Dust off those old LPs
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 9:00 am
I am working my way through my LP collection, converting them to FLAC as recommended elsewhere on the forum and storing on a hard drive, and I would recommend strongly to anyone who has an LP collection to do the same. It is very tedious but I have it set up on the desk of the study in the house, so that I can put it on and get on with other work while it "cooks away".
Initially I have just created two files per LP - side 1 and side 2. The downside is that you cannot search by track, but at least you can listen once again to stuff you haven't heard for some time (some times for good reason!!) If I ever get around to it I will split them into individual tracks. The "rule" I have set myself is not to be selective ie to rip everything, including Barry Manilow and Martika (whatever possessed me to buy them in the first place?) I also have a collection of comedy records that I can now enjoy as well.
I realise there are lots of people on this forum who still have LP as their preferred medium, but anyone who has embraced CD and/or computer-based listening would do well to spend some time doing this and extending the life of the stuff that might have been sitting there for years as in the case of my collection.
The quality varies enormously from LP to LP, some sounding fine (Paul Simon "Gracelend", Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms") while others not so (Carole King "Tapestry"), but even the worst of them sound well considering they are up to 40 years old.
The great thing is that once it is all copied, I will concentrate on the music and not on the equipment. I will also get back a corner of my living room when I consign the originals to the attic!
Comments or other observations welcome.
DNT
Initially I have just created two files per LP - side 1 and side 2. The downside is that you cannot search by track, but at least you can listen once again to stuff you haven't heard for some time (some times for good reason!!) If I ever get around to it I will split them into individual tracks. The "rule" I have set myself is not to be selective ie to rip everything, including Barry Manilow and Martika (whatever possessed me to buy them in the first place?) I also have a collection of comedy records that I can now enjoy as well.
I realise there are lots of people on this forum who still have LP as their preferred medium, but anyone who has embraced CD and/or computer-based listening would do well to spend some time doing this and extending the life of the stuff that might have been sitting there for years as in the case of my collection.
The quality varies enormously from LP to LP, some sounding fine (Paul Simon "Gracelend", Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms") while others not so (Carole King "Tapestry"), but even the worst of them sound well considering they are up to 40 years old.
The great thing is that once it is all copied, I will concentrate on the music and not on the equipment. I will also get back a corner of my living room when I consign the originals to the attic!
Comments or other observations welcome.
DNT
