Just a quick pre note, this could be done using similar software on a PC. I think the hardware section is useful for any reader. Analog to Digital Using an iBook and Griffin iMic to transfer LP's to AIFF and MP3 files. I've been a fan of records from the days of my Star Wars Book on Record and the Chipmunks. I've always taken my chances buying stacks of old LP's from thrift stores, Garage Sales or where ever the discs of glorious ancient music could be found. I've found some keepers (Journey, 32 Disk set of classical music, Bing Crosby) and some stinkers (The original cast recording of Hair) but the best part of my record collection was always the unique and otherwise unavailable song. As time has progressed I turned to my records less and less and instead used the easily accessible and compact MP3 format. My first attempts to bring the 70's to the late 90's resulted in laughable quality songs with low volume and an amazing amount of pops and cracks. I left things be until I switched to mac. It seemed to me that with the ease I had with most of the system this should be easy. The trick was, the model of computer I have (the 1.2 ghz iBook) has no microphone or line in. That being the case i needed an external USB input, and ideally more basic software than audacity. For this reason I used the Griffin iMic for the line input, and used the included Final Vinyl software to record. I hope you enjoy reading my review of the recording process, and find it helpful should you ever attempt this project. Materials Used -Apple iBook 1.2 ghz, 712 MB Ram, 30 gig HD, OSX 10.4.6 -Griffin iMic -Sony Turn Table (PS-LX44) -Sears Amplifier (Model 28452) Software -Final Vinyl -iTunes Using advice from both the web and the mighty service manual I thought I would use the Sear Amplifier as a pre amp to improve the overall quality of sound and limit the need for digital volume boosts. I also increased the bass slightly for a deeper sound. The amp was then set. As I said i tried this conversion in high school, and at that time used no pre amp. having heard both results the pre amp is desirable. The turn table was plugged into the phono in (any auxiliary port should work on a more modern amp) and then ran a Y cable from the "Tape Out" (any line out should work) and into the "In" port on the iMic. The iMic was then plugged into a USB port. That's about it for hard ware. Just prep a record and get ready. Open up Final Vinyl take a moment to familiarize yourself with the panel. Key things you should find are the record button, the wave form window, play thru button, and the Auto mark menu. These are pretty much the only tools I used. PLay thru allows you listen to the audio as it records. This is very helpful if you don't know the quality of the Record (scratches, pops) or want to familiarize yourself with the songs. The Auto mark menu allows the program to cut tracks automatically for you, and reduce distortion. I sincerely wish the distortion controls were on a separate menu as I found the track cutter to be less than useful. The process is pretty simple from here on out. If you have everything wired properly, you simply hit record, lower the needle and wait 20 minutes for a side to complete. I record first, and then lower the needle because i can always trim the excess seconds away from the beginning. There is a place to set the maximum record length in the Auto Cut menu, I prefer to baby sit and enjoy the album. After you have a full side You can now use the slider to locate the ends of songs and insert a "mark". the mark serves as a cut point in the program, separating one track from another. the first time I recorded I tried to use the auto cutting feature and found it to inaccurate, cutting into the middle of soft songs and ignoring transitions. Humans still have a purpose. After marking all the tracks, you select save from the file menu. Final Vinyl asks you to either name each track or enter a name and use it for each song. I prefer to enter the song titles, as this made it easy to find the songs in iTunes. I can then import into iTunes and add the band name, track number, and Album art. Most art is easily googled. The standard output format is AIFF resulting in 30-50 meg files. iTunes can then compress the files into MP3 or AAC formats. Converting to AAC took 20 roughly 20 seconds per track on this system. The conversion held up quite well to the original. I don't claim to be an audiophile nor to be an experienced audio editor, but I can not tell the difference between the files. Results This process worked fairly well. Obviously the quality of the original record was the primary indicator of the quality I would see in the digital file. Some of my less listened to singles were nearly indistinguishable from CD rips. Others like my heavily battered Thrift Store records created dirty sounding recordings with a steady flow of distortion. The lesson here, take care of your things, and if it is a matter of great concern, buy a mint album or CD remake. This type of recording serves me well because the price is within my range of expense (50$ Canadian for the iMic, 6$ for the amp, everything else i already owned). I suspect using a better quality of Turn table and amp would have helped, and many have suggested using higher end audio recording instruments. I personally do not wish to make this type of investment and will tolerate the noise where present, or invest in CD's. For those more comfortable with audio software, or more willing to learn, I suggest using a program to clean up the files individually. I lack that know how, and such an endeavor is outside the reach of this article. Final Comments I would recommend this process for those who are not as particular with audio quality as they are with the songs themselves. I enjoy listening to things that I simply have not been able to find on CD, such as Hawaiian instrumentals, The complete story albums of Alan Parsons, or B sides of singles. Some of these things simply can not be found easily and I don't have the resources to dedicate to finding them. For my purpose the results while less than perfect are pleasing and I am willing to answer any further questions. Thanks to you my reader for coming along for the trip.
