There's another option....

There's a lot of good information on transcribing vinyl on the PC Audio forum, but I can tell you about my recent experience. I plan on transcribing vinyl once, and once only. This isn't going to be like when I ripped CD's as MP3's because of limited storage space on USB drives, and then did the whole thing over again as high resolution FLAC files.

I wasn't happy with the idea of playing from the preamp output directly to a computer. There's too many software and hardware drivers in the data signal, to say nothing of the quality of the ADC that might be used.

I ended up with a Korg digital recorder, this one with a 60 GB drive. I record at the highest possible resolution, 1 bit at 5.66 MHz. It's easy to use, the recorder sits in the stereo rack and all I have to do is turn it on to use it, and remember to pause it when flipping sides. Then you can use the Korg software program Audiogate to convert the 1 bit file to whatever flavor you prefer, I go with 24/96 FLAC.

The biggest problem, as you mentioned, is with the track information. For that, I use VinylStudio, it's very effective, has Internet search lookup of various databases and will find track information and cover art for most albums. VinylStudio also has a number of click and pop filters, or even to remove hiss from tapes or motor rumble.

I don't burn a CD for every LP, my goal is to have everything in digital format and then setup a music server. But, no matter what process you use to transcribe vinyl, it has been said before and it's worth repeating. It's a lot of work, no question about it. I've done about 10% of my 1,500 albums, and do have it down to a routine.

I record 12 to 15 on the Korg, writing down a list of the recording sequential number. Then, all of the projects are transferred to my laptop with a USB connection. From there, they are converted as a background task from DSD to PCM.

After that, into VinylStudio for track information, cover art and filtering if needed.

The worst ones were my Dad's old 10 inch jazz LP's from the 40's and 50's. There's no point looking for track information, that was all entered by hand. The same thing goes for the cover art, that had to be done with a digital photo and a trip through Photoshop to crop and size. Mind you, the click and pop filter did an absolutely remarkable job of removing all that background noise and dropping the noise floor.

I looked up the specifications for the Alesis and it looks like a great unit if you want to burn a CD for every LP. If, on the other hand, you're more interested in a digital version of the LP, you may want to consider other options.

Stephen

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - Ross 05:01:04 03/14/12 (30)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - NoTechnics 09:06:53 03/16/12 (0)

There's another option.... - StephenJK 05:56:54 03/16/12 (1)

RE: There's another option.... - WOStantonCS100 06:53:12 03/16/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - Roastaman 14:07:32 03/15/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - WOStantonCS100 13:41:05 03/15/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - Marantzguy 12:51:56 03/15/12 (5)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - pguezze 08:56:40 07/15/21 (0)

the 3.5 hours thing - rlindsa 14:12:10 03/15/12 (3)

RE: the 3.5 hours thing, again! - Marantzguy 18:04:15 03/15/12 (2)

where can I buy new HDs for the Masterlink? - rlindsa 19:37:23 03/15/12 (1)

RE: where can I buy new HDs for the Masterlink? - Marantzguy 16:31:14 03/16/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - WOStantonCS100 12:48:04 03/15/12 (1)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - Monchi 15:14:27 03/15/12 (0)

I have one and it may be the best thing since sliced bread for digitizing analog sources, but... - J. S. Bach 03:56:45 03/15/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - cactuscowboy@bresnan.net 12:06:17 03/14/12 (0)

I recently bought a used one - rlindsa 11:56:05 03/14/12 (0)

RE: Is the Alesis Masterlink still the gold standard for vinyl ripping ? - Lew 06:53:42 03/14/12 (0)

Look at Pure Vinyl - bwb 06:37:38 03/14/12 (12)

Potential drawbacks.... - kuma 09:27:33 03/14/12 (8)

Not so... - Kenny B 21:59:44 03/14/12 (3)

RE: Not so... - kuma 00:33:18 03/15/12 (2)

RE: Not so... - Kenny B 15:56:21 03/15/12 (0)

RE: Not so... - Kenny B 15:40:38 03/15/12 (0)

RE: Potential drawbacks.... - bwb 11:41:08 03/14/12 (3)

Which DAC are you using to play back the 24/192 files? - kuma 12:56:38 03/14/12 (2)

RME Fireface 400 - bwb 20:36:35 03/14/12 (1)

ah..I think I've a few rips made from RME Fireface... - kuma 21:55:00 03/14/12 (0)

Especially if you don't have a Mac. - morinix 08:44:37 03/14/12 (2)

RE: Especially if you don't have a Mac. - bwb 11:44:21 03/14/12 (1)

RE: Especially if you don't have a Mac. - pguezze 08:59:33 07/15/21 (0)

Follow Ups

There's another option.... - StephenJK 05:56:54 03/16/12 (1)

RE: There's another option.... - WOStantonCS100 06:53:12 03/16/12 (0)

There's another option....

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