Sunday, May 14, 2006

LP record processing

CJ's method:-

Use Mac powerbook laptop or other Mac
Use iMic (Griffin) line-to-usb input converter
Use decent turntable, play record and capture as .wav file on Mac using free "final vinyl" software from griffin site.
Use "max" software (google it) to convert .wav to .mp4 file.
One Vinyl LP occupies 40MB as .mp4
Play .mp4 on iPod or Mac directly.

Windows users, play using realplayer
Download freebie realplayer (NOT full version)
Go to realplayer site, click on 5th tab along saying "realplayer" and choose "basic version" for download.
About 17 LP records fit on one CD as .mp4 Posted by Picasa

2 comments:

Rabinal said...

DVJM says

I like the instructions for ripping LPs on panops.
I've done all of my CDs, of course, but there
are about 100 LPs that I've never got around
to recording. The trouble is I don't have a
good turntable anymore... Did you clean them
first, or do you use a pop filter?

Rabinal said...

rab replies

When the BBC plays vinyl you don't often hear pops. Perhaps they use a filter as you suggest, but I think it is because they play each disk so very infrequently that pops do not accumulate. It is the same with much of our collection - I think we have about 1800 in total. Anyway, it may be that the final vinyl software I mention has some inherent filtering, and it may also be that the compression to mp4 smooths out the noises. In any case, the sound is remarkably clean and it is well worth doing.

My experience of cleaning vinyl records is that it doesn't help much. But I use isopropyl alcohol to clean the stylus, and that really does help a lot to purge the sound of some distortions.