Recording Vinyl to MP3

Hi I'm wanting to rip vinyl to MP3 format. I have technics 1210 and a kontrol z2. what options do I have to do this?

cheers

 

I think you can record internally as a WAV file with the z2 on Traktor, then you just get something free like Audacity, download the mp3 codec for it, open up your WAV in Audacity and then convert it to whatever bit rate mp3 you like. Tutorials and info about Audacity and getting the mp3 codec are on the other end of google.
I do the above, just without the z2 and Traktor 2.x, I use a spare input from my Audio 8 and hook it up to my record output on my mixer. I still have a ton of vinyl to record.

The only fiddly bit is installing the lame converter in Audacity and setting that up.

 

Will the quality be good enough to play out?
Il try it tonight cheers

 

The quality will be as good as what comes out of your TT.

I always thought about digitizing my Vinyl collection, but in the end I re-purchased everything from beatport when they had a discount offering.
Better quality, less fiddling, less time consuming, no flutter...

Of course that only works if the record if available digitally.

 

As my friend (ha, ha), kallekenkel said... Be aware that this is a very time consuming process... And the end result many times a mixed bag. And I simply gave up too and repurchased the tracks either on CD, if the proper mix was available, or from JUNO. Most of my friends did the same.

Ripping them wasn't really worth it.

 

Yeah it really is hit and miss. I too intended to do this but it's such an ordeal particularly if your vinyl collection is quite sizeable that for the amount of money spent vs the amount of time taken to perform this process it's easier to just bite the financial bullet and re-buy em.

 

yup, ended up doing the same. recording from vinyl is so fricking time consuming... :-S

 

+1

 

I never knew the quality was good enough for proper Dj use. I've heard vinyl rips before n the majority sound horrible.

 

I record everything what is not available anymore (70% of my collection :/). But what I can get from beatport I buy there.

But another question: When I record the tracks, they sound fine for me. In Audacity the waveform looks very good too.. (Maximum close to 0db). ..but when I import them to Traktor.. the waveform looks very thin.. I barely can see the waves... what is the reason for this?

 

if youve a massive old skool collection you've no choice but to rip it as hardly anything is availible digitally... which is such a shame... someone could make a killing with a digitally remastered old skool download site...!

 

Right. How do you rip the vinyl do you just hit record as if you we're doing a mix?

 

Hi guys,
I'm new in the controller business, I bought my 1st controller, the s4, yesterday.
I also have technics 1210 and tons of vinyl I want to record.
What would be the best way to do it?

 

The way it has been described in the previous posts.

 

I am bit curious what genre would that be?
If you are playing hiphop i would understand
since many of the complete 12's can be hard to find
(Ironically enough much of it big label stuff)

In my genre dancehall/reggae its the opposite
records (riddims and singles) that took me years to hunt down
are all there now. And end of the the day getting your stuff out there
is easier than ever. And no one is interested in keeping things
in the vault if there is money to be made.


I don't know what the situation is for dance music in general-

old techno stuff, Drum'n'Bass and such...

 

thanks, I will try it out.

I know what you're talking about, for me it's exactly the same!

 

Hi,
I've recorded a few records and it worked out pretty good.
However when I listen to the recordings the sound quality is not the best (it could be worse still)... in Audacity the waveform doesn't looks too good, it looks very thin (also in Traktor), I barely can see the waves.
Does anyone know what the reason for that can be? Do I need to change something particular in the settings?

I have 2x Technics 1210, Kontrol S4 and my laptop has Vista. If you need additional info please let me know. Thanks for your help!

 

You could have thin waveforms when recording in low volume (which is better than too loud with clipping). After any recording you need to make an audio peak normalization at -1dbFS with your usual DAW (Audacity or whatever) to retrieve average volume and full relative dynamic range with no harm.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_normalization and http://www.hometracked.com/2008/04/20/10-myths-about-normalization/

 

Thanks Keuss, will check it out!

 

@Keuss:
I don't get your point at all. Do you mean a peak normalization ONLY or do a peak normalization first and then a dynamic RMS normalisation afterwards?

I follow this steps nowadays:

• Record in Soundforge as Wav 44Khz

Then 1st alternative in Audacity:

• Split the stereo track
• Amplify each track (With allowed clipping)
• (Clipping markers are turned on, I amplify each track until I have some irregular red lines in each track. Usually +1,5db). I do this because, there are some out-of-range peaks I want to interpolate.

OR 2nd alternative in Soundforge:

• Zoom out to maximum and seek the the unique out-of-range scratches by viewing.
• Zoom-In and interpolate them.
• Normalize peak value for left and right channel separate by a previous analyze range, which I've selected by the waveform. (Usualliy 10% under the highest peak)

Afterward:

• Convert to 320Mbit Joint-Stereo mp3 with Audacity and latest LAME codec (Since my older soundforge doesnt allow me to choose my own codec)

I always was afraid of using a dynamic normalization (rms) with soundforge, because it adds a compression to the track with attack and release time. In audacity I don't even know how to make dynamic compression.

@LarsStudio:
Generally I'm into "leftfield" music. I've started with AcidJazz and Bigbeat about 15 years ago. Then turned into indie-disco and electrohouse/techhouse. Many strange labels with a few releases, disappeared somewhere in time. But it's not only the style.. there are also many whitelabel-bootlegs etc.

Cheers.