Novice, Digitizing Vinyl & 78s - Seeking Equipment Recommendations

[scholarly-donut]

Hello,
I am currently in the process of digitizing a lot of older (1950's & earlier) media to archive online. We are starting with vinyl (33 1/3 & 45) and 78s.

We do not have any record players that are capable of playing 78s currently, so we were looking to buy a 3-speed turntable with a detachable cartridge/stylus. This turntable was recommended on an old Reddit post on 78 turntables, so we were wondering if anyone could vouch for this turntable or perhaps recommend a better one.

In terms of pre-amps and A/Ds, we have a Radial J33 Phono Preamp & DI and a Solid State Logic 2-in/2-out USB audio interface. Is there one that is better than the other/more suitable for recording the audio of a vinyl/78 and converting it to a digital format on a laptop/computer?

As someone who has never digitized these kind of materials before, I'm not really sure where to start. I can provide more information if necessary.
Thanks.

 

[Nicoff]

Here’s ChatGPT response:
Digitizing your vinyl record collection can be a rewarding project that preserves your music in a convenient digital format. Here are some tips and recommendations for both hardware and software to help you get started:

### Hardware

1. **Turntable**:
- Ensure you have a high-quality turntable with a good cartridge and needle. For 78rpm records, you might need a turntable that supports 78rpm playback and possibly a special stylus designed for 78rpm grooves.
- **Recommended Turntables**:
- Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB (supports 33-1/3, 45, and 78rpm)
- Fluance RT82 (requires an additional preamp)

2. **Preamp**:
- A preamp is essential to boost the signal from the turntable to a level suitable for recording. Some turntables have built-in preamps.
- **Recommended Preamps**:
- Art DJPRE II Phono Preamp
- Pro-Ject Phono Box MM

3. **Audio Interface**:
- If your turntable or preamp does not have a USB output, you'll need an audio interface to connect to your computer.
- **Recommended Audio Interfaces**:
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
- Behringer UMC22

4. **Cables**:
- Ensure you have quality RCA cables and USB cables to connect all your components.

### Software

1. **Audacity**:
- A free, open-source audio recording and editing software. It’s user-friendly and widely used for digitizing vinyl records.
- Features include noise reduction, click/pop removal, and various audio effects.

2. **VinylStudio**:
- A dedicated program for digitizing vinyl and cassette tapes. It offers advanced features for track splitting, album cover lookup, and more.
- Available for both Windows and Mac.

3. **Pure Vinyl**:
- For Mac users, this software provides a comprehensive solution for vinyl recording, with features like high-quality RIAA equalization, click/pop removal, and more.

### Steps for Digitizing Your Vinyl

1. **Setup**:
- Connect your turntable to the preamp (if needed), then connect the preamp to your audio interface, and finally connect the audio interface to your computer.
- Install and configure your chosen software.

2. **Recording**:
- Clean your records to minimize noise.
- Set the correct speed (33-1/3 or 78rpm) on your turntable.
- Start recording in your software. Record the entire side of the album without stopping.
- Repeat for each side of the records.

3. **Post-Processing**:
- Use software tools to remove clicks, pops, and other noise.
- Normalize the audio to ensure consistent volume levels.
- Split the recording into individual tracks.
- Add metadata such as artist, album, track names, and album artwork.

4. **Exporting**:
- Export your tracks to your preferred format (e.g., MP3, FLAC, WAV).
- Organize your digital library on your computer.

### Additional Tips

- **Backup your digital files**: Store copies on external drives or cloud storage to prevent data loss.
- **Regular maintenance**: Clean your turntable and stylus regularly to ensure the best sound quality.
- **Experiment with settings**: Different records may require adjustments in recording levels or software settings for optimal results.

By following these guidelines and using the recommended tools, you can successfully digitize your record collection while preserving the quality and integrity of your music.

 

[DVDdoug]

,we were looking to buy a 3-speed turntable with a detachable cartridge/stylus.

So, I guess you know that 78's need a different stylus. The easiest thing is to have a 2nd cartridge & headshell with a 78 stylus that you can swap-in.

This turntable was recommended

If I were buying a turntable, that's probably the one I'd buy. It's got a built-in preamp (which you can bypass if you already have one that you want to use), it's got USB for digitizing, and it's direct drive so there are no belts or rubber drive wheels to wear out. It also comes ready-to-play with a cartridge, whereas with "traditional" turntables, the cartridge has to be purchased separately. And IMO, it's not "too cheap" or "crazy expensive".

in terms of pre-amps and A/Ds, we have a Radial J33 Phono Preamp & DI and a Solid State Logic 2-in/2-out USB audio interface.

You don't need that with a USB turntable. A potential advantage with the audio interface is that it has a recording level, whereas the turntable's USB output is not adjustable. But digital recording levels aren't critical as long as you are not clipping. If you remember analog tape you wanted a hot signal to overcome tape noise, but it's not an issue with digital and there is no quality loss if you amplify after digitizing. Tape was more forgiving on the loud side and if you occasionally went "into the red" it would soft-clip. Digital is hard-limited to 0dB and it will hard-clip if you try to go over.

The equalization curves are different for 78's than LPs. The standard RIAA equalization curve didn't exist yet so there was no one-standard. You'll need to EQ for the difference between the RIAA EQ and 78 EQ. Then, you'll probably want to EQ a bit more by-ear. Or, maybe just do the whole thing by-ear.

Here is something I found about 78 equalization.

BTW - If you play at 45 (or 33) RPM and speed it up digitally, that further fouls-up the EQ so it is better to get a 78 RPM player.

This page has tons of information about digitizing and cleaning-up the digitized copy. It hasn't been updated in almost 2 decades (!) so although most of the information still applies, some of the software may no longer exist and I'm sure some of the links are dead.

The author of that page is the developer of Wave Repair ($30 USD) which is a tool for fixing-up clicks & pops. It does a great job on most (but not all) clicks & pops, but it's manual and it's VERY time consuming. On the upside, it only "touches" the audio where you identify a defect. It has a few repair modes, including one that copies from the good channel to the bad channel. (Usually the defect is only in one channel, or sometimes the left & right clicks are a bit offset in time.) With stereo records you don't usually notice the loss of stereo for a few milliseconds, and it's "perfect" for mono 78's. I have another totally automatic (and free) de-clicker called Wave Corrector. Audacity also a couple of "clean-up" tools built-in.

 

[Robin L]

I've transferred a lot of 78s. It might seem counterintuitive, but old Garrard or BSR turntables with flip over ceramic cartridges supply a line-level signal without the RIAA EQ. RIAA is for LPs, 78s had a lot of different eq adjustments. I'd take the signal from the turntable, record via a handheld digital recorder and make adjustments with Audacity. I used Click Repair to reduce clicks and pops. However, in the past I found that recording into a cassette deck both reduced the level of clicks and pops and cut the surface noise.

 

[Nicoff]

However, in the past I found that recording into a cassette deck both reduced the level of clicks and pops and cut the surface noise.

My experience as well (using Dolby C)

 

[Audiofire]

Dolby C

Possibly analog frequency response of cassette decks with soft clipping that reduces audio spikes (clicks and pops) too. Or so I've been told. What do others think?

 

[Robin L]

Possibly analog frequency response of cassette decks with soft clipping that reduces audio spikes (clicks and pops) too. Or so I've been told. What do others think?

There's also the way tape (all analog tape) saturates first in the high frequencies. I've had as good luck without Dolby as with. The background hiss level doesn't matter all that much with 78 sources.

Forgot to mention this, but Click Repair also helped with 78 and LP sources.

 

[scholarly-donut]

So, I guess you know that 78's need a different stylus. The easiest thing is to have a 2nd cartridge & headshell with a 78 stylus that you can swap-in.

Thank you for all the advice! Do you have any specific brands/types of cartridges/headshells/stylus you recommend, or are there any specific models I need to get for that specific turntable?

 

[Robin L]

Thank you for all the advice! Do you have any specific brands/types of cartridges/headshells/stylus you recommend, or are there any specific models I need to get for that specific turntable?

If you're getting the recommended Audio Technica turntable the built-in cartridge is the Audio-Technica AT-VM95E. The VMN95SP is the stylus for that cartridge that is designed to play back 78s. Again, I prefer ceramic cartridges as phono preamps (including the one that's part of that AT turntable) use RIAA, which would make the 78s sound both boomy and dull. However, the Audio Technica VM-95 series is an excellent moving magnet platform for a wide variety of styli. Recording in 24 bits, allowing for a lot of headroom, makes extreme eq adjustments possible.

 

[stringer]

I have been digitizing all of my 45s.
Here is my setup:
Cheap Turntable I salvaged from eBay
ART USB Phono Plus bought used from eBay
Laptop with Audacity
I have been using the built in Audacity click remover and then exporting to mp3 format and saving on my home network.
I also loaded everything up on an old Android phone for use in the car.


The nice thing about the ART device is that it has a toggle for phono / line. So it works with either type of signal. I am very happy with it.

 

[AnalogSteph]

In terms of pre-amps and A/Ds, we have a Radial J33 Phono Preamp & DI and a Solid State Logic 2-in/2-out USB audio interface. Is there one that is better than the other/more suitable for recording the audio of a vinyl/78 and converting it to a digital format on a laptop/computer?

These look more than fine.

Some more tips:
Take note of the channel balance of your cartridges and correct relative levels (pan) accordingly.

On a mono record, simply summing L and R to mono generally works decently, however something like the Voice Cut Filter DSP for Foobar2000 (foo_dsp_centercut) tends to be substantially more effective in reducing L-R noise, turning a crackly old record into perfectly quiet affair. A 64-bit version is available. Audacity comes with a vocal reduction and isolation effect, I couldn't tell you offhand whether that's as good. (My focus at the time was more on cleaning up a lossy stereo rip at playback, which was all I had of this super obscure record.)