Bring your LPs into the digital age

Old music formats haven't died out in quite the way that many industry pundits predicted. Many of us still have shoeboxes full of C90 cassettes under the stairs and shelves that bow under the weight of our vinyl collections.

We might feel nostalgic about our crackly old mono copy of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or that well-worn mix tape from the 80s. But the truth of the matter is that analogue music formats are clumsy, easily damaged and don't even sound particularly good.

Today's digital equivalents have many benefits. Audio quality is generally considered to be a lot better for a start. Plus they're also more versatile, more portable and more resilient. The trouble is that replacing our entire vinyl collection with shiny new shop-bought digital discs is not a particularly practical proposition.

Wouldn't it be brilliant, though, if there was some way of magically turning our old LPs and tapes into CDs or MP3s without having to fork out for them all over again? A way of revitalising them and getting rid of all those pops and crackles?

Well, in fact, there is. And if you're reading Computeractive, then the chances are that you've already got most of the equipment you need to do it sitting on your desktop.

Regular readers will know that it's possible to use a home computer to capture, digitise and edit music from an external source. You just need the right hardware, an appropriate application or two and a little know-how.

The good news is that the industry seems to have cottoned on to the fact that a lot of people out there want to breathe new life into their old music collections. And that means it's now even easier - and cheaper - to turn your old tunes into CD, MP3 and many other digital formats.

So before you cart the lot off to the nearest charity shop, check out our 2005 update and find out how to revive your records and tapes.

Create a link
In technical terms, the job at hand is taking the analogue audio from an external source and converting it into digital data. The process can be broken down into two basic tasks.

First, you'll have to capture the sound to your computer's hard disk, and then you'll need to output it to a CD audio disc or a digital music file format (such as MP3 or WMA).

We'll be looking into the latest software for dealing with both these stages a little later. But first, let's make sure you've got all the right equipment and that it's connected up properly.

Effectively, you'll need to create a physical link between the hi-fi equipment and the PC. As far as your hi-fi equipment is concerned, most people will just need to connect the audio output sockets on their entertainment system to the sound input on their computer.

Most all-in-one music centres or separate amplifiers will have audio output sockets. These are usually red and white (right and left stereo) phono sockets, which should be labelled 'output' or similar.

To connect to a PC, you'll need a cable with red and white (or sometimes red and black) phono plugs at one end and a 3.5mm stereo headphone-style jack at the other.

Basic cables of this kind can be picked up for a matter of pence from shops like Maplin, although posher (gold-plated and the like) alternatives are available from companies such as Keene Electronics should you wish to explore them.

In rare instances you may find that your hi-fi doesn't have any output sockets at all. Thankfully virtually all music centres come with a headphone jack. Simply hook this up to your PC with a male-to-male 3.5mm stereo headphone cable, using a 6.35mm adapter, should your hi-fi's headphone socket be of the larger variety. Again, both cables and adapters are available from Maplin.

It is important to remember that if the connection is made via the headphone socket, you will have to set the volume on the hi-fi to an acceptable level when transferring it, and that this might take a bit of experimentation before you get it right.

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