Tips for ripping vinyl

To everyone wondering "Why bother", I "astro camp" a lot at a location with very slow and unreliable Internet access. It is a remote location that is very dark at night so it works well for astronomy and not much else. I spend upwards of 4 weeks at this location each year. Today I have my full CD collection to listen to, but no vinyl. 

Also, I don’t see how the streaming companies can be making (much) money so my physical inventory (CD and vinyl) are a backup for a day when I find the cost to stream to be prohibitive. It is an insurance policy I may never need. 

I am currently using the built in preamp as my Cronus Magnum is in for an upgrade. My backup hk395i has an intolerable 60hz buzz when using its preamp. I’ve double checked all the grounding, I suspect it is just working as designed. Easy enough to work around with the AT-LP120’s preamp. It does sound pretty good, but it is no A/B comparison since the hk395i is a far inferior product compared to the Cronus, but I keep it for when it is just too hot to run tubes, or, in this case, when the Cronus is in for service. 

I am jealous about your location. Owning a Takasaki 5" refractor, a 3" Takasaki, a 14" and 8" reflectors and living in the Pacific Northwest... pooh. Are you in Arizona out past Benson? Idaho. Satellite internet then. 

A good streamer will cache. I think there is a way to download stuff from Qobuz... when your streamer is up. I'm not positive. Streaming is not going to become prohibitively expensive.

Transferring vinyl... to sound good like vinyl is somewhat like putting together a good sounding vinyl system... but in reverse. So your ADC must be of very high quality or you're not going to get a great transfer. 

ghdpretice, 

I wish I was in those locations too, but I'm in Ohio and I go to norther Pennsylvania to observe with a 20" Starmaster and image with a 5" Explore Scientific ED triplet. I spend my extra money on astronomy so audio plays second fiddle if you will. The Cronus was my splurge beyond that I've made calculated purchases. I publish my photos at http://casazza.net/G2.

I hope you are right about streaming, but sadly neither Qubuz or Tidal seem to be profitable based on available data. Everyone's idea of prohibitive is different. For me, doubling the cost would cause me to cancel my subscription. I have quite a solid collection of physical media. I enjoy streaming for background music, but I do like to be engaged with the process otherwise I'm too easily distracted. 

Getting back to my original question and keeping in mind the primary use case of playback in an RV with very tiny speakers and 12V DC powered amp, what do people think about the TASCAM US‑1X2HR as an ADC and VinylStudio Premium for the software solution? 

Nice photos! It I amazing what amateurs can today. In my youth I went to the Chicago Planetarium monthly. I would gaze at Wilson observatory photos of the planets and Andromeda Galaxy... I can do much better with deep sky photos using  my equipment. I used to go out to Eastern Oregon to a farm with no lights the rented a small house. It was breath taking. I also have a 70mm Coronado Solar telescope... it has been fantastic recently. 

I’ll let some of the other folks respond to your request. You do not need the kind of quality that I was expecting. Good luck. You can always cancel your subscription if the prices increase. 

I used something similar, a Focusrite Scarlet with VinylStudio Pro. Just did a few limited rips. The biggest problem I have is with getting volume right. Do a test, then play some OG digital tracks or CD rips with vinyl rip thereafter and check whether volume is the same. I have not figured out how to adjust volume after a vinyl track has been captured.

Digitizing vinyl is EXTREMELY labor intensive. Also, cleaning your records before recording makes a huge difference in how much time you have to invest to clean up the recordings. The addition of a cheap Vevor ultrasonic machine has made a radical difference in lack of noise when playing vinyl.

Have fun digitizing your vinyl and enjoying it while stargazing. I do the opposite, looking down at small things (microscopist).