format old school records to mp3

well I was recently cleaning my attach and came across my fathers old school records. He had many names that I listen to such as CCR, Beatles, Moody Blues, and the Doors. I also have a friend that wants to burn them to a CD so he can listen to them without wrecking his rare records so I stopped in at Radioshack and ask them what I needed to do this project. they handed me a kit that cost $70. so I said screw that, I then asked if there were any alternatives to do the project he talked for a few minutes about different free wares (I love free wares) and showed me a cord that cost a few bucks so I bought the cord and rushed on home to check it out. now if I captured you attention please read on>>>

Step 1 Materials

If you want to do this tutorial run to your nearest Radioshack (they better be happy that this website is sponsored by them, or I would be asking for money!!! :) ) but you need to get a cord that looks like the one in the picture. Also check to see if your computer supports a microphone In. Most newer computer will have them. the microphone is usually near where you would plug in speakers or head phones in the BACK of the computer (its pink). now plug the cord's jack into the microphone jack. then plug your record player's male connection to the female of the the cord that is currently plugged in to the computer. also while this project is going on, you might want to download a program called : SmartRecorder. hope the download below works.

Comments

[prankster94]

Whats the name/type of the plug I need?

[slimguy379]

2 male RCA to 1 phone jack

[abadfart]

trry image burn

[slimguy379]

dude there all formatted, little late....

[abadfart]

ya but its a good alternative to nero

[Foaly7]

I'm totally doing this if I ever find/receive from a relative's will/buy any old-school records.

[LoganRussell]

The Microphone Jack is mono, so if you want Stereo sound you can plug the cord into the line in jack on the back of your computer (some computers don't have it), the plug is blue. All you have to do to use it in recording software is change the input to "Line In".

[deluxelespaul]

Nice idea and yes it will work BUT, you at least need a preamp that will provide the proper RIAA equalization for your records otherwise, the sound of your finished product will be vastly inferior to the original records. Also on the software side I'd recommend looking into ClickRepair & Audacity. Finally, its worth noting that the sound card chipsets included with most computers offer fairly poor sound quality.

[slimguy379]

im all done, unnecessary information. but most everybody else might appreciate it

[hcold]

Be careful with this, my brother managed to blow out the sound card on our old computer doing this, or rather, be technologically proficient.

[slimguy379]

how did that happen? he might of over powered the input with to loud of a sound... but I build my computers so... 1. I know what i'm doing and 2. I'll just replaceit, god for bid I "blow" it

[hcold]

I assume he just overpowered it with too loud of a sound, though, if the case arose again, so would I. Or at least, I could fall back onto onboard sound.

[baneat]

Haha your sound card's the same as my old Dell :D

[slimguy379]

yeah that's not my computer, but yes its a dell. Its my friends that I was fixing and it just so happens that, that's the computer nearest me to take a picture of the microphone in. but yes that's is humorous!!

[livesteamfan]

Does this program automatically edit out hiss and pops, or will it let me keep them? Just wondering because I like that stuff. Also, there was, for a short amount of time, a record player that could be put in your car and attached to the radio. Only thing though, it could only play 45s.

[slimguy379]

below, scammah said that there is a program that can take care of the "hiss and POPS" but the program I'm running doesn't take them out. also if you do this instructable you can burn them to a cd and play them in your car no player needed

[recordcousin]

Try to compare an original cd of a song to the one off the record. If there is a difference. more bass and less treble, the Riaa equalization needs to be in place. Again there is software that takes care of this.

Here is more than you want to know about this issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_equalization

I have about a 1000 records and there is a lot out there that never made it to cd. So good luck on your projects.

[slimguy379]

is there any specific program/ freeware (I'm cheap) to bring my records to their full potential?

[upriverpaddler]

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[slimguy379]

thanks!!!!

[Scammah]

I applaude you for the easy setup and low cost. The only thing is the quality may be alittle lacking. I purchased a TASCAM US-122 a while back and it's been well worth it. You still get that great popping sound quality of the record but the record quality is better since it's connected USB. Either way your idea is good and probably fine for most people.

[slimguy379]

me and my father listened to it in our car, and he couldn't believe that it was a vinyl (at one time). He can't stop raving how well they play. (fyi I burned them to a cd)

[Scammah]

Yes there is a great improvement when you go digital

[bumpus]

hey, since your music is all digital now....you should def give me your records :)

[slimguy379]

how about you do this instructable, turn your music digital, and give Me your records :)

[bumpus]

i dont have any records, its all digital....

[thewoodcarver]

Very Cool and dare I say it GROOVY ...you may want to add make sure your record player is stereo I didn't think I saw it there ...I tried the first time with a old portable player and got mono out used my kids newer record player and that or another program and got all in mp3 now ....also a new needle for the player helps with pops and hissing ....well done ...btw your dad has good taste in music

[slimguy379]

the way it works is I only need to connect one composite, and I'm getting "stereo". I quoted stereo because I'm not really get real stereo but I am getting like you said mono. but oh well most of my records don't support stereo, although some do.

[recordcousin]

Did you record straight off the turntable or thru a phono input on an amp/receiver? If you went straight off the turntable, it probably sounds like crap unless the software has the RIAA filter to decode the record properly. You may want to look into this. Eric

[slimguy379]

I've listen to the play back and the quality is fine no hissing or popping,

[LinuxH4x0r]

You might want to take a screenshot instead of using a camera

[Labot2001]

That's usually the PrtSc button. Just to clarify for slimguy379.

[LinuxH4x0r]

yes, that would be it for windows