Spinning Again


A couple of weeks ago, I looked at my LP collection and wondered if I should keep my vinyl. I have a nice player, but I rarely use it. Then while thumbing through a catalog, I saw a USB turntable and did some research online. I discovered it was possible to turn my LP collection into MP3 files, so I purchased a Crosley USB turntable on Amazon.


The reviews on the turntable were mixed, but I think most of those who complained wanted a portable record player with stereo sound. This player is portable, but it was not intended to be a quality stereo. It has speakers, so it can function as simply a stand-alone record player, but I don't think it was designed to be used as an everyday player. It plays 33, 45, and 78 rpm.

When hooked to a computer via the USB cord, the player makes it possible to record songs, clean up the sound a bit, and download the songs to the computer as a WAV or MP3 file.

I am on a mission to preserve my LPs to digital MP3 files so I can burn CDs to play in my car and load some of the music on my iPod. I may get rid of my LPs after I have recorded and converted them to digital files.


The player arrived yesterday, and last night I sorted through my LPs to see which ones I wanted to record and download. Many memories came flooding back when I saw some of the albums from the late 60s and early 70s.


There is a bit of a learning curve to record and download the songs, but anyone comfortable with a computer will be able to figure out the process without too much difficulty. The instruction manual is helpful, but not complete. I found labeling the music tracks to be the most difficult part. I hope I can master that soon, as the way I am doing it is tedious.

The player comes with the USB cord, an AC adapter, a software CD to allow downloading and editing, and an instruction manual.

I downloaded one and a half albums in two hours. The process is slow because, unless only select songs are recorded, the LP must be played entirely.

Once I feel more comfortable with the process, it should be easier and faster. So far, I am very pleased with my purchase. I probably won't record and download all of my vinyl LPs, but I certainly will enjoy listening to those that I do convert.


Comments

  1. What fun! I keep meaning to look into that. You've given me quite a bit of inspiration.

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  2. Great idea. I have so many records in a chest. I should pull them out one of these days...

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  3. You go girl! I too have a huge amount of records but don't think I want to go to all this work. I admire your spunk to try something new in our ever changing gadget world.

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  4. Our son-in-law has begun a collection a vinyl LPs, so I Iet him look through our small collection and take the ones he wanted. I guess we'll get rid of the rest of them eventually since we gave away our big stereo system with the player last year. Good luck with your recording project.

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  5. WOW What a collection. We got rid of our LP's years ago...the things I got rid of and now regret!! Our daughter has LP"S and and player and enjoys it!!

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  6. Congratulations on finding an excellent solution to the problem. I wish this had been available 10 years ago when I sold all my 78's to a collector. Brava!!

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  7. we have a ton of LPs in the garage - what a fabulous idea! g

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  8. Great idea... but we got rid of most of our vinyl 3 years ago. I'll have to find out if we kept any. And,the bigger question would be where are they. We've got most of our book boxes in the attic... roasting and freezing. We definitely down sized our house...

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  9. Oh turntables are just the best.... I had one as a girl in a little red box. Hmmmm Im going to see if i can find one of THOSE on ebay.

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  10. Nancy that sounds like a fun project! I agree that labeling is very tedious but worth the effort. Mystery CD's are not so much fun when you're looking for something specific.
    Although I have to say, when I first saw your post title I thought you had taken up spinning yarn, and I was instantly envious ;-)

    Good luck spinning !!

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  11. Doing a little bit here and there won't be bad and then it will be so much easier to listen to all of your favorite music :) Good luck!

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  12. Thanks for the post. I've been thinking about doing that. I ordered cassette player to turn my cassette tapes to mp3's but it didn't work the first time and I haven't got back to it. My cousin tell me the quality won't be good, so that's not encouraging me either.

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