I thought I'd share an interesting way of digitizing vinyl records (reels and cassettes too!).
Like many, I have a significant collection which I do indeed enjoy through my main stereo system (described here if anyone is interested:
http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/320.html ). This stereo is on a different floor from my desktop computer. Acquiring a laptop and other gear just to "needle drop" my records never passed the sanity check, so for years the idea of this project remained a murky dream.
Recently I was motivated to rip my CD collection into lossless FLAC files using EAC (Exact Audio Copy). It's a convenience and pleasure now sitting at my computer listening to good music through my Sennheiser HD600s driven by a Schiit Modi2/Vali "stack." So I looked yet again at the notion of ripping my records, reels, and cassettes
What I found is that many were successfully using quality portable digital recorders. So I took the leap!
A Tascam DR-05 with a 32Gb MicroSD card is hooked into my stereo via a second set of preamp out jacks. This gives me the advantage of level setting with the preamp and using my Merrill modified AR table with Denon MC carts and SUT. My records have been very well maintained and routinely cleaned. So the quality of the sound going into 24/96 WAV files is as good as I could expect in a home setting.
From there I take the 32Gb card and import the files into a software package designed specifically for digitizing analog media, VinylStudio (
http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk/). It trumps alternatives like Audacity with all the features it has tailored again for this task. I end up with FLAC files (normally 24/48 or 24/96 for "audiophile" discs) with metadata and cover art just like what I get from ripping CDs. Pretty painless and inexpensive which is why I thought to share here on this old but excellent thread