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digitizing vinyl
i've been thinking more and more about getting a turntable and buying some stuff on vinyl that i've wanted for years, but i'm kinda unsure if i want to do it as a technics mk5 would cost me more than 600� with a needle and dustcover etc.
so are there any other good options on digitizing vinyl? preferably a bit cheaper than buying a tech. i already have a mixer with good preamps and a good sound card, so i would have no need for some shitty usb turntable which produces terrible sound quality.
so basically i would like to buy some stuff on vinyl and get it to a digital format cheaply with good sound quality (so you won't hear a difference between it and a cd for example).
some places offer vinyl digitizing services, but they are pricey as fuck too. 
also, yes i did search and i didn't found anything, if someone knows a previous thread on the sucject then please link me there. 
Why not just look for a used/in-good-condition 1200 in your area? You should be able to pick one up very cheap with lots of people jumping ship to all digital setups...
If you intend to DJ with the tracks you are going to digitize, it's important you use a quality turntable... sound quality is important of course (you'll want a decent cartridge), the other is wow and flutter.
If you digitize the tracks using a crappy belt drive, any wow and flutter will be transferred to the digital recording and make the tracks a pain to mix.
yeah, i intend to dj with the tracks, so indeed i would probably have to get a proper TT anyway. and used techs are so damn expensive. you're not gonna find one for under 400� here anywhere (at least it seems so) and then i'd buy new needles anyway just to get the best quality so the needles coming with the tech would be pretty much worthless to me, but i could save some money if they came with a dustcover. so if it's just 100 to 150� i could save buying a used tech i don't think it's really worth it.
i've also thought about selling my cdjs and getting 2 techs and traktor scratch (which i'm going to get anyway after i buy a laptop), but i'm somewhat unsure if that's wise as i've never spun vinyl and i'm thinking cdjs might be more accurate. so i really dunno what to do now!
edit: also i'd be buying a 1210, i don't like the silver ones at all. 
That expensive? They are really about half the cost of a new one around here. And you CAN use the carts they come with, if they happen to be quality. Remember, for the really good carts (Ortofon, Shure Whitelabels, etc), you can replace the stylus for not much money, which essentially gives you a new cartridge.
I would work on spinning vinyl before you sell your CDJ's... it's quite and adjustment going from CD's to Vinyl (but not the other way around).
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| Originally posted by skip yeah, i intend to dj with the tracks, so indeed i would probably have to get a proper TT anyway. and used techs are so damn expensive. you're not gonna find one for under 400� here anywhere (at least it seems so) and then i'd buy new needles anyway just to get the best quality so the needles coming with the tech would be pretty much worthless to me, but i could save some money if they came with a dustcover. so if it's just 100 to 150� i could save buying a used tech i don't think it's really worth it. i've also thought about selling my cdjs and getting 2 techs and traktor scratch (which i'm going to get anyway after i buy a laptop), but i'm somewhat unsure if that's wise as i've never spun vinyl and i'm thinking cdjs might be more accurate. so i really dunno what to do now! edit: also i'd be buying a 1210, i don't like the silver ones at all. |
i looked around a bit and finding a tech for under 400�/piece is not that easy. and i'd like to get a mk5 too, because i would like not to have the click at 0dB. i guess i'll just have to wait until i have more money and then see what i'll do.
and i know playing with TTs will be more difficult than with cdjs at first, but i'm not worried about that. i'm more worried about the wow and flutter and accuracy compared to cdjs with 0,02% accuracy (as IMO 0,1% on cdjs is not accurate enough at all).
Since the pitch slider on a 1200 is analog (except for the M5G), there aren't any real "increments" per-se.
You need to learn to ride the pitch with a 1200, as it's nearly impossible to lock two tracks together as tightly as you can with a CDJ (with .02% increments).
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| Originally posted by skip i looked around a bit and finding a tech for under 400�/piece is not that easy. and i'd like to get a mk5 too, because i would like not to have the click at 0dB. i guess i'll just have to wait until i have more money and then see what i'll do. and i know playing with TTs will be more difficult than with cdjs at first, but i'm not worried about that. i'm more worried about the wow and flutter and accuracy compared to cdjs with 0,02% accuracy (as IMO 0,1% on cdjs is not accurate enough at all). |
Damn I wish used Techs sold for that much here. I tried to sell both of mine with two carts/slipmats and an ATA road case for $500 but nobody wanted them so I kept them.
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| Originally posted by Ryan0751 Since the pitch slider on a 1200 is analog (except for the M5G), there aren't any real "increments" per-se. You need to learn to ride the pitch with a 1200, as it's nearly impossible to lock two tracks together as tightly as you can with a CDJ (with .02% increments). |
the old vestax pdx range had a good wow/flutter rating. quartz lock too so this will mean you get your rips as close to the original bmp as possible.
these decks are cheap as chips on ebay.
try the 'pdx - d3' in either mk1 or mk2 or the 'pdt5000'
Never touched M5G's.
Wow and flutter is negligible on 1200's. There are a lot of other factors which make it harder to mix. Most everyone I know who plays on both well says vinyl is much more difficult, and I agree.
The pitch slider of a 1200 is the same length as a CDJ-1000, and yet while the CDJ covers only a +/- 6% range, a 1200 covers +/- 8%. So the same little adjusment on a 1200 will make a bigger pitch change than on the CDJ.
The real issue is in correcting a mix. While you can very easily flick the plater on a CDJ and get a predicitable result, generally touching the record (or pushing it) on a 1200 can easily result in an overcorrection.
This is why most people graduate to riding the pitch... requires you to really stay on top of the mix, listening the whole time in your phones, and making tiny (millimeters) adjustments up and down to keep the beats locked.
Warped records, strange pressings, etc all add a little as well. And don't forget physics... a record will spin a LITTLE bit faster as the tone arm gets closer to the center (less drag).
It comes with practice of course. Just don't expect it to be like CDJ's where you can get something perfectly beatmatched ahead of time and expect it to stay there.
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| Originally posted by skip yeah, i know that the pitch slider is analog and because of that it doesn't have increments, but what i'm concerned about is getting the tunes matched as good as possible, nothing else. and i dunno how much the wow & flutter really affect on TTs as i've never played on any. but some people say that it's easier to get tunes matched "exactly" on TTs and some say it's easier on CDJs with 0,02% resolution, i dunno which is more true as i've only played on CDJs with 0,1% resolution. this is getting very offtopic now though, but who cares as we're the only two participating. have you played on the m5g's? are they any different because of the digital pitch slider? i'd expect them to have the same wow & flutter though. or am i completely mistaken? i'd think they are because of the motor, not because of the pitch being analog. i just checked some prices and a m5g would cost me 56� more than a mk5 if i want a dustcover, so if i decide to buy a new one i might as well get a m5g then. |
i never use the platters on my cdjs for anything other than cueing anyway, i always ride the pitch to correct the mix. also i don't think i'd have a problem with the 8% pitch range either.
only thing then is the change of the speed because of the diameter getting smaller and the feel.
lol, i dunno, i guess i would really have to go somewhere and try some TTs, but i don't know anyone that has any or any shops that would let you try them out here in finland. maybe i'll just have to take a dive into the deep when i get a bit more money.
and thanks richg101, i'll check those vestax' out, altho i don't really feel like buying a vestax TT for some reason, but if it's cheap enough i might think otherwise.
I'm not a TT authority, but isn't it true there are plenty of non-Tech decks out there today, direct drive, that would be fine for digitizing? (Vestax, the better Stantons...even a Numark)?
You are correct, any of those would be fine:
Stanton ST-150's, Numark TTX's (heck even the TT200 on a budget), or the vestax units.
All the high end decks are priced around the same range though (at least here).
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| Originally posted by miamitranceman I'm not a TT authority, but isn't it true there are plenty of non-Tech decks out there today, direct drive, that would be fine for digitizing? (Vestax, the better Stantons...even a Numark)? |
i've almost decided that i'll buy a sl-1210 mk5 in the future.
so now i'd need to know what kind of a cartridge to get. i've been looking at the Shure M35-X. my goal is to record the sound as good as possible and be able to dj with it too (naturally i'd want to at least try djing with a TT and my CDJs, so i'd know if i like it and if i should buy a second one later on).
but that shure cartridge needs a headshell, right? and i'm not sure if the mk5 comes with one or not.
All technics come with headshells, but no cartridges. They also come with dustcovers.
I use Shure Whitelabels. Very nice carts.
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| Originally posted by skip i've almost decided that i'll buy a sl-1210 mk5 in the future. so now i'd need to know what kind of a cartridge to get. i've been looking at the Shure M35-X. my goal is to record the sound as good as possible and be able to dj with it too (naturally i'd want to at least try djing with a TT and my CDJs, so i'd know if i like it and if i should buy a second one later on). but that shure cartridge needs a headshell, right? and i'm not sure if the mk5 comes with one or not. |
i think i'll go with the grado dj100 cart. the dj200 would be better but it's twice the price and apparently not twice as good.
thanks for all the advices.
If you are just going to be digitizing the vinyl for mixing in digital format, why do you even need to get a DJ turntable? Just get a vintage audiophile turntable from someone... there are a ton of cheap, non-dj, decent sounding turntables out there...
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Gluegun If you are just going to be digitizing the vinyl for mixing in digital format, why do you even need to get a DJ turntable? Just get a vintage audiophile turntable from someone... there are a ton of cheap, non-dj, decent sounding turntables out there... |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by skip yeah, but i decided that i'm not going to use the TT only for digitizing after all. that's why i'd want to get a technics and a cart with at least decent sound quality. i don't really think it would be worth it to save a couple of hundred � and get a TT that i wil not be able to use for djing if i want to. |
go on ebay. you can find mk2's for $200 sometimes.
Bump. I'm in a similar scenario to this guy now. I'm considering buying a turntable but only for playing and digitizing tracks. Not for using the TT itself for mixing, at all. I sure as hell don't want to pay 400 euros for a Tech. Would I just need to get the cheapest direct drive out there? (and a good cartridge?) And what model? In what price range would that be?
Why not buy a Tech or PDX off ebay , do what you need to do, then sell it.
At most it might have cost you $50.
Job done.
My first attempt at digitizing my vinyl was using a 1200MK2 with a good external phono pre into my pro soundcard: results were terrible. The 1200, while rock solid on pitch has a very noisy motor, too sensitive tonearm, and a horrible stock RCA cable. Very muddy and not much on the high end either.
Next step was to get an audiophile turntable and cartridge - results are awesome. Keep in mind that analog sound is dependent much more on the equipment than digital. Once you spend about $2000 for a turntable and cartridge, you leave digital in the dust.
I didn't read the entire thread by instead of getting M5G you could get M3D. They don't have the "click" at 0%, and they are way cheaper.
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| Originally posted by PezCore I didn't read the entire thread by instead of getting M5G you could get M3D. They don't have the "click" at 0%, and they are way cheaper. |
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