Once you have the necessary gear and software in order, it’s time to start the digitization process. If you have a large library of vinyl - which seems likely, given that you’re here looking to digitize your entire collection - that is a serious time commitment. You can always create a compressed copy from a lossless one, but you can’t improve the quality of audio files without going through the recording process again. Regardless of which software you use, we recommend that you record at a minimum of 16 bits sampled at 44.1kHz. The interface may not be polished, either, but the software works with Windows-, Mac-, and Linux-based machines. This freemium application may not offer dedicated tools for converting vinyl into more accessible formats, but it can still record at sampling rates up to 192kHz, and export the resulting audio files as either an MP3, AIFF, FLAC, or WAV for playback on a slew of popular platforms. Although there are several premium applications designed to help you rip audio from your turntable - like Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio - the open-source Audacity will suffice for most users. The second part of the process is finding the right software application to record the audio. Getting the signal from your turntable to your computer is only the first step.
But obviously, it’s the built-in USB output that makes it ideal for transferring your wax to zeroes and ones. A popular turntable among newbies and mid-level vinyl heads, the AT-LP120XUSB is outfitted with a pro-grade anti-resonance aluminum platter to seat your records, a balanced S-shaped tonearm, and variable pitch control with a quartz speed lock. If you’re deeply invested in a large collection of vinyl records, a high-quality player like the Audio Technica AT- LP120XUSB might be worth your money. If this doesn’t work for you, check out our rundown of the best turntables under $500. Below is one such turntable we recommend. That’s not to say you can’t convert your vinyl to a digital format without an integrated USB output, but opting for a turntable built with said output makes the process far easier. Many modern turntables feature both a built-in preamp and a USB output, allowing you to quickly and efficiently convert that musty copy of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy a Thrill with little effort. Turntables without preamps will rely on a receiver with a phono input or a stand-alone phono preamp. Some turntables come with built-in phono preamps - electronics that boost the typically lower signal produced by the needle and cartridge alone before sending it to the receiver or set of powered speakers.
Sadly, there is no catch-all method for digitizing your vinyl collection, and the exact process depends on what kind of equipment you have. We’ve put together a guide of exactly what hardware and software you’ll need to do this, along with a step-by-step walkthrough for going digital.
This is a process by which the vinyl itself is encoded onto hard disk, allowing your treasured albums to endure past their physical expiration date. For those gem records that you simply can’t fathom living without, you can spare them another trip around the platter and preserve them digitally. Now, you could just go out and grab another copy, but that gets costly, especially if it’s a rare first pressing from the U.K. But like much of the analog landscape, an LP can only handle a finite number of needle trips around the groove before some degradation in sound starts to occur. Audiophiles swear by the record player and for good reason. There’s nothing like high-fidelity audio, particularly the warm, uncompressed sound of vinyl pumped through a sweet A/V system.
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