I have just added a turntable after being a digital guy for years. I would like to rip several albums, which are not available as CDs or SACDs, so I can use them with Roon. I am having a hard time coming up to speed with what will work.
There are few ADCs that I can find… and even fewer with USB out. Do any of you guys do needledrops, if so what are you using?
There are a couple of Pro-ject models with a USB output that are decently rated, as well as the NAD pp4.
Hi huang,
I don’t do needle drops, but in regards to the kind of equipment you would need, you would need a phono stage with an analogue-to-digital converter. Then something to actually record.
Project do a box called the Record Box E. This has a USB output, so you would plug that into your computer, and use software such as Reaper or Audacity. This won’t track split automatically, so you might have to do some copy and pasting, using the silence between tracks (oooooh, there’s an album name…) as a guide.
And Mr Benoit beat me to Project (and hyphenated it correctly to boot!)
Another phono stage with USB output is the rega:
But there are other ways of doing this. If you have an old school PC with/without soundcard, you can take the tape-outs to the audio inputs of the PC. Or you can use pro/semi-pro audio interfaces. There are many many examples. But here is a cheap one to experiment, also using the tape-outs of your amp.
And of course software as well.
And a recommendation for VinylStudio software (alpinesoft.co.uk) to record the needledrops to your PC or Mac.
Sweetvinyl has several plug and rip type products that can be used with or without a PC for ripping vinyl. It also does pop and click removal. I have their original (now discontinued) SC-2 and it works quite well. Installs between my TT and the preamp. You can rip while you listen to any LP. They are expensive so may not be worth it for a few LPs but I have a large collection, so it was worth it for me.
Thanks so much for the suggestions, I guess my Google-fu is lacking. A little about my system:
Turntable: VPI Scoutmaster
Cartridge: Ortofon Quintet Black
Pre amp: PS Audio Stellar Phono
Amp: Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III
Speakers: Klispch Heresy III.
Software: VinylStudio
I was thinking I could use the line out of the phono-pre into a good ADC and USB to my PC which is why I was looking for a USB out.
I have about 50 LPs so far, just kind of dipping my toes in the water. I believe I have made decent… not super awesome equipment decisions for this system. I will investigate the suggestions made so far, and if some more ADCs with USB out come to mind please let me know. I am not opposed to used equipment either.
I use a Benchmark ADC1 analog to digital converter which I purchased last year for $495 on Audiogon. Works well for 24/192 archiving of vinyl and cassette tapes! JCR
The Benchmark mentioned by Jeffrey Robbins is very good, but discontinued. I’ll also point to https://www.analogplanet.com/content/analog-digital-converter-files-identified-converters-profiled which is an old story now, but still contains valuable information.
So most of the ADs here are only available second hand, maybe apart from the HRT which seems current.
Merging has some high quality AD converters (expensive) using the same AD chip as Ayre QA-9
It seems many of the units have been discontinued which I find odd, with more and more people using digital it seems natural to me to want the best of both worlds. Perhaps the ADCs were ahead of their time. One reason I started this thread was most ADCs I found were either discontinued, or designed for the guitar, music making audience.
I agree with both of your suggestions. ADCs for vinyl ripping did not get the full market appeal, I think, partly because much of the ‘back catalogue’ has become available as CDs or downloads/streaming.
As this is the Roon forum, lack of an ‘input device’ in Roon limits you to either local files or streaming, not live playback of digitized vinyl…
You CAN do live live playback of digitized vinyl through Roon at up to 16/192 resolution by setting up a free private internet radio station in Roon using Icecast and then serving it up through a free source client named BUTT. Of course, you still need the ADC and a sound card to get the ADC’s digital output into your server. (I use a Lynx AES16e card.)
It also MAY work using HQPlayer — I’m testing that now to see if I can get it to work at 24/192.
The Music Hall pa2.2 is an inexpensive ADC for 24/96 and is still available. JCR
Don’t discount these. The ‘pro audio’ market doesn’t carry the ‘audiophile’ markup, so you could get pretty good performance without spending a huge amount of cash. You probably won’t find rca sockets, but suitable cables aren’t hard to find. You won’t need mic preamps but most interfaces have line level inputs too. Google Focusrite Scarlett for the sort of device I mean…
The Music Hall pa2.2 is new to me. Very interesting, thanks!
I think the lack of demand in the home user world is ripping an album is a lot of work, as you know if you’ve used VinylStudio, especially if you want to do individual track splitting. It also can’t be done quickly, like ripping a CD. You have to play both sides of the LP in real time. So it’s an easy hour per record to get through the complete process.
I have a Music Hall pa2.2 that I am planning to sell since I got the Benchmark. Maybe you want to pm me if you’d like to buy it. It’s essentially new. JCR
My son-in-law recently ripped two LP’s for me and sent me 4 large flac files. I used Audacity to break down the files into individual tracks and create two albums in Roon. I found the album cover art work on Discogs. While it was not a difficult process, I would not want to do a bunch of them.
Wow so much good information, I want to thank the august body here. I should have thought of starting a thread here earlier. While I can not undrink all the beer I consumed while researching this subject I am happy to report that the link to Analog planet ogs provided led me to search for a M2TECH Joplin, which I found used as new (we’ll see) on Amazon for $500, which I promptly ordered.
I know this is possible, but it requires quite a bit of tinkering. I’ve been waiting for someone to come up with a ready made solution for this (like a special version/mode in DietPi or RoPieee + a ADC HAT)
Don’t hold your breath, then. But, if you run your Roon core on a Windows machine, it is actually not more than 30 minutes to setup. This from me, who spent hours setting it up but now realize it isn’t difficult at all. Once setup, you permanently run Icecast and BUTT in the background and simply start play on your phonograph radio station in Roon — which has your convolution filters running there — before the needle drop. You should try it. Read the thread below over at the Audiolense forum, starting with my first post at March 5, and it will show you what to do. My arrangement is slightly more complex because I run WS2019 and not just W10. JCR
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/audiolense/FDaTXRHQopg