Ripping vinyl

If you digitally record vinyl records do they sound different or the same? And, why?

[Bassotronics]

For the love of God, never rip audio to a lossy digital format.
Always use WAV / FLAC or other non-compressed formats. The snap crackle pop of vinyl can already be bad enough so you do not want to add on top of that artifacts inherent in low bitrate digital formats.

[CarlosRodriguez-hueb]

I use VInyl Studio to Rip my records. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I have used this method as it was recommended early on by folks conducting seminars at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest almost 20 years ago. I have a collection of over 2, 000 records. That is just a fraction of what I owned decades ago as a DJ. Nonetheless, I have been selective ripping my collection and have reduced my rips to roughly half. The interface for the program has changed over the years . It remains #1 in my opinion over most others. It does most of the work for you including dividing tracks, looking up tracks and artist info and album art work to name a few. It offers Wav, Flac, Alac and DSD conversions for the varied listeners.

[arwlyx]

I love listening to vinyl rips in DSD, specially when the wow and popping is very minimal. It does sound less harsh compared to CD albums.

[hugobloemers]

You can rip the sound but not the experience :)

[caspermaster-com]

Music producer Eric Valentine did this (he has a YT channel showing it) He sent a dynamic master to the a vinyl press and recorded the vinyl back into digital format, and finished the master, equaled out the frequency response a bit with a digital eq and released it digitally. It sounds very pleasing as the vinyl replaces, to some extent, pure high end frequencies with harmonics and makes it sound smoother warmer and more pleasing to the ear, at least to my ear and his.

[preiter]

I bought Temporary Circumstances by Jessica Carson from Octave Records on SACD. Playing this on a cheapie Sony SACD/Blu-ray player through my Vandersteen 2C's is an other-worldly experience. I can't imagine that an LP can compare to this recording.

[spacemissing]

Shure M91ED on a Dual 1219 (force set at 1.25g),
"black box" (Stan Warren one-off) version of a PS Audio PSII,
Philips CDR820 recorder, Maxell CD-R.
Every CD made with this combination sounds Identical to playing the record directly ---
pops, ticks, rumble, wow, flutter, and all.
I do pull the spindle and center most records manually
because the pressing plants didn't make many of them perfectly concentric.

[oldskool]

I like when people bash analog vinyl so prices can come down !! :)

[johnnytoobad]

Back in the day..I would "RIP" selective tracks from new records from an SME/Shure arm/cartridge combination to open reel tape on a Revox_A77 using an "outboard" Dolby unit (Advent 100A). The idea was to capture the sound of the record BEFORE it got worn or scratched. I almost always liked the sound of the played tape better than the sound of the original record being played. Can't explain why. Still using that SME 3009 tonearm. Trashed the guts of the Dolby unit for the chassis though. Still have many of those tapes...never play them anymore though.

[bandogbone]

I have a fan-less disk-less "industrial" computer as my main PC at home, so it is completely silent. Once I've ripped tracks from vinyl or CD, usually in 24/96 to flac, I keep it in that format and do not burn audio CDs, and copy selected flac files to my phone for travel. I archive the files to DVD-R and external USB drives for safekeeping, but play directly from the 'puter for regular listening. A good interface and powered pro monitors work well enough for me. Most of my music is classical solo piano, which I study for my own playing -- no time for "entertainment"! Solo piano has a much larger dynamic range than other music, as I've learned from trying to record my own grand, and is particularly sensitive to phase distortion between channels (even in the ultrasonic range), so compressed formats like MP3 immediately sound horrible by comparison.

[donpayne]

I like CD's much more than vinyl.

[zulumax]

Although digital has the potential of 100db or more of dynamic range, you will not find anyone taking advantage of it, or very rare. Most commercial recordings have a limited dynamic range of 10db or at best 20db, not counting total silence between tracks. I have a DSD Telarc SACD 50kHz Master transfer of Tchaikovsky 1812 overture with live cannon. That of course is an exception. I have the vinyl record as well, but most turntables won't or can't track the groove without skipping. The best CD for dynamic range I have found is Flim and the BB's Big Notes last song "Born to Love You". That is the song I would play when I get a chance to hear the Infinity IRS V. Some very very low shuddering bass in there as well.

[granttaylor]

Do not forget about cassette tapes, they are just as good vinyl, I have recorded up to 80 dB of dynamic range on analog tape, with my new digital bias system. This has been done by using an analog compandor, to bring the the 80 dB to 40 dB, using standard 2 to 1 ratio, and this is done in conjunction with my new adaptive noise reduction system. If you like Paul I can send you information to you/or PS audio on how this all works? as there are many new improvement been done with these older analog technologies, and therefore there is still a place for these older analog formats today.

[hxhdfjifzirstc]

The most important thing to understand is the difference between reference level in analog versus digital meters. For example, 0dB/+4dB on your analog equipment is calibrated to around -18dBFS (decibels 'full scale') in the digital realm. This gives digital about 18dB of excess headroom for analog peaks, as it is being converted to digital. MANY people simply crank up their analog gear louder and louder, until the digital meter shows as close to 0 dBFS as possible. This is basically running your analog gear at around +18dB (instead of about +4dB).

If you don't already know what I'm talking about, make this an immediate priority to learn. It's the single most important thing when dealing with analog/digital interactions.

And YES. Rip your vinyl ASAP... maybe something like 24/88 in case you ever decide to downsample to burn a CD. Once you sample it, you're not wearing out your record collection just by listening to it. Rip it once and then store/preserve it.

[KateAustinTx]

I do love Vinyl. I have an Equalizer between my stereo components and my analog to digital component before going into my computer, so I can adjust the sound to my liking's.
I like more bass and less treble. The high tones hurts my ears. The Vinyl records has "high" ends AND "low" ends that CD's cut out. And by digitizing them, you can put unlimited music
on a thumbdrive for you car stereo... Save your CD's, Vinyl's, and Cassette's as back-ups, just in-case you digital music get corrupted.

[robertporter]

I use Diamond Cut DC8.5 it has all tools you need and then some! Great for tape too. Z.K.

[markstewart]

Looks like a nice Turntable you have their Paul.👍💙

[andershammer]

The digital copy of an LP is close but not quite as good.
I've burned many CDs from LPs. Few CDs have the dynamic range of a direct to disc LP. And then there are DBX records with no noise and 100dB of dynamic range. I have about 20 of them.

[TheMirolab]

Paul mentions ripping software, but completely ignored the hardware part. You also need quality A/D converters, which the average person does not have. The one's built into a computer are just OK, but likely won't capture what high-end vinyl sounds like. Otherwise, I totally agree with Paul. If you have a decent Studio Quality audio interface, and record your vinyl at 24/96, you would not be able to tell the difference between the two. But I never do that. I just play my records.

[finscreenname]

I bought a ION turntable years ago at Costco that you can either use the RCA's or a USB output. Ripped a few Albums from it that I just didn't want to rebuy or they may have never came out on CD.