I have an Elgato Video Capture device, which does an analog to digital conversion, and I thought might work for transferring disks. I hooked the audio leads to a tape output on my preamp and everything was going well until it decided to stop recording about 25 minutes in. On the second try it locked up the computer.

Maybe it doesn't like doing things without an accompanying video source.

Anyway, I started looking for a task-specific tool and saw the Griffin iMic. The big appeal is that you can go straight from turntable to computer (I always like a short route). You then pop in the RIAA curve and Bob's Yer Uncle.

It seems to do a lot for a device that's not very expensive, so I wonder if there's a downside. What are other folks doing to get vinyl digitized?

ryck

An iMic was a wonderfully useful gadget (I still have mine.) back when Macs sported analog only audio input jacks and music had to be converted from analog to digital for importation, but your iMac's jack is analog/digital capable (In Apple's words, it's an "analog/optical combo input jack."), so all you've got to do is plug your stereo's output into it and you're halfway there.

For the rest of the job I use the combo of Audio Hijack Pro for importing and Fission for editing. (They're $32 each or $50 for the two.)

As far as I can tell, though, a $40 (currently marked down to $35) iMic (which is a USB device) will function with your iMac (You'll have to check OS X version compatibility, though.), and I remember Griffin's Final Vinyl software being more appropriate for importing vinyl than is Fission, but you'll have to do your own research and make your own decision. (For what it's worth, the AHP/Fission combo provides a broader range of functionality than does an iMic.)

By all means, post back and ask me about everything I've forgotten to mention.

Hmmm... On second thought, thanks for asking and giving me second thoughts about including my iMic in the sale of my iBook; if it's still functional, I'll keep it specifically for importing vinyl.

More...

Specifically, Final Vinyl (Freeware) allows you to split an album into its individual tracks, including per track info, for importation, while using Fission necessitates a PIA workaround to accomplish the same end.

On the other hand, though, the AHP/Fission combo allows you to import from a variety of sources and from more than one source at a time.

Hmmm... I wonder whether AHP and Final Vinyl will work together? (My recollection, though - from looong ago - is that I like Fission better than FV except for that missing track info functionality, but don't ask me why.) $32 AHP and free FV might just be your ideal/cheapest, option.

Edit: I just ran a brief test, and FV apparently plays well with AHP generated .m4a files.

Because I had one of the Quicksilver G4s without an audio input, I bought an early model of the Griffin iMic and its Final Vinyl software in 2002 and was extremely disappointed, because the device added an enormous amount of white noise to the audio signal, and the software choked on the large audio files. I assume, since the product is still on the market, that they've improved it, so I would look for some current reviews rather than rely on my experience.

Presently, I just run a cable from my stereo amp output to the audio in plug on my G4 PowerBook (running Leopard) and use the open source Audacity to record and split into tracks. Audacity has click removal and noise reduction functions built in. I haven't played with the noise reduction yet, but the click removal seems to work fairly well.

Bear in mind that I am not an audiophile, so I'm not looking for pristine results. As long as I can hear the music, I think it's fine if there are some artifacts of the vinyl sound still extant. It's nostalgic, in a way.

If you're looking for some integrated product that you just plug into a USB port, you could look at the various USB turntables specifically made for digitizing vinyl albums. I have no experience with them, but looked at some reviews a couple of years back and they seem to do the job quite well with a minimum of fuss.

Did you try hooking a VCR to your Elgato device's video input and running a video while importing the audio from your preamp? Maybe, as you surmise, the software is looking for the timecode in the video signal and gets confused without it.

> [...] the device added an enormous amount of white noise to the audio signal, and the software choked on the large audio files.

Hmmm... I imported a bunch of 33s without running into either your white noise or "choking" problem.

Edit: Does Audacity allow you to enter per track "metadata?"

Latest update... I just found this on the MacUpdate Final Vinyl page:


It looks like all you need is the free FV d/l.

Edit: Oddly, though, the user's manual doesn't reflect the change (which occurred in the version that preceded the current one).

Yes, it does, although I prefer to do that in iTunes.

Thanks for the link.

When I imported my vinyl I marked the tracks in Final Vinyl and burned the files to CDs; I then imported the CDs into iTunes and let the CD Database do the metadata entry.

Audacity's downside for me, and possibly for ryck, is that it only saves to lossy formats.

I could plug from the amp to the iMac but I'd be importing the S/N limitations of the amp, which at -100dB shouldn't be a problem, but I still like the idea of going directly from the turntable.

Thanks for the software tips. I'll check them out, although I do have Amadeus Pro.




If this software works well, it could be a simple solution.




I'll take your advice and will check current reviews. Even if iMic provides a short route (TT to iMac), I won't have gained anything if there's a shortcoming at the point where the audio passes through the iMic.

Unless I've got a serious problem, I'm not too likely to do too much noise reduction. My vinyl is pretty clean and I'll put up with a bit of surface noise rather than trying to remove it but taking things like cymbal sizzle at the same time.

The turntables are interesting but they all seem to convert to MP3 files. I'm hoping not to have any compression introduced.

Thanks for the VCR idea but my set-up doesn't lend itself to having more stuff in the area. I need something a bit more streamlined.

ryck

Incorrect. Audacity exports to AIFF and WAV.

the version I have doesn't come with an mp3 encoder but it had some automatic system to download and install the necessary free codec. (yes I know its lossy but still worth mentioning, NOT being able to export audio to MP3 is otherwise unexpected)

Sorry...you're right; I saw that.

What I meant to bemoan was the lack of Apple Lossless, specifically, and AAC functionality, as an aside; Apple Lossless is the format in which I archive my music when I'm able to, because even in its losslessness a file takes up substantially less HD space than does an AIFF, and WAV is a PC format and of no use to me.

I didn't have any issues when I used it, although I did make the mistake of trying to clean up some of the high "noise," and I'm certain that I lost music in the bargain (which is not to say, though, that I'm really aware of the loss on my low-end system).

But my recollection about entering metadata was incorrect: When I imported my vinyl I marked the tracks in Final Vinyl and burned the files to CDs; I then imported the CDs into iTunes and let the CD Database do the metadata entry...not particularly cost effective unless you place value on your time.

And, finally, this, from the Final Vinyl User's Manual:

By way of update....I posed the problem with Elgato and:

• They believe I should be able to capture audio only if I choose to use H.264, which is offered in the Preferences. However, no certainty until I actually try.

• They also suggested connection of a dummy video source (which confirms bob82's thought), then separate the audio and video. Still sounds cumbersome.

In the end, I was still not using the shortest distance possible (from turntable to computer). Also, I would be using an essentially "video" tool to accomplish an "audio" task which caused me to ask myself: "Why would I do that?"

So, I looked back at my Amadeus. It comes with something called "a manual", which has all kinds of information to answer all kinds of questions. What a clever idea. It turns out that I can do everything with Amadeus.

And, Amadeus not only has the RIAA curve equalizer, it has a bunch of others (Inverse RIAA, RIAA/IEC, LP/78rpm).

My only worry at this point seems to be whether I will have any grounding problems, as the turntable is grounded to my pre-amp but the RCA phonos will be going directly from the turntable to a TRS input. I'm hoping the RCA phono shields will give me ground without a loop.

We'll see...I'll let everyone know.

Hope I didn't waste anyone's time.

ryck

> Hope I didn't waste anyone's time.

Your getting me to look at the updated FinalVinyl was a happy turn for me, so thanks for "wasting my time."

OS 10.5.8
A bit late in the day but I had a problem digitizing Vinyl.
I bought a USB turntable and I also tried to use an imic at the same time. The imic is not needed. Also when using the USB you do not have to select RIAA enabled.

jaybass

Your note reminds me I was going to let folks know how things worked with Amadeus Pro.

I highly recommend this software. It allows direct from regular turntable into Mac (I always prefer the shortest distance and fewest pieces of hardware in the signal path) and, well, it just works. Once you've recorded it's easy to edit out things like the sound of the needle drop and there are a lot of tools for enhancements.

Once recorded it's a simple matter to restore the RIAA curve, and the default recording is an AIFF file.

ryck