I'm looking for a way to convert my old records and tapes to digital format so I can put them on the I Pod. Has anyone here done that?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Buy the cd's.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I hooked up a turntable through an amp to my PC and used some software to lessen clicks and pops. Sound quality was disappointing. I'll gladly pay the $10-15 cost of a CD to get these few albums converted properly. I can't imagine it's worth anyone's time.

Sixto
... stay tuned

Dee8go has too much time on his hands...

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Not all LP's, especially small label or local recordings, are on CD. For those rare or limited albums, the modest investment in some cables and $20 software is worth the effort.

Without professional gear, I'd imagine the audio result would be less than satisfactory. Pro-level DAC converters cost $$$.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

He actually will need an A/D converter (or ADC), and I have heard suprisingly decent quality from some of the affordable ones out there (but you're right -- pro models are $pendy). I have one of those Pioneer standalone CD recorders that I used for the rare occasions that I want to put an analog source onto CD. Generally I'll do it to put vinyl-only EPs and whatnot onto my iPod, and the results are satisfactory, but it's a time-consuming process. Often the "pop and click" filters available with the cheap software are worthless, too, and degrade the overall signal more than they "clean it up."

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

Yes, you are correct - ADC, my bad!

Either way, if you are serious about sound quality Dee8go, I'd recommend checking out a local recording studio and seeing if they can do it during a slow time for a low rate. If you leave the LPs with them over a period, they may offer a discount to transfer them when the studio is quiet (always a good job for the local intern/music school student).

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I have heard of people in this area offering services like this. Considering how much I have to convert and what a decent ADC might cost, I think buying the equipment could be cheaper and I have more time that money right now.

CSCMC1, what did your Pioneer unit cost and where did you get it? I want to at least explore that route so I'll know what the costs are either way. Thanks.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

You could just get a a Preamp for you computer, and use something like Goldwave to record/save.


Right now I have two turntables run into a Stanton Smx-301 Mixer then into my Pc's sound card. Sounds fine, given the proper gain structure.

__________________
-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

Monomer, you are really a jack of all trades! I was just reading what you put up about chain mail and noticed you reply here. I know I need an preamp to step up the voltage from my turntable to line level and the propoer cable to attach this physically to my sound card. Where does the signal get digitized, though? Is that something software can do or is another peice of hardware (ADC) required?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Sixto, if it were a "few," I'd just buy the DC's. I have 600-700 records and a couple hundred tapes that I'd love to have in I Tunes.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I too would like to put many of my albums and tapes onto a CD or I-Pod, but so far we have -

sixto,
"I hooked up a turntable through an amp to my PC...
Sound quality was dissapointing."

Siduri19,
"Buy the cd's"

sixto,
"...Pay the $10 - 15 cost of a CD to get those few albums converted properly."

MTI,
"...some cables and $20 software is worth the effort."

cscmc1,
"...often the "pop and click" filters availible with cheap software are worthless,too, and degrade the overall signal more than they "clean it up"."

Zeus,
"...pro-level DAC converters cost $$$"

Zeus,
"I'd recommend checking out a local recording studio..."

Well, things sure have become complicated and frustrating since the days when most would simply copy LPs onto a cassette, then play them in the car stereo or Walkman.

Does anyone make an affordable analog-to-digital converter that can connect a record or tape player directly to an MP3 or I-Pod?

Something new I saw at Sam's Club last week looked interesting - a compact Panasonic bookshelf FM/CD audio system with a built-in card reader/writer to record onto an SD digital card. It came with a tiny portable digital player that resembled and worked like an MP3 player.
As I recall, it was about $250.
I didn't look on the back to see if it had audio input jacks to connect a turntable or tape deck.

Recently, a friend bought a Teac turntable/ CD-recorder combo. It was in a wood (or faux-wood) case and looked like an old-time table-top record player. She said it cost about $500 and only worked with one certain type of recordable CD.

Last time I saw a CD recorder, it was $200. Are those still availible?

I enquired about using my 6-year old Dell to record LPs onto CDs, or transfer albums to an I-Pod or MP3 player. All my more-computer-savvy friends discouraged me. The $500 to $1000 cost of a new computer, just for music entertainment, is not an option!

As long as my Walkman and car-tape player still work, I guess I'll still keep copying LPs onto cassettes.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

Point me to a Lani Hall CD or MP3 with Siempre Tu and I'll buy it.

Sixto
... stay tuned

Six- that's the idea we need to keep Dee8go busy...

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL