LP to iPod

It's not a simple process, but here's what I did. I downloaded a freeware program called Audiograbber that I used to cnvert the analog feed from my preamp to digital on my PC.

http://www.tucows.com/preview/193549.html

I also bought an external sound card-type device called a Power Wave (made by Griffin Technology) which is a much higher quality device [than a typical sound card] that allowed me to use my laptop which I could place close to my preamp.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerwave/

The Power Wave connects to a PC via a high speed USB2 port. I then recorded the LP on my hard drive using the Audiograbber software. The resulting files are in the .wav format. The program even allows you to split the tracks. Again, this is not a simple task. In fact, it is quite time consuming since there is a lot of trial and error involved. Often times the software will screw up the splitting of tracks, so you sometimes have to start over and manually split the tracks. There is definitely a learning curve here, so, once you get the hang of it, things go smoother.

After recording the LP to the hard drive, I then burned would burn it to a CD. Lastly, I would rip the CD to AAC using iTunes. The sound is quite good, so if you really have an LP you love, it's worth the hassel getting it to the iPod.

Cheers!!

If you want a super easy way to convert LPs to mp3 files for an IPOD, another way is to use an external cd burner (I use a yamaha cdr d651) connected to your amplifier. you load the cd, drop the needle, and start recording. you set the track markers with the remote. When you are done, simply put the cd into your computer and use music match or i-tunes to rip the tracks into mp3 format and then your IPOD.

The first sugestion sounds super expensive. You could buy Magix Audio Cleaning Lab for $19.99. It's a super easy to navigate program. You just record the LP, it sets the track markers which are almost always right on, you just right click add/remove track markers to fix missed ones though. Then they have a bunch of filters, compression, dehissers etc. that I never use unless the LP is screwed. There are recording "wizards" to walk you through the process. The tracks will be wav files and you will either need to upgrade the software to be able to convert tracks to MP3 in this software or you can find a freeware program for this. The 2005 version of the program may include this already. It's also great for making mix CDs as you can master all the songs, equalize the gain, and crossfade the tracks. It's cool!

Actually, it doesn't cost a penny to use Audiograbber and a PC with a sound card built in. It just so happens that my PC is upstairs and would require a 50-plus foot RCA cable to reach it from my downstairs audio rig. My laptop only has a mono microphone input so I purchased the Power Wave ($100) to use as an external USB sound card. It has gold-plated RCA inputs and also is powered to allow you to hook up speakers to play music from your laptop.

You can also do it with apple's grage band program and iTunes. The sound is very good (better than a ripped AIFF file from a CD), if you have an audiophile quality LP player, needle, and preamp. If not, use a CD.

If you want a audiophile DAC for a computer, check out the wavelength audio "Cosecant USB Computer DAC" at www.wavelengthaudio.com

hope this helps