LPs

[dyn]

so i just moved out of my parents' place, and with me they sent their (sizeable) LP collection and a USB turntable. the clear implication being that i should rip the records to CD and then sell them or give them away.

the problem is i have no idea how to take care of LPs, having lived with CDs for basically all my life

whenever i play back a record, it produces little crackles and pops, regardless of how carefully i clear the dust off with an antistatic cloth (i assume that's what you have to do, anyway). do i need to clean the records more thoroughly? i have a bottle of isopropanol lens cleaning solution if that would work. should i look into acquiring a replacement needle (i have no idea how old this needle is) or is that just an inevitable artifact of the pressing? are there stores where you can buy record cleaning supplies or do they have to be ordered online? if the sound quality is shit, can i fix it or has the damage already been done by the ravages of time?

[SonicMan46]

Hi Dyn - I'll start the 'ball rolling' for you - first, I no longer have LPs (went 'cold turkey' in '84 w/ the purchase of my first CD player), and am not an expert in this area; second, one of the most important parts of this 'assigned' project is the amount of TIME you will invest and whether that time is worth your effort? 

So, here are some initial questions that you should answer for more specific advice:  1) How many LPs are you talking about? 2) Do your parents want CDs of all of these LPs? 3) If the answer to the second question is NO, then are you interested in the music on the LPs; and 4) What is the condition of these LPs - sounds like many are worn?

If you are not interested in much of this music, if the LPs in general are worn, and your parents do not want CD copies, then why bother?  You are not likely to get any substantial amount for these records, although others here who still collect & enjoy LPs may have a better estimate regarding the value of this collection - my guess would be not worth a lot.

NOW, if you like the music and your parents do WANT CDs (and the LPs are in good condition), then there are certainly hardware and software combinations that can extract this music w/ corrections for the 'pops' and other analog artifacts that exist w/ this transformation to digital storage, BUT there will be a learning curve that will take time and equipment/money.

Please respond if you still want to proceed - others here (not me) who have done this type of LP to digital transfer will likely have advice - good luck! 

[dyn]

well i started with the instructions on a kit that came with the record player—downloaded Audacity, plugged the device in, went through a few records (you do have to play back all the way through, sure, but i don't mind that much) and noticed problems.

this is a good collection, albeit mostly of standard repertoire stuff. just pulling a pile out of the shelf we have some Haydn concertos (Musical Heritage Society), Pears singing Britten (London), Virtuosi di Roma playing Vivaldi (Decca), Handel's Funeral Anthem (MHS again), Barenboim playing 3 Beethoven Sonatas (Angel), Landowska playing the first 8 of the 48 (Victor) etc. there's a fair amount of opera, plays, historical recordings & some stuff they got from their parents (audio condition unknown).

i couldn't put a solid estimate to the number of LPs, will guess 200-300 cases, some being albums (e.g. a few boxes from the Beethoven Bicentennial Collection, of which we used to have almost the whole thing but sold some of them when moving house on one of many occasions). i don't mind listening to a lot of this stuff; if there's anything i don't particularly want to hear, i won't copy it (unless it's unusually rare or someone requests it)

The condition of the LPs seems pretty good from the outside. some of them are still in the original plastic covers for instance. most of them haven't been played in years, so i don't have any idea what the sound quality is like, but the first few i spun seemed pretty good (there was a Juilliard Quartet recording of Bartók's quartets that i preferred to my Takács Quartet CD recording in spite of a few pops and crackles)

i have tons of free time seeing as i don't have a regular job right now; money, not so much :|

[listener]

The opera sets are worth retaining for their texts which will have a more readable typeface.  But the irritation of side changes in a long work may make you discard the lp's themselves, unless you like having a reason for a break every 25 -or so minutes.

[bigshot]

If the records are very dirty, you can wipe them down with sponges soaked with a 50-50 mix of distilled water and white  vinegar. Do a rinse pass with distilled water and wipe with a soft towel in the direction of the grooves and let it dry overnight. Works just as good as the fancy cleaning machines.

[Holden]

I think that the first thing you need to do is identify which of these LPs now have a CD incarnation (I suspect that this will be most of them). So this will leave you with the rare that have not been transferred to CD and these will be from the lesser known labels - Nonesuch and Turnabout are two good examples. If the Field Nocturnes played by Noel Lee are  there could you make me a copy?

[dyn]

The opera sets are worth retaining for their texts which will have a more readable typeface.  But the irritation of side changes in a long work may make you discard the lp's themselves, unless you like having a reason for a break every 25 -or so minutes.

will probably wind up getting rid of the majority of them yes. they take up space, anyway

If the records are very dirty, you can wipe them down with sponges soaked with a 50-50 mix of distilled water and white  vinegar. Do a rinse pass with distilled water and wipe with a soft towel in the direction of the grooves and let it dry overnight. Works just as good as the fancy cleaning machines.

hmm. thanks for the tip, will keep in mind

I think that the first thing you need to do is identify which of these LPs now have a CD incarnation (I suspect that this will be most of them). So this will leave you with the rare that have not been transferred to CD and these will be from the lesser known labels - Nonesuch and Turnabout are two good examples. If the Field Nocturnes played by Noel Lee are  there could you make me a copy?

well my parents are pretty unlikely to buy the CDs, seeing as they're in the middle of moving countries right now and don't need more stuff to take with, and i'm pretty unlikely to buy the CDs seeing as i don't have a job

that said, i will check when it comes time to decide whether to sell or give away—a few collectors swear by vinyl but most people would rather have CDs' higher audio quality

[Szykneij]

Hi, Dyn --

Some thoughts:

Storage space is a big problem with vinyl albums. Fortunately, that's not an issue with me, so I still buy lots of records and get some excellent recordings for a fraction of what the corresponding CDs cost.

If the Audacity/USB turntable system you're using is the same as the one I started with, you might want to switch to an analog-to-digital unit instead. It works almost the same way as a cassette recorder. You simply drop the needle and press "record". When the LP is done playing, it burns a CD.

The Audacity USB turntable I have is great for removing pops and clicks and editing, but creating CDs is a much more cumbersome process.

I originally had plans to convert all my vinyl to CDs, but, after a while, I asked myself "Why bother?". Now, if I want to hear a recording I have on vinyl in my car or on my ipod, I'll transfer it to CD. Otherwise, I still use my turntable for listening.

I have some of the commercially produced vinyl cleaning kits, but what I find works just as well (if not better) is a solution of 50% alcohol with water and a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. I use a soft painters brush and an old record player set at 78 speed for cleaning.

Finally, when it's time to get rid of those albums, let me know. I still have some shelf space. 

You might find the discussion on this old thread of interest:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,119.msg1286.html#msg1286