Converting Vinyl to Digital

zygat

... I am looking for the very best sound quality and a relatively simple process ...

Those may be mutually exclusive goals.

This is how I converted my vinyl collection to digital may years ago. It was a tedious and time-consuming process.

I purchased a Korg analog to digital converter.  I connected my turntable to a phono preamp which connected to the Korg (via rca cables) and the Korg to my computer via a USB cable. 

The Korg can convert analog to PCM or DSD digital. At the time of the conversion I could not find software to process DSD files so I was limited to PCM conversion.

I made test recordings at 44, 48, 96, 176 and 192 Khz. I could hear no differences in sound quality between the 96, 176 and 192 Khz recordings. 96Khz was more enjoyable than 48 and 44 Khz recordings. It was hard to tell the difference between the 96 Khz recordings the original vinyl. 

Using the front buttons on the Korg I would record the album to a file. Then using the Korg Audiogate software I could convert the file to 24/96 Khz and transfer it to my PC.

On the PC I used VinylStudio to process the file. First, I would look up a track listing (usually Discdogs). This would split the tracks and download album art. You then have to listen to the recording to make sure the track splits are correct and adjust as necessary. Then you apply any cleanup (remove pops) and generate a file for each track. This results in a file structure: Artist directory / Album directory / track files 1 to n.

Now you can copy the album to your music library.

You might get more responses asking this on the 'Digital' category, as this is all about digital conversion...

depends on what your budget is. I use an Antelope audio  Pure2 A to D. works very well. 

Look on the Tascam web site for a pro audio ADC. Friend uses an older model to transcript all his vinyl to digital, he stores the digital version to a CD or external hard drive. 

There is software also that can be used with a PC but its not as good IMO for the recording part anyway. That said this software in many cases separate the tracks and adds meta data (meta data being the track numbers and names). Thats the largest issue taking the single large file (1 per side) and breaking it into the separate tracks and then adding meta data. This is time consuming unless software is used and that will not be perfect.

Unless you have records that are not available in the digital domain already it’s a vert time-consuming venture. Worth it is subjective and you’ll have to decide if its worth it for you. I think if there is already a digital version, that will end up sounding better then a recording from a vinyl record.

There are some propriety devices and software out there for this but from my experience costly.

You might check out posts by John Ellison over on vinyl asylum. He uses a Tascam ADC, which is not terribly expensive, to convert his vinyl to digital and claims there is no audible difference in SQ between the original vinyl and the digital copy.

If you're looking for an activity or you have a special collection of very old rare vinyl, then this could be a great pursuit. However, it is somewhat like high end audio. Putting together a system to play music with great fidelity can take decades and cost a fortune. Converting analog to digital can be the same. It has all the potential trade offs.

I own an excellent vinyl rig (Contemporary top of the line Linn LP12 ~ $45K) and 2,000 vinyl records in pristine condition... many are audiophile pressings. My streaming leg of my system sounds just as good often better with high resolution recordings and I have access to millions of albums (half a million are high resolution) for $14 / month (Qobuz). So, when I thought about recording my vinyl I would have just invested the money in upgrading my DAC or streamer and making streaming sound better. 

Of course that is me, and we are in this pursuit for different reasons. You may really enjoy the process. Have fun. 

I bought a TT that had a digital output and yes it works, but the software was horrible and the software was horrible!  Also the turntables are not quality, so if you’re looking for a perfect copy, you ain’t going to get it. 
I haven’t looked in a while, but do they make a box that you plug your TT into and it converts the signal into a high quality file?

The  newer software has to be better, but it still is going to be slow.

Some readers might appreciate an observation about the budget-friendly side of A to D. Years ago I bought a Behringer U-Control UCA222 convertor. It cost less than $70. Reliability is perfect so far, and the quality of the recordings it makes are good. It is limited to 48kHz/16bit. I process the digitized music with Audacity, which is free.  Despite the lowish resolution, I have made vinyl-to-FLAC conversions with it that sound more lifelike than commercially-available SACD versions of the same record. Just as not all vinyl recordings are mastered well, not all commercial high-res music recordings are mastered well. My $0.02.

“If you're looking for an activity or you have a special collection of very old rare vinyl, then this could be a great pursuit. However, it is somewhat like high end audio. Putting together a system to play music with great fidelity can take decades and cost a fortune. Converting analog to digital can be the same. It has all the potential trade offs.”

@ghdprentice nailed it. 

I once visited a gentleman who had digitized his entire vinyl collection. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed. Something about the process, seems to strip away the soul of the music. When you digitize, no matter how good the gear, you’re inevitably “flattening” something that was meant to live in the analog domain.

Vinyl is alive in a way digital just can’t quite capture — the ritual, the warmth, even the imperfections. Digitizing feels a bit like trying to bottle up nature’s beauty… you get the image, but not the essence. Some if you may disagree with this assertion but that’s been my experience. I enjoy it all…records, cd’s and streaming. 

If I were in OP shoes, I’d invest in a solid digital streaming platform first and then store the records away for six months before letting them go. That way, you’ll know for sure whether you miss the ritual and sound of records before making a permanent decision. No sense in regretting walking away from something you might still love and enjoy. 

I use Rega mini phono out to windows pc running audacity, CD res + stereo.  In audacity I apply click filter and dynamic range normalization. Then export to disk and tag using Picard auto tagging where possible or manual tag editor included in dbpoweramp if needed.   Sound quality is top notch.  You need to make sure the usb driver used supports cd res streaming which should not be a problem with most newer PCs. 
 

Once you get the process down it is pretty fast and easy.   Most time is spent playing the record.  
 

Good luck!