I tell the ML9600 to make a Redbook CD. This process takes about 1.5 times the length of the CD for rendering and then burning.
5. When the CD is finished, I take that to the computer (Mac Powerbook) and rip it to Apple Lossless with Itunes. If Itunes can't find track data I enter it now. Sometimes I get lucky and find that someone has already ripped the album, and Itunes' logic is fuzzy enough to find it even with the normal variation in track length.
6. The computer rips the CD. I stash it in a safe place for backup and enjoy the music.

This process, chosen mainly because it uses equipment I already own, makes beautiful sounding CDs. It's limited mainly by the quality of the record. Benefits of this system are its independence from a computer and the sound quality of the ML9600. Negatives would include the rendering time: it's not a speedy process.

I'm thinking about an upgrade: replace the ML9600 and Mackie combination with a Benchmark ADC1 and the computer.

There are commercial services to do this. A quick search found two: one charges a minimum of $26 per CD, assuming it's not too long. The other charges $10 basic. I have no idea how good a job either does.

Kabeer, if you'd like me to try your album, let me know. I know how frustrating it is to try to get the records you want on CD.

I disagree. Copying an LP is as much an art form as a science. There are tons of little decisions that can impact an LP transfer. There are choices a person must make such as how much noise to get rid of (ie clicks, pops, crackle), what cartridge to use, to EQ or not, amplitude, frequency response, to use filters or not, etc etc. And that is just the "after transfer part" - never mind selecting the right LP, making sure you clean it right, etc etc. It's a tough job but if you love this hobby - it can be a lot of fun.

I just finished doing 1 album and it came out amazing. I spent about 1 week on it - about 3 hours per day for 8 days. While it's time consuming - the result - hearing music like you never have before - makes it well worth it.

Whoa, I've got about a thousand LPs I'd like to convert. I guess I'll have to start with my top 10 Desert Island classics.

FWIW ---
I went through my LP collection, and selected my just favorite tracks, copying each track as its own track on the CD-R's.
I did just a straight LP-to-CD copy, directly from receiver tape-out, into my Marantz CD recorder, with no EQ or other mods -- they sound just fine to me like that.
Quick and easy, for those that don't have the time or desire for more complex copying, which I didn't.
Did the same with all my various tape formats, too.

This method is quick and easy and most people would be happy with just that. However, for audiophiles, especially those who listen to headphones , post-transfer work is a must. Just my 2 cents.

I'm not an audiophile?
Oh dear.