Topic: how to best digitize venyl collection

[kuuan]

a friend of mine has very fine collection of a couple of hundred records and now plans to digitize them.
He has two good turntables, a mixer and decent amplifier, but only a very old PC and very little knowledge of / practice with computers.
He likes the idea of a small portable device that can hold a few hours worth of music and does playlists.

What are his best options?

I was thinking of e.g. an iriver iHP120/140/320/340
Eventually he may buy a better PC. If using a PC for A/D conversion which hardware would you recommend?
Which editing/mixing hardware is available/recommended?

He does not have a lot of money to spend, the less the better.

thank you for any hint,
cheers,
kuuan

[johnw]

I digitize mine at 24 bits on a SD 702 and then transfer to my computer, but in your case I'd get a decent soundcard and record onto the computer. I would think any computer  would be able to record at 24/48 no problems as long as no other processes are working.

[run_run_run]

I have done a little bit of digitizing with my iriver and it came out pretty good. A nice external ADC would be the way to go.

[Brian Skalinder]

How much is "not a lot of money"?  Getting the ADC out of the PC will make a significant difference, IME.  An external ADC, something like an Edirol UA-20 ($160 or less? new, less used), will help a lot.

[moooose]

hi,

even if the pc is old it does not matter. My suggestion is a good inexpensive sound card like the M-Audio Transit (around $ 80) connected to a pc and to a line out of the amplifier. After the capture phase, he could cut and arrange the tracks with a free audio editor like Audacity, otherwise there is inexpensive software to derumble, declick, clean up the tracks in order to give them a new freshness.

[kuuan]

thank's for the suggestions.

between external A/D and soundcard:
why, Brian and run_run_run would you prefer an external A/D?
and why, johnw and mooose, would you prefer the soundcard?

moooose you mentioned the M-Audio Transit soundcard. I am not sure if this will be available here in Austria. Generally, which soundcards specifications would I have to look out for?

Brian now he wants to spend as little as possible, how much that will be is not clear yet. I plan to visit him again with my iHP120 digitizing some music and I am sure once he starts using more music in digital form and finds out the possibilities that offers he might invest more money later.

[amfortas2006]

hi,
...otherwise there is inexpensive software to derumble, declick, clean up the tracks in order to give them a new freshness.

I would go with the copied file as it is, no declicking etc...

Not even with the most expencive software.

Better buy a nice needle or play the records wet, to remove the clicks there.

[amfortas2006]

Declicking, denoisig etc. of original audio I call raping of the perfectly good audio material.

Tried it with waves (expencive software), tried it with other stuff, and my ideal is clean as it is.

[Brian Skalinder]

between external A/D and soundcard:
why, Brian and run_run_run would you prefer an external A/D?
and why, johnw and mooose, would you prefer the soundcard?

Sorry, I wasn't clear.  By external ADC, I mean ADC + PC interface, i.e. a soundcard.  The reason to get the ADC outside of the PC:  noise.  The innards of a PC are a far-from-ideal environment for analog signals, in this case the analog from the vinyl and playback chain.  I did a few tests with a couple different internal soundcards a few (?) years ago, and the difference between internal v. external was dramatic to my ears.

At any rate, sounds like you plan on using the iH120 for now, so you'll have an external ADC.  And you'll also have an interface:  iH120 over USB to PC.  But the transfers will take two steps (1st record to iH120, then transfer from iH120 to PC), as opposed to a "proper" external soundcard:  digitize + transfer in a single step.

[kuuan]

Sorry, I wasn't clear.  By external ADC, I mean ADC + PC interface, i.e. a soundcard.  The reason to get the ADC outside of the PC:  noise.  The innards of a PC are a far-from-ideal environment for analog signals, in this case the analog from the vinyl and playback chain.  I did a few tests with a couple different internal soundcards a few (?) years ago, and the difference between internal v. external was dramatic to my ears.

At any rate, sounds like you plan on using the iH120 for now, so you'll have an external ADC.  And you'll also have an interface:  iH120 over USB to PC.  But the transfers will take two steps (1st record to iH120, then transfer from iH120 to PC), as opposed to a "proper" external soundcard:  digitize + transfer in a single step.

thank you for the clarification Brian.

From what you say I'D think that an iHP could be the best solution for my friend.
- he sometimes plays music at small, rather private festivals carrying many kg of venyl
- he likes the idea of being able to carry a small device that holds a lot of music and supports playlists which could be used instead,
- he won't have to fuss with hardware on his PC
- and won't mind having to transferring the data from the iHP to the PC since it is simply drag and drop.

so an iHP is the ideal solution?
or any reason why any other - which one -  would be better?

thank you,
kuuan

[moooose]

thank's for the suggestions.


and why, johnw and mooose, would you prefer the soundcard?

moooose you mentioned the M-Audio Transit soundcard. I am not sure if this will be available here in Austria. Generally, which soundcards specifications would I have to look out for?

imho a soundcard like the transit is a good option because:
- it's inexpensive
- you get the recording straight to the pc. no need to transfer files, no anything.

Regarding availability, you can easily get the Transit in Austria. Thomann is selling it for € 79.

[Ozpeter]

Some relevant links -

http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/restauration.html

Adobe Audition has a big reputation for its audio restoration tools but http://www.acondigital.com/us_AudioLava.html takes you to a lower cost alternative.