Earlier today my husband and I were out shopping. We went out stores like Best Buy and Future shop in the hopes of finding cables and software that would help us connect our turntable to our computer so that we can start to record our old records and digitize the music.
We didn’t find much that would help us though. Just a lot of software and items to promote your business rather than audio software. I think we’re going to have to do our shopping online for this specialty item. I know it’s something we can do … we just need to have the right RCA hook ups and software.
Have you ever attached an old turntable to your computer in order digitize old records? If so .. what equipment and software did you use to do that?
Generally speaking, you need a phono pre-amp and an audio digitizer. The path is: Turntable > Phono Stage > Digitizer > Computer. This is probably the most ideal setup. However, maybe you don’t need all of those items. . .
If your stereo receiver already has a phono input, then you don’t need to buy a pre-amp, you can just route your audio through the receiver instead. It has a phono stage built in. Likewise, many computers come with an audio input jack, so their built-in audio chips can digitize music. If that’s the case, then a simple cable is all you need: RCA plugs to connect with your receiver, and a mini-jack on the other end for your computer.
I use Amadeus Pro software for recording, but that is a Mac program only. Audacity is nearly as good, is free, and is available for just about any computer and operating system.
Digitizing can be tedious. If you want to make your music portable, then it can be worth the effort. Don’t throw out your turntable or records when you’re done, though. . . LP records are cool again, don’t ya know. 😀
Wow thanks for your very fast answer!
Actually what we’re trying to do is hook up the turntable directly to the computer … without using a receiver if at all possible since we really don’t have a stereo setup anymore. We still have our old turntable from our stereo system and tons of old records – don’t worry .. I know, LPs go in and out of style, we’ll hold onto them even if we do manage to digitize them.