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Backing up vinyls onto cd

ok i have done some research on this and atm i am using the m-audio transit and ableton live to record my mixes as high quality wavs and they have turned out very nice and are very high quality

BUT

i want to record my vinyls as high quality wav's and back up onto cd's to play on cdj's... quality such that they will still sound amazing on a big club stereo

my question is: is the above setup good ENOUGH? or is there a minimum recording standard to uphold when going for high quality ripping?

I record direct onto audio CDRs on a sony cd recorder, and then I can rip direct as a WAV onto my computer for archiving, re burning etc

If what you are using works for you, then it works for you. If you are happy with it, then stick with it

well it works as far as recording mixes but i have not had the pleasure of being able to play on a big club system yet

how do the recorded tracks sound when you play them on a big system?

as good as vinyl? as warm? do they have a noticable loss (noticable to you that is...not noticable to the average club goer)

i also want to rip my vinyls and play them on cdj's!

at the moment i go through my ecler nuo5 and then to my pc!

is there a hearable loss if i go thorugh my mixer?

yeah i was going to ask a similar question... what about hooking the turntable up directly to the recording source

i suppose you need to have some sort of preamp... but im guessing the average mixer (as a preamp) will degrade the quality somewhat

unless it is the xone v6

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh yeah i was going to ask a similar question... what about hooking the turntable up directly to the recording source i suppose you need to have some sort of preamp... but im guessing the average mixer (as a preamp) will degrade the quality somewhat unless it is the xone v6

about the m-audio device! would you recommend it? does it also have a digital in and output?
and can you plug the turntable directly into that m audio device?
thanks in advance!

yes it does have digital I/O

i just use the analog in for recording but i suppose there are things that i could do to up the quality... although it is already pretty good

never tried plugging the turntable up to it directly

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh never tried plugging the turntable up to it directly

you mean directly in your soundcard? will try that tomorrow!

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh never tried plugging the turntable up to it directly

DON'T! The magnetic phono cartridges require a pre-amp to boost the levels and to provide the RIAA equalization.

quote:

Originally posted by sw1 DON'T! The magnetic phono cartridges require a pre-amp to boost the levels and to provide the RIAA equalization.

yeah i know i wasn't going to... but i suppose a mixer is not the "ideal" preamp... is it?

the best thing you can do is use a brand new stylus. on a technics deck using a high end mixer or ideally a standalone phono preamp. and if the mixer/preamp has a sp/dif output you should use this into your soundcard. make sure you use technics decks or ones with good wow/flutter figures so the bpm doesnt fluctuate.

however some decks now come with sp/dif outs. maybe invest if you have spare cash?

And don't forget to master the vinyl after its converted to digital...i use soundforge and it works great, crisp clear no pops or crackles!

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh yeah i know i wasn't going to... but i suppose a mixer is not the "ideal" preamp... is it?

Its a preamp. they all are RIAA preamps, including the ones in dj mixers...so all do the same job and conform to the same standards.

You can buy a small box preamp in funky brushed alloy for like $15 or something equally cheap from radioshack (no idea if you still can but i did earlier in the year from radioshack)

quote:

Originally posted by Freak Its a preamp. they all are RIAA preamps, including the ones in dj mixers...so all do the same job and conform to the same standards. You can buy a small box preamp in funky brushed alloy for like $15 or something equally cheap from radioshack (no idea if you still can but i did earlier in the year from radioshack)

yeah i know the mixer is a preamp but i am going for the best quality rip i can possibly get

so as of right now it seems the most important thing to do is master it in a program like sound forge....

mastering.... something that i have no clue how to do... my m-audio device came with ableton lite and i have been messing around with that

here are my questions now

1) what is the IDEAL preamp for hooking up to my tech 1200 deck (or does it matter what preamp i use)

2) are there any articles on mastering something like a vinyl rip..or can someone just explain how? and can i do it with my lite version of ableton?

3) ableton has a "stretch" function...(for those of you who know the program... which i really dont) Is there anyway to use this to even out the tempo variation that inevitably occurs with vinyl )

or is there another way to digitally even out the tempo variation?
or is there a way at all? lol



keep in mind... i will be a using a technics 1200, a shure white label, an m-audio transit and ableton to record

and my denon mixer as a preamp

unless there is a better way

your setup sounds fine. if the mixer you are using is good enough for a large club system then it will be fine as a preamp.

mastering is a funny one. i would probably just use the loudness maximiser and minimal compression here but no eq or exciters. you dont want to play with the original sound too much... just get the cd so its as loud as a commercial cd.

as regards to the tempo variation: dont worry. a technics deck is so accurate that it would stay sync'd with another one playing the same record for hours. the tempo flutter is nt measurable and wont effect even a half and hour long beatmatch.

the main issue for you is making sure the cd's sound loud.

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh yeah i know the mixer is a preamp but i am going for the best quality rip i can possibly get 1) what is the IDEAL preamp for hooking up to my tech 1200 deck (or does it matter what preamp i use)

well, there are a LOT of pre-amps out there, and I definitely wouldn't buy one from radioshack for 15$. most likely the one in your mixer will sound better already.

I would think that you get good enough sound for playing the cds in a club, I never noticed any difference.

there are high-end pre-amps like the Clearaudio Balanced Reference for 4000$ but that would be over the top with "only" a Mk2 and normal DJ-cartridges. they have an interesting smaller one called "smart phono" for around 350$. but I guess a Thorens MM 001 would do as well, around 100$. Watch that you combine that one with a MM system and not MC.

Going directly from the TT (through a preamp) to a decent soundcard will produce better results most of the time because you can bypass the mixer with it's sound-changing abilities and dangers (in case you want the "original" sound from the vinyls).

for mastering I would also recommend loudness adjustment, maybe not to 100% but close. Compression is an option but I wouldn't use it or very little.
About noise and click-reduction: I never got decent results, tried Magix music cleaning lab, wavelab, the good ol' cooledit but after the clicks were gone, the music sounded not as clear to me, as if the programs removed some high tones in the process, so I left the music untouched...

btw, lots of info and maybe good software (haven't tried) at
http://www.enhancedaudio.com/vinyl_restoration.htm

good luck!

so are these preamps that are meant to be hooked up to vinyl tt's specifically?

errr, what other type of turtables than "vinyl tt's" do you know?

yes, the ones I mentioned are "phono pre-amps". There are "general" pre-amps as well for example you can put those between a CD-player and your amp. but actually most "amps" have built-in pre-amps, some of which have phono-pre-amps as well.

if you want to see some seperate "regular" pre-amps and "real" amps (not sure if there is an english word that expresses "endstufe" = german for final-amp (?)) check out http://www.marklevinson.com/

..

Another option i'm told is to record it off your amplifer with Xitel Inport..i'm not sure how good it is, but i've been told it works pretty ok....anybody?

that looks really easy to use...no idea how good it sound, though.

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh so are these preamps that are meant to be hooked up to vinyl tt's specifically?

These pre-amps are for magnetic phono cartridges which output at a very low level and require RIAA equalization. Pretty much all the phono cartridges out there now are magnetic. You don't use them at all for ceramic phono catridges which output at normal line levels, I believe.

mm = moving magnet
mc = moving coil

afaik

there are phono pre-amps for both, some can handle only one or the other, some can handle both types.

quote:

ceramic phono catridges

never heard of those, what are they?

Sorry for the misspelling. It's caRtridges.

Here is a link I found with some info.

who would have figured that info would be posted by someone on amazon.com of all places... thanks for the link

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