Converting vinyl records to mp3

[PetPal]

You're just talking about 'Ripping' the CD onto your PC so you can listen to your music on the PC without any further need for the CD ?

Any media player software will do this. Windows Media Player comes as standard and does it well.

Thanks Pique, however that's not exactly what I was looking for. I want to "rip" the CD onto a hard disk. That hard disk would be part of a "machine" (a music player) through which I could then play the music (throw away the CDs). The advantage this "machine" would have over and above the computer is that it would, apparently, catalogue the CDs for me, taking its information from the CD itself at the time of "ripping". So I would end up with a small piece of equipment that plays music (that I have ripped onto it) and that displays on a small screen exactly what music is available to me. I can just tell the "machine" that I want to play, say, "Imagine", and it will find that song on the relevant album that I have previously "ripped" onto it. I want to be able to play by CDs without keeping the CDs physically in storage, AND have a very good index available to me of all the music that I have on the hard disk, so that it's very very easy for me (as a non technical person, in case you didn't realise!) to very quickly play the exact song that I want to play at any given time. I hope that all makes sense. I know that the Brennan JB7 does all of the above, but wondered if there another piece of equipment that does the same, because the Brennan isn't available in Ireland as far as I can tell. Thank you.

 

[Complainer]

Thanks Pique, however that's not exactly what I was looking for. I want to "rip" the CD onto a hard disk. That hard disk would be part of a "machine" (a music player) through which I could then play the music (throw away the CDs). The advantage this "machine" would have over and above the computer is that it would, apparently, catalogue the CDs for me, taking its information from the CD itself at the time of "ripping". So I would end up with a small piece of equipment that plays music (that I have ripped onto it) and that displays on a small screen exactly what music is available to me. I can just tell the "machine" that I want to play, say, "Imagine", and it will find that song on the relevant album that I have previously "ripped" onto it. I want to be able to play by CDs without keeping the CDs physically in storage, AND have a very good index available to me of all the music that I have on the hard disk, so that it's very very easy for me (as a non technical person, in case you didn't realise!) to very quickly play the exact song that I want to play at any given time.

iTunes (and I suspect several other music organisers) does all this and more. You don't have to reinvent the wheel here.

 

[Spock]

True, Complainer, but running iTunes means you need a PC on somewhere to serve up the music. What PetPal is looking for is a Hard Disc music player, common enough in the Pro Audio business. A couple of standalone user versions (that don't require an additional PC) I have seen are [broken link removed] and Sonos, but they can be expensive. A cheap and cheerful option is the id-al player.

@IrishGunner, nothing wrong with the Ion USB turntables; certainly a lot easier than hooking up a turntable/mixer combo to a pc...

 

[AlbacoreA]

Thanks Pique, however that's not exactly what I was looking for. I want to "rip" the CD onto a hard disk. That hard disk would be part of a "machine" (a music player) through which I could then play the music (throw away the CDs). ..

What happens when if you lose or break the Hard Disk player or it simply gets corrupt, and don't have a back up on the PC and you don't have the CD's.
In my experience, they all (hardware or software) tag/cataglogue the music differently, often not that logically.
Also you want to pick a format that is generic, so that if you buy a different player in the future it will play your music.

The best way to do this IMO, is to have a generic library on an external disk, if only as a backup. Then you are not limited by software or hardware, and can make easy backup and updates. Editing Albums even entire Genres is much easier on a PC.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Why avoid USB turntables? I was looking at [broken link removed] in komplett and seems reasonable but dont knowthe name ion. Checked Cnet and it does what it states on the tin

Cheap, light, plastic cartridge and light arm which is almost identical to late 1980s low budget midi systems churned out by the likes of Amstrad, Cathay, Akura etc.
The Ion's tracking offset and tracking weight downforce is poor which will lead to record wear. Bass heavy material will not track well.

For less than a couple of hundred euro you can get a decent second hand deck and a PC soundcard which will do the job properly.