Making CDs out of records

[Judy G. Russell]

Oh man... For years I've been waiting to get my computer geek nephew up here for a few days so he could set up a system for converting my LPs to CDs. The last time I looked into it, it was all just so complex that I threw up my hands and walked away from it.

So Ian is up here (attending bartending school, and the brat hasn't brought home one single homework assignment!) and tonight he sat down to figure out what was needed and to set up the system.

And it is soooooooooo easy.

It took him about, oh, two minutes. Even I could have done it in two minutes. One cable to connect the output of the turntable to the input of the sound card. And (get this) one $29 piece of software called Pyro 5 from Cakewalk (http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Pyro/default.asp). That's all you need. Then you open the program, click on Make CDs of your cassettes and LPs, give the file you're going to record to a name, then start the record playing and click on Start Recording. When you're done, you locate the places where one song ends and another begins and mark 'em, then tell the program to split 'em out as separate files. You can set it up to clean up the snaps and crackles as you record or you can clear 'em out later.

You can save 'em as WAV files, or as MP3 files. If you save 'em as WAV, you can bring 'em into Itunes and convert 'em to the format for your IPOD.

Oh man... this is fun... Stuff I haven't listened to in about a kazillion years is going onto my IPOD tonight...

[woodswell]

Judy, Isn't it great fun to rediscover those oldies you've almost forgotten?

I was converting LPs to CD but due to space considerations, last week I had to stick both turntables (my good 33.3 and the lesser one that does every speed from 16 to 78 rpm) in the closet. Maybe once I go through another couple of Ebay rounds - or we move, whichever comes first...
Anne

[Judy G. Russell]

I am just stunned at how easy this is. I guess it must have been close to six years ago when I last looked at the issue and it was just so complicated then. This way it takes me about five minutes longer to convert an entire side of an album to a digital format than it does to play that entire side of the album!

[fhaber]

I am just stunned at how easy this is!

Enthusiasm noted.

Pyro doesn't contain an equalizer, right? You have to own a preamp, or a preamplified turntable, right?

Any hum on the tracks? And, so we'll trust you (g)...

Do you have a subwoofer, or good closed headphones?

(I just *know* you didn't only dub over Purple People Eater. There was some music as well, yes?)

R, D, etc....,
Frank

[Judy G. Russell]

Pyro doesn't contain an equalizer, right? You have to own a preamp, or a preamplified turntable, right?
Right. I have both, it turns out (I bought a cheap amplifier back when I was first looking at this, and it turns out the turntable is amplified).

Any hum on the tracks? And, so we'll trust you (g)...
A little yes and some snaps and crackles, but considering the age and condition of some of the platters, I'm not complaining. There's a fair degree of flexibility for noise correction but it's all slider right-left type stuff. Fortunately you can record the track then decide what noise correction to apply.

Do you have a subwoofer, or good closed headphones?
I do have a subwoofer in my five-piece computer speakers. It all sounds decent. No really good headphones though. Hmmm... I wonder if I have any audio geek friends who can provide more guidance on this... think I know anybody like that?

(I just *know* you didn't only dub over Purple People Eater. There was some music as well, yes?)
Let's see... Itsy Bitsy Teeney Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Walk Don't Run, ... (and all nine Beethoven symphonies, which will be the next part of this project!).

[fhaber]

>think I know anybody like that?

I'm a bit out of touch. Listen to some Sennheisers, then to some Sony MDR-6's /700s in the $75 range, and you decide. Keep them on for a half hour until your ears sweat, then decide whether the isolation, the good bass, and the general sweetness and transparency of a sealed set of phones are worth the hassle. You might consider starting your tests when the weather cools a bit.

(I find mineral oil on a Q-tip is better than all the ear drops in the drugstore for keeping the fungus among us away from your middle ear. This kind of weather is the worst.)

[Judy G. Russell]

You might consider starting your tests when the weather cools a bit.
I'll tell you... I'm not going to consider so much as MOVING until the weather cools a bit... Have you seen the forefcast for the next 48 hours? This is really grim.

[Gary Maltzen]

... set up a system for converting my LPs to CDs
FYI - In 2000-2001 I was on the web team at DART (http://www.dartpro.com/)

[Judy G. Russell]

Have you ever had a chance to compare it to the Cakewalk product, Gary? (I just looked online at Dart and its product looks plenty good too.)

[Gary Maltzen]

Have you ever had a chance to compare it to the Cakewalk product, Gary? (I just looked online at Dart and its product looks plenty good too.)
No, I haven't had occasion to do any comparisons - other than watching store prices.

[Judy G. Russell]

Hmmm... the intro products from both companies are the same -- about $29 -- but DART has a 30-day trial version too. Might be worth grabbing and seeing which one is easier to use or which offers more help in cleaning up the noisy stuff you get with LPs.

[Mike]

I have Easy CD Creator, and it also includes software for cleaning up LP tracks before burning to CD.

[RayB (France)]

**converting my LPs to CDs.**

For any Mac users here, I am awaiting a momentary delivery of Roxio's 'Toast 6 Titanium' software to do the same. I have a gadzillion of cassette compilations of hundreds of records I made in 1985 before leaving for the UK.

I'll pass my opinions along when I can.

[Judy G. Russell]

Terrific! One of my co-workers has a Mac and was looking for some recommendations.

[Judy G. Russell]

I have that as well (an old version at least). I should look at that too and see which one is better.

[woodswell]

Judy, Spin Doctor that came with the older versions of Easy CD Creator does a passable job of cleaning LP tracks at the default settings. Problem is that if you try to tweak the settings, it is very easy to end up with an unusable track.

I went from that to Magix Audio Cleaning Lab which lets you select a sample of background noise and use that to filter your tracks - that let me filter turntable rumble and some pops and clicks out of my LP recordings. Problem is though I like the software and the price it is not the most intuitive software around. But I have an older version - 2004 - and they are up to version 10. The newer version may be better. You can download a trial version and try it out, which is nice: http://site.magix.net/index.php?id=411
Anne

[Judy G. Russell]

Another good option! Thanks, Anne. I'll look at that too.