Ripping Vinyl to CD

by James Leahy

With the internet already so heavily over polluted with hundreds of articles about how to rip Vinyl to CD, and all the extra details you need to know I will not bore you with more technical details. This is not a vinyl vs CD debate either as readers of this site will already know that vinyl is so far superior we do not have do waste time discussing it further but why some people feel they need to transfer their vinyl to CD-R instead of buying a decent turntable is reasoning I will never understand.

Question Number One is, WHY BOTHER?

I have not found this discussed before. The vinyl record is the most sacred of high resolution stereo formats that should never be corrupted into bastardized digital MP3 or CD-R trash. This is not to say that all CD's are worthless but the idea of doing such a conversion to superior analogue recordings, flies in the face of all commonsense. If you could plug an optical fibre cable into your brain and listen to the recording in a fully digital domain then this idea might have some merit. But as it stands human's are all born with two ear's that are analogue hearing devices the last time I checked. Not digital in nature in any way shape or form. The saying that, 'The simplest things in life are often the best', is true in many area's of technology too. Such as film camera's are is still superior to digital camera's when it comes to resolving fine detail so to are vinyl records superior to CD's. Don't believe me about the film/digital issue check here for more information. I know some people wish to use every type of software to remove all traces of surface noise and I hope they know at the same time they will also be removing a large slice of detail. Original critical information that is lost at the beginning of this process can never be recovered. There is nothing for free in technology too. With so many people thinking this way is it any wonder why iPod's are so popular today and kids believe MP3 is the world standard of Hi Fidelity. What is our education system teaching the youth of Australia....? God only knows...

Two full extra conversions.

In order to take the analogue information off the vinyl into a computer the data must be stored digitally which involves an Analogue to Digital Converter (AD Converter) which encodes the analogue signal to a digital format so it can be edited, stored, burned onto CD-R, changed into MP3's or whatever. Then when you play back your CD-R in your CD player there needs to be another conversion from digital back to analogue (DA Converter) so the signal can be amplified by your amplifier. The whole double conversion process is NOT without significant loss in terms of detail, transparency, harmonics, timbre, tone, synergy, soundstage, dynamics and realism.

Will you be able to tell the Difference?

There is no definite answer to this question that would be 100% correct. It would depend on the level of sophistication of your system, phono stage, listening experience and environment. I have even had customers listen to my system and of the same album on both SACD vs Record, back to back and not be able to detect any discernable difference. It certainly makes you wonder. When it is as clear as night and day to me and many others. See what I mean about listener experience. You have to know how to listen not just hear the sound. Everybody has ears but not everybody knows how to use them. Take my advise and listen to a good MC cartridge and Phono Stage and you will see that what the Vinylphiles are raving about.

Am I Just lazy?

There are those people that do not wish to be troubled with the task of switching sides of the album or cleaning their records and carefully storing them after every use. While digital media might appear easier to use day to day the compromises for me and many others are just too great. Why would you go to the expense and trouble of obtaining a high-end Hi-Fi system and then slaughtering the sound with CD-R's...? If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. This statement means playing music as it was intended to be heard in it's purest natural form of the humble record. This does not have to cost you an arm and a leg either. The very highly regarded Rega P3-24 is priced at under $1,300.00 for a full on turntable with tonearm. Then you can listen to the music the way it was preformed, with the least possible coloration and distortion.