I would like to copy some of my old LP and make CD's?

How can I record the audio input? I would like to copy some of my old LP and make CD's. These record/artist are not available today.

This question was answered on March 1, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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What You'll Need

You will need the following hardware and software to move your tunes from vinyl or cassette to your hard drive, and ultimately a cd rom:

- Turntable (or cassette deck if your source is cassette) My turntable is vintage '78, made by Kenwood

- Amplifier; Except for a few turnables that include an amplifier, the output from most turntables is too weak to provide an adequate signal to your sound card for recording So, if you are thinking about moving only your turntable into the same room as your computer to record albums, forget it You'll need the amplifier/receiver also

- Sound card - I use a Soundblaster Live MP3 - with a line in jack, capable of recording in stereo @ 44khz Most sound cards meet this requirement, even the built in sound chips on value priced motherboards

- A few hundred megabytes to a couple of gigabytes of disk space You will initially be converting the songs into .wav files, which require about 10mb disk space per minute of music A 40 minute album's worth of .wav files will require 400 mb of disk space, and you'll need more for editing

- Cables to get from your amplifier to the line in jack on your PC Most amplifiers will have a line out (usually connected to a tape deck) to which you can connect cables with the red and white RCA connectors The line in jack on sound cards requires a 1/8" plug, so you will need an adapter to convert from this 1/8" jack to the red and white RCA connectors on the cables plugged into your amplifier

Software to record and edit the audio signal being sent to the sound card to your hard drive If you have Windows, a sound card, and a cd writer, you probably have several choices Easy CD Creator Platinum cd writing software comes with SPIN DOCTOR for recording and Sound Editor for editing, while Nero Burning Rom, another popular cd writing program, comes with Nero Wave Editor Most soundcards include recording and editing software, and my Soundblaster Live card included SoundForge 4.5, Creative Recorder, and Creative Wave Studio As a last resort Windows offers Sound Recorder I prefer to use Spin Doctor for recording, and Nero Wave Editor or Creative Wave Studio for editing

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Posted by Felix of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on March 1, 2003

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