I know there is a ton of information available with a simple search or two using Google on this subject but that is part of the problem. On and off, I've spent days researching, looking for the best way (economical & with decent results) to convert my large collection of LP'S to CD's. A lot of the music in my collection is just not available in today's market in a CD format and if it were the cost to duplicate what I already have would be prohibitive. Perhaps I can save others some time and effort by providing a few basic pointers to anyone interested in putting some of their old music on CD or on a portable jukebox.

For the benefit of those who prefer to rush into things, the best starting point I've found is http://www.a-reny.com, here you will find a decent explanation of the process and a great collection of links to other sites for equipment and software. http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm is another good site. Also, let me state emphatically, I am not an expert on this. The little I do know has been acquired through research and trial and error ( a lot of the latter). OK, on to those pointers.

1) Basic Equipment - Almost any PC built within the last couple of years with a good size hard drive ( the most basic music codec, a .WAV file uses over 10megabytes/minute although other types can improve upon that (such as .WMA or .MP3 ) but still you need quite a bit of HD space even for temporary storage) and a Cd r/w drive with associated software. I'm using a Athlon 1.6Ghz+, a 110 Gb HD and 1Gb ram with Windows XP Pro.

2) In order to record the output of your turntable to your HD you need to connect them somehow. Yeah, I know it's obvious but... There are several possibilities here. A microphone is one, ok if you want to hear yourself sing along with the music (plus any extraneous household noises) but not really optimal for just converting. Or connect the turntable output through a pre-amp to line-in on your pc ( the signal from the turntable is not strong enough to drive the line-in, it needs to be boosted). Some recommend using the headphone output of your stereo to line-in but that method depends on a correct setting of the volume control on your stereo else other problems may occur. You can connect the line-out of your stereo to line-in on your pc but again problems such as ground-loop hum may occur. The best solution I've found is a gadget made by http://www.xitel.com/ , it's called an Inport, is about the size of a pack of cigarettes, sells for $70 and is simplicity itself to use. It comes with software, a 30 foot shielded stereo cable, a 3 foot USB cable and the cigar contains an isolated (to prevent ground-loop hum) analog to digital converter (A/D). Hook this between your stereo line out and a USB port on your pc and your hardware problems are solved. Now you can record on your pc hd from any source that connects to your stereo (lp's cassettes, reel to reel tapes, or even direct from an FM station, who needs Napster anymore?). They also have a gadget called a Hi-Fi Link for $50 which does the same thing in the opposite direction (uses a D/A converter), allowing you to play the music stored on your hd through your stereo system. If you enjoy music and want the convenience of a pc with the quality of a good stereo system, this is the way to go. I suspect that using the this method the quality of your audio board doesn't matter since it is essentially out of the circuit unless you play some music through your computer speakers. With the inflated price of computer speakers and audio boards, xitel and a Bose Wave Radio (w/o cd player, $350) might make more sense. Better sound and more flexibility. NO, I/m not getting a cent from either company.

3) Last, most of the software out there records in a WAV format which can then be converted to other space saving formats but you pay a price in quality of sound if you can detect it. Some claim that the difference is not discernible by the human ear and some audiophiles disagree. Try different formats and see how it sounds to you, that's what counts. Software such as DC-Art audio restoration tools have many capabilities which allow you to manipulate and change the sound of the music (add reverb, adjust harmonics for room size, simulate stereo, emulate the sound produced by tube type amplifiers, fade-in and out, etc) nice to have but not really necessary. The important features are filters which allow you to remove distortion caused by record noise (snap, crackle and pop, also rumble, hum, hiss and others), use these with care! Make sure you have a back-up copy of your recording if the software doesn't have an "Un-Do" capability. The first three examples of noise are the most annoying and not as easy to remove as software hype often states. It's best to modify a small section of music and then listen to it carefully before applying the fix to the complete recording. This noise can be removed but inevitably, some music is also removed. I know from experience, I used standard recommended settings on an impulse noise filter and got saxophone music that sounded like a harmonica, and what it did to harmonica music you wouldn't want to listen to, bagpipes are soothing in comparison. You can see the noise impulses on your crt, zoom down and remove them individually (you'll never notice a millisecond or less of missing music) but that gets tedious if there is more than a dozen or so. The best fix is the simplest. Clean the records before playing them to copy. There are expensive gadgets out there to do that which is fine if you have a lot of discretionary funds. I find warm water, a mild detergent, a soft sponge and lint free cloths for drying make a huge difference. When cleaning and drying use a counter clockwise circular motion (the same direction the needle tracks the record) and be gentle, no need to scrub! Do Not use paper towels do dry, the records will look ok but watch those tiny bits of paper pile up under the needle as the record is tracked. Hope this helps someone.

Happy Listening.