If that’s the case, we recommend Audacity software. This includes many of the features of Pure Vinyl, including built-in RIAA equalisation, but costs only $30 (around £20).įor many people, even this may be a step too far. It’s great, but the downside is a price of around £280 ($380).Ī more affordable alternative is VinylStudio. There are also powerful editing functions to help optimise the recording. It features built-in phono equalisation, for example, so you can feed the turntable’s output straight into the computer without needing a phono stage in the signal path. Channel D’s Pure Vinyl (pictured above) comes in at the top end and offers a great deal of flexibility. There are many options on the market, some specifically designed for recording vinyl. Get ripped with the best USB turntables on the marketĪssuming you have a computer, you need some recording software.Perhaps a headphone amp too, if you're very lucky. Such units pack phono stage, analogue-to-digital converter and USB output in one neat box. ![]() We like the Rega Fono Mini A2D and there are very decent alternatives, too. The PS-HX500 and Audio Technica AT-LP5 vinyl-ripping decks do their best to buck that trend – the former rips vinyl into hi-res audio files, for instance.īut what if you already have a turntable? Then the best option is to buy a decent USB phono stage. Simply put, your recordings won’t necessarily reflect the quality of sound possible from your records. The downside is: most tend to be at the budget end of the market and concentrate merely on getting the job done rather than doing it particularly well. Usually referred to as USB turntables, these are a convenient way to get music on vinyl into your computer. There are many turntables on the market with a phono stage, analogue-to-digital converter and USB output built in – the Sony PS-HX500, for instance. I truly don't believe it is possible to capture an LP via another medium and absolutely not be able to tell a difference between the old and the new, even if those differences only amount to a 0.1% difference but maybe my ears are just shot.It seems complex, but the system can be simplified. If one works for Telarc or Linn making super high resolution recordings of live performances, I can see going with a multi-thousand dollar ADC, but to transfer an existing recording that has already been processed through necessarily limited devices and stages? I see what you are saying or striving for in terms of a better ADC, but you aren't capturing a live performance. Mini disk and CDRs may have a 'direct to deliverable' advantage, but I can't see a clear advantage, assuming all high quality connections and connection types. I still can't see how a high quality recorder will be bested. It also would seem that, most likely, the most simple device would have a general upper hand. If ultimate quality is the primary goal, it seems that you'd strike any method that uses a physical media directly so no tape, no mini disk, no CD. ![]() Even in the podcasting world the pros recommend recorders over computers because you only get one chance to record an interview. Others with really high end devices such as the Prism Lyra.Īs for reliability I completely understand the recorder is preferred to a crashing computer. Many of them were recorded with older internal soundcards which were made popular by the gamers. I've also heard other people's needledrops that sound fantastic. I can't help but wonder what that same crowd would think of a $100 device. At another show they used a much cheaper RME Babyface ($700) and claimed that even though they could hear the difference, the crowd not so much. What I do know is that I read an article on the RMAF where Pure Vinyl was demonstrating live playback of a turntable vs the Hilo ($2500) and most folks could not distinguish them. I'm not denying that at some point between the budget ADC and the megabuck one I will hit the limit of my hearing to distinguish them but where is that? Sure I understand that the DAC introduces it's own flavor upon playback of the file but when I can hear the difference between two different budget ADCs through two different DACs then I know the ADC is the limiting factor. I appreciate your thoughts Poinzy and I do get your point but I can indeed hear a difference between the live playback of the TT and what the budget ADC is capturing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |