Quote:
Originally Posted by geonuc
Sooo, for the clueless (me) - how exactly are you doing this? I have many LPs, a very good Technics turntable, a very good Kenwood receiver and a computer (obviously). Not sure about the state of the cartridge, but you've already provided info on what to get there. And I guess I'd need some software, such as Goldwave. What else would I need to digitize my records?
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It appears that once you get a new cartridge/stylus, you will have everything except the software and maybe the proper cable.
If you don't have a good LP cleaner, be sure to get one. Stanton makes a fine one. Discwasher used to make a good one (the D4), but since Radio Shack took them over, the latest version is cheap junk. BTW, if you get the Stanton. let me know. The instructions are very unclear (as if they were written by a CTer) as to how to orient the brush, etc. After many emails to their techs back and forth, I finally got correct info on what to do.
The cable can be an RCA pair to 1/8" plug, or if your receiver has a headphone jack, a 1/4" plug to a 1/8" plug. The latter plugs into your sound card's "line in" jack.
GoldWave is $45 and well worth it. But if you're on a tight budget you might try
Audacity which is freeware. I tried an early version of Audacity a while back and preferred GoldWave. YMMV.
Then learn the software and experiment until you're satisfied with the results. I've found a 44.1 KHz sampling rate works just fine for LPs and gives CD-level results (although the dynamics will be compressed due to the inherent limitations of LPs in that department). If you are blessed with audiophile "golden ears" (those are similar to Uri Geller's "special abilities"), GoldWave will allow you to sample at rates up to 192 KHz.
Best of luck. And remember, every day, vinyl relieves stresses that result in more noise interfering with the signal.
Here's screen shot of GoldWave's starting interface:
