11/17/2019 Beginnner's Guide To Recording Vinyl Into Your Computer – TurntableLab.

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BEGINNNER'S GUIDE TO RECORDING VINYL INTO YOUR COMPUTER

Beginner's Guide To Recording / Ripping Vinyl Into Your Computer

JUMP TO

1 . 0 Get Familiar W i t h Y o u r T u r n t a b l e S e t u p

2 . 0 Will You Need A n A u d i o I n t e r f a c e T o R e c o r d V i n y l ?

3 . 0 What Software S h o u l d I U s e T o R e c o r d V i n y l ?

4 . 0 Recording Basi c s

5 . 0 How To Create I n d i v i d u a l T r a c k s / S o n g s

6 . 0 Editing Audio

7 . 0 Recording Sett i n g s + M P 3 s + F i l e T y p e s

1.0 Get Familiar With Your Turntable Setup

Please read our Beginner's Guide To Turntable Setups rst. After reading that, you'll
know what equipment you'll need, especially if you need a preamp or not. For

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11/17/2019 Beginnner's Guide To Recording Vinyl Into Your Computer – TurntableLab.com

recording, the only additional component you'll need is recording software.

2.0 Will You Need An Audio Interface To Record Vinyl?

No. An audio interface is not necessary to record vinyl into your computer. The
exception is if your turntable does not have a USB output AND your computer ONLY
has a USB input (many computers have an 1/8" input).

A case can be made to use an Audio Interface even if you technically don't need one.
If you want your recordings for music production, digital DJing or critical listening,
you probably want an Audio Interface to your setup to assure optimal sound quality
transfer. You can read our Guide To Audio Interfaces here.

3.0 What Software Should I Use To Record Vinyl?

fo r Macs, Ga r age Band will w o r k f i n e .

A u d a city is a free downloa d a b l e p r o g r a m t h a t w o r k s o n b o t h P C a n d M A C

4.0 Recording Basics

C o n n ect your turnt a b l e o u t p u t t o y o u r c o m p u t e r ' s 1 / 8 " a u d i o i n p u t o r USB input.

L a u n ch your progra m a n d c r e a t e a n e w f i l e .

S e l e ct the appropr i a t e i n p u t s o u r c e ( 1 / 8 " o r U S B ) i n t h e p r o g r a m p r e ferences.

Te s t play your rec o r d a n d m a k e s u r e t h e i n p u t l e v e l s d o n o t r e a c h " r e d ", adjust

in p u t volume if ne c e s s a r y .

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11/17/2019 Beginnner's Guide To Recording Vinyl Into Your Computer – TurntableLab.com

C l i c k "Record" and o n c e y o u a r e f i n i s h e d h i t " S t o p " .

If u s ing Audacity go t o t h e " F i l e " me n u a n d s e l e c t " E x p o r t t o M P 3 " .

If u s ing Garageban d g o t o t h e " F i l e " m e n u a n d s e l e c t " S a v e A s " . T h e default file

type is AAC.

5.0 How To Create Individual Tracks / Songs

Please note, recording software does not automate the creation of separate tracks.
The rst method to record a track is to record one track at a time and save them
individually. The second method is to record a whole side of an album, then edit and
save them as individual tracks.

6.0 Editing Audio

Editing audio in a recording program is easy to learn and that does not take much
time. Play around with highlighting di erent sections of your recording (represented
by the waveform). You can easily identify the beginning and ends of songs by reading
the waveform. Highlight a section and you can delete it like you would a text
document. If you prefer copying and pasting: copy, create a new le and paste into
that le. Lastly, "Export to MP3" or "Save As".

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11/17/2019 Beginnner's Guide To Recording Vinyl Into Your Computer – TurntableLab.com

7.0 Recording Settings + MP3s + File Types

F o r CD quality rec o r d i n g , w e r e c o m m e n d 4 4 . 1 k H z / 1 6 B i t f o r y o u r i n put settings.

G e n e ral maximum q u a l i t y f o r m o s t re c o r d i n g s i s 9 6 k H z / 2 4 B i t , b u t t h is will create

a v e ry large file.

F o r exporting your r e c o r d i n g t o M P 3 w e r e c o m m e n d 3 2 0 k b p s K P S ( D J quality). FYI,

iTun e s files are 256 k b p s .

M P 3 s optimize an d c o m p r e s s f i l e s iz e .

M P 3 s allow you to s t o r e I D 3 t a g i n f o s u c h a s A r t i s t , T i t l e , L a b e l , T r a c k Number,

C o m p ose, Year, etc .

W A V and AIFF files d o n o t o f f e r c o m p r e s s i o n a n d w i l l h a v e v e r y l a r g e f ile size.

W A V and AIFF files d o n o t s t o r e I D 3 t a g i n f o a n d w i l l n o t t r a n s f e r a d d i t ional info

(h o w ever, iTunes w i l l a l l o w y o u t o s t o r e t h e i n f o ) .

O n c e you have ed i t e d a n d s a v e d y ou r a u d i o f i l e s , j u s t d r a g t h e f i l e s f r o m the folder

yo u have saved the m t o i n t o i T u n e s . O n c e t h e f i l e s a p p e a r i n t h e t r a c k list, right click
+ " g et info" and f i l l i n i n f o s u c h a s A r t i s t , T r a c k T i t l e , L a b e l , Y e a r , e t c.

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