Vinyl ripping

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Getting Started

You will need the following things:

  • Vinyl record. Clean and in as good a condition as possible.
  • Turntable. Make sure it has a good stereo balance. You may have to repair the connector cables if it doesn't. Also, buy the most expensive needle you can find.
  • Phono Preamp. A phono preamp is basically the part of a receiver that makes your record loud enough for your speakers, inside a tiny case. Make sure the one you buy includes an RCA > 1/8th converter, or you will have to get one at an electronic components shop. The adaptor will let you connect your preamp to your computer's line-in jack. I bought mine from here.
  • Audacity. Audacity is a very easy to use, open source audio editor. You can download it here for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Audacity will be recording your vinyl to WAV.
  • FLAC. FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. It is the best lossless audio compression algorithm available for various reasons (e.g. it's Open Source, so no licensing; and it has wide support among operating systems). You can download FLAC here.

1 Comment

#1Q912021-11-26 15:47

I wish to add that you can use other software like Magix Audio Cleaning Lab to clean out a vinyl rip even further. Just don't use any default settings, as they aren't exactly meant for techno music. Using the default settings for Crackle and Pops will ruin the highs as well as acid-lines. Using any settings in moderation will heavily enhance a vinyl rip that might not be cleanable on the source itself.

Another good practice is to record around -10dB (if you want to go higher, don't go beyond -5dB unless you already know where the limit is) and then use Audacity (or other software) to normalize.

Another good software for recording is Sony/Magix Sound Forge. While this does cost a little more, a Magix software bundle occasionally pops up on Humble Bundle for fairly cheap.