Recommended Equipment to rip vinyl

[mitchco]

I just have to say that I don't spin vinyl and don't intend to, but what an incredibly well written article.

 

Congratulations Mitchco, for a super piece, and to you too, Chris, for enlisting Mitcho. I hope you two can collaborate on more articles like this one.

 

These kinds of pieces are one of the greatest bonuses of following CA.

 

Joel

 

Joel, thanks for the kind words. It's all fun to me and there will be more articles.

 

Cheers!

 

Mitch

[dtc]

I have looked at the Korg and Tascam but am really looking for a lower cost ADC. Anyone have experience with the Kork MR-2 or the HRT Line Streamer? The MR-2 looks like a low cost portable MR2000s, but the question is how much is sacrificed for the lower cost.

[bluesman]

The TASCAM US122 Mk II is a $100 ADC (96k/24b) that works well and sounds fine - it's great value. I've used many TASCAM ADCs over the years, including the 144 and other "little ones". I currently use a US-1800, which works well and sounds fine to me. The HRT Linestreamer (also 96/24 if I remember correctly) is over $300 but the reviews seem very positive (I haven't heard one).

 

The Korg MR2 is a really great little recorder at a street price of about $700. From the specs, it will sound significantly better than a 96/24 device with the right sources and methods. Whether you'll achieve that depends on how and with what you use it. I'd love to have one.

[dtc]

Thanks Bluesman. I should have provided more detail. I was thinking of the TASCAM DV-RA1000HD or the Korg MR-2000. But the prices are high. So, I am also looking at the MR-2 as a lower price option. My system is a VPI Scout with a Benz Ebony TR and a Linn Linto phonostage. Playback is Cary SLP-05 pre, Levinson 432 amp and Sonus Faber Cremona speakers. I am particularly interested in DSD as an option, which means the MR-2 is the only option below $1,000, at least the only one I know of. To match my system I should probably just get the Korg, but I am not sure how am going to like the digitized version vs. the LP and how dedicated I am going to be to the process.

 

Thanks for any advise.

[bluesman]

You have a wonderful system, and the benefits of DSD should be readily apparent through it. Whether you'll prefer the sound of vinyl to the digital facsimile is only determinable by you and only through experience. When I was actively experimenting, my approach was to buy to try and resell if I didn't like it. There's always a good market for high quality equipment that's in like-new condition with boxes, manuals etc. The loss of 15% or so is the cost of education, and I always found it to be well worth spending.

 

The process of digitizing vinyl is labor-intense, even with great software. I soon decided that the pleasure of vinyl for me is the combined experience of putting the platter on the turntable, manually placing the stylus, and sitting with my system while I listen to the music. I love to read the liner notes and look at the album art. I listen through the pops, clicks, and other extraneous noise inherent in a mechanically vibrating transducer trying to mirror an imperfect surface. And I love it! But it's simply not the same for me when listening to the FLAC.

 

So I enjoy my vinyl when I'm in the mood for the experience. When I just want to listen, FLACs are excellent. There's room in my world for both because they're different. If you find yourself with a clear preference, that's great - but you may also discover yet another way to enjoy music, and keep both in your stable.

[Mike27]

I disagree with the premise that it is necessary to spend thousands on the vinyl front end. Optimizing what one has, however, is crucial. I've achieved quite serviceable results with a fairly pedestrian setup consisting of a bone stock Technics 1200/II (puts on flame retardant suit) with Ortofon OM series MM cartridge (several styli on hand) through an inexpensive Rane PS-1 preamp (sadly now discontinued.) Proper setup and alignment, clean records, and clean stylus are crucial. If it sounds good "live" it will work. Many are fans of the Rega line (I have a NAD 533, variant of the P2, in the main system and it works fine.)

 

You do want a good A/D converter. Most built-in soundcards aren't that great even if they do claim 24 bit resolution. The one in the cheap Dell I'm using is quite noisy. I was lucky that a friend tossed an M-Audio 24/96 when upgrading his PC. I'd consider that a bare minimum...

 

There's no downplaying the effort involved. But with practice one develops a workflow that minimizes the time required. I spend a few evenings just playing records into the PC, saving raw files for later cleanup and editing. Then on other evenings, or the occasional Saturday, several hours focused work editing result in a new batch of files. I then make CDs for final checking, to see if I've missed any bad things, revisiting individual tracks as needed until done. It probably averages to about an hour per album.

 

But then I have a lot of records collected over 45 years, and no burning desire to purchase them again. So I look at it as saving a few bucks while enjoying my collection all over again, with the added bonus that I can clean up some discs that are too damaged to be otherwise enjoyable. If I were starting with no records, the equation would be radically different...

 

Good luck!

Mike

[HerculesVR]

Prism sound Orpheus is good choose which built-in RIAA de-emphasis filter and high quality digital control gain pre-amplifier.

 

Enjoy.