Needledrops: What software do you use to record vinyl?

Occasionally I make digital backups of vinyl records. I usually use a program I got many years ago called Spin It Again from Acoustica but although it's user friendly and still works, it can be somewhat quirky and hasn't been updated in about 9 years. Also, it doesn't record directly to FLAC (my file format of choice) so I have to run all the WAV tracks through a separate and rather inconvenient conversion process before applying the final metadata tags.

I know Audacity is free and can do most of what I need, but I'm not a fan of the interface. I'm curious to know what programs you guys use and why. I ran a trial version of VinylStudio many years ago and thought it was promising but since I already had and was familiar with Spin It Again, I never activated the AlpineSoft program. A LONG, LONG time ago I used Spin Doctor, which was bundled with Roxio Easy CD Creator. Quite frankly, I think I liked that software better than anything that followed.

 

I don't really like Audacity either. My digital editor is Sound Forge. Very intuitive (at least to me). Mind you I'm not actually using it to record. I record to micro SD using a Tascam DR-05, then transfer the file to my PC for editing.

 

VinylStudio. Seemed like the best choice for me when I started out last summer, and I've been very happy with it.

 

Pretty sure Adobe Audition should be on that list

 

GoldWave

 

Yup. That’s what I use, though mostly cuz I have access to the Adobe Suite from work.

 

I run my phono preamp directly into the Tascam DA-3000 which is a standalone hi-res recorder. It can record PCM up to 192kHz/24bit and double-rate DSD natively. Then I take the recordings from that and edit out the pops and clicks in iZotope RX6 Advanced.

 

I do exactly the same.
Using a one of many simultaneously actively running software programs on a trioptipolymultitasking computer to capture a recording seems like not using the right tool for the job to me. I use the Tascam as a simple recorder to do one thing, record. Then move it to the computer to process.

I have in the past used Adobe Audition, Izotope RX (3, 4, 5, 6), and Amadeus Pro to capture on my MacBook Pro, they all worked fine (none made the list!), but I simply prefer using a recorder to record.

 

My method is to capture a whole album or side from a Linn DSM at 24/192 in a wav file using Songcorder.

I edit this down to separate files for each track and eliminate pops and clicks with Soundforge and save to my NAS in an appropriately named folder. In this process, I name each file with track number and title by copying from a CLZ Music database I use to keep track of LPs.

The next stage is to add metadata using mp3tag. This is relatively easy because I already have the track numbers and names in the filename and artist and album names from the folders. Finally, convert the wav files to flac using the dbpoweramp converter.

This all sounds very involved but I've done so many times now it seems fairly straightforward to me and the results are barely any different from the original. If the source LP sounded better than the equivalent CD or download that superiority is usually preserved in the flac copy.

Effectively, I am just capturing the digital steam in my DSM and then inserting it back at the same point on playback and with a bit of processing and storage on a NAS in betweeen.

 

ProTools Digi 002, circa 2005...
Click Repair
JRiver Media Center
Pono player...

 

I went through many apps and I can tell you that there is nothing better to record vinyl records than Amadeus Pro for Mac. This is a great application with well thought clean and simple screen for users and very effective manual click removal tool.

 

I use VinylStudio with an Audient iD14 as audio capture device.

 

NCH WavePad !

 

Steinberg WaveLab 6 for recording. Adobe Audition 3.0 and iZotope RX 3 for post processing.

 

Other: Izotope RX4 Advanced

 

I use Amadeus Pro for Mac as well. Have been for quite a number of years. It's not too expensive and it works wonderfully and reliably. No reason for me to switch at this point.

 

It absolutely should. It's practically an industry standard. Cool Edit Pro (its predecessor) is legendary.

Ed

 

Steinberg Wavelab. Have used it since version 1.6. Now at version 9.5, nothing can replace it for my audio recording/editing needs.

 

None. I record straight to a cd-r with a Tascam cd recorder. My vinyl is perfect enough condition, I don't need to "edit" it. "What you hear, is what you get"...

 

Yes, it should have been and I apologize for not including it. Same with Izotope. I knew I forgot a few programs.

 

Unfortunately I'm the last Windows holdout in my family.

 

Audition

 

I need Adobe Audition for work, so I record and do some editing using that. It's a very powerful program with way more features than needed to digitize vinyl (and it's expensive).

If I could only use one single program it would Amadeus Pro. It's affordable, it has all the basic features you need, plus a few bells and whistles, and most important for digitizing vinyl it has a great function called "split tracks according to markers" which splits and numbers tracks. Once you've done that you can drag and drop into iTunes (or any other player) without needing to enter any further metadata.

 

I just use Audacity. I know it's not a fully equipped DAW, but it's free and it works. I am curious, has anyone tried out the Capstan Plug-in on a proper DAW? It's supposed to correct Wow and Flutter issues that can be present on Analog Recordings.

 

Also, I'm curious about what kind of interfaces some of you guys like to use for this. I use a Focusrite Scarlett. Has anyone tried it with something really nice like one of Apogee's interfaces?