recording vinyl onto my PC

[2dublezero3]

Hi guys I need some advice regarding hardware to buy for my computer: I want to be able to record all my vinyl onto mp3 format via my home pc as well as be able to record practice sessions etc for future reference. Basically I've seen some gadgets such as the terratec USB phono pre-amp gizmo thing, but my technical knowledge on such matters is equivalent to that of a three-year old monkey! I NEED HELP! Furthermore I need to buy a new soundcard without breaking my bank managers heart so I could do with some pointers there too.

As you may notice I live in the UK so whatever products you guys recomend I need to know if they're sold this side of the pond.

I hope I'm not being too demanding, but seriously any advice, recomendations or plain old insults would be welcomed and appreciated!

Cheers

 

[beefy]

How do? Where abouts are you?

Vinyl to PC? All right all you need is a 'Line In' on your PC soundcard, so if you dont already have one, you could buy a reasonably standard one because most do now a days. Then you need a phono pre-amp. Get one of these cheap. Thats it, oh and some program to record into.

TURNTABLE > PHONO PRE-AMP > LINE IN

Most of this is standard equipment and you can get it cheaply so just do a search for these.

Done and done!

 

[sinergy]

there is another thread about this here... I would read it. I dont feel like typing it out all over again

I am assuming you have a mixer and therefore dont need a phone pre-amp.

Just rec out and into a sound card. Also for this all you need is a sound blaster live card. (unless you plan on producing down the road.. then its time to look at M-Audio)

peace

 

[beefy]

I am assuming you have a mixer and therefore dont need a phone pre-amp.

Sorry I was assuming he wasn't a DJ for some reason!

But yea if you have a mixer you dont need a Phono Pre-Amp. The mixer itself has one built in and gives out a 'line' signal so you can go directly into the 'line in' on your sound card.

 

[2dublezero3]

well thanks for the advice guys! Beefy, for your info I live near Bristol...you?

I think I might buy myself a decentish soundcard (Im not planning to produce anywhere in the near future so I guess its soundblaster or something similar all the way) and get some sound cleanup software...I do have a few remaining questions though: If i want to record a long scratch/mix session will it drain the resources of my pc, will it even work, and what kind of size file would an hour or so of recording produce (also what format: mp3, or would I have to transfer the file to mp3 format)?

Cheers and keep up the good advice!

 

[beefy]

Hey up just near Manchester pretty far from you then! Just bought a mixer off a guy down in Bristol though for a good price so im very partial to the place now!

Anyway, when recording your computer will record in .WAV format. .WAV files are big files.

For example say you have a 3 minute MP3, this might be about 3.5 MB in size right? If it were in .WAV format it would be about 35-40MB. See where im coming from?

An hours mix, would probably be around at 500-600 MB in WAV format. To many hour long mixes filling up your harddrive will eventually slow down your computer yes. So if your computer doesn't have a majorly big harddrive, I suggest two things:

1 / Record as normal, save the WAV convert it to MP3 (most software will do this), then delete the WAV file.

2/ Buy a bigger Harddrive(s)!

If your not majorly bothered about the soundcard then yea an Audigy 2 would probably do you fine. Even if you want to get into production eventually this would suffice as a very NOVICE card anyway so go with that if you can find a good price.

Hope this helps.

Ciao

 

[2dublezero3]

Cheers buddy, that helps a lot (I really know f*** all about comps so any advice is good advice)! I actually put a second hard drive in my puter not long ago so I have hard drive space of something like 70GB which should allow me to put on a few hours of fun! Still it seems like a good idea to convert WAV files and delete them quickly anyway, just so I don't forget in a smokey haze at a later date!