Need advice on turntable question

I am cleaning my LP collection and making an MP3 and a CD copy of each album. I am using an inexpensive Audio Technica turntable and I wondered if my finished MP3's and CD's would benefit from a turntable/stylus/carttridge upgrade- I am looking at the Pro-ject Debut III. Any advice would be appreciated. I must admit that i am not a stereophile, I actually have a pronounced hearing loss and tinnitus thanks to my early days of reckless abandon; but I am interested in the turntable because it will allow me to enjoy my 33 1/3 LP's down the road, and it has a 78 RPM pulley option that would allow me to add my 150 or so 78's to my digital collection and would allow me to play them in the future as well. Bottom line- will the turntable quality of the better equipment be noticeable when it goes into the MP3/CD/computer environment? Thanks for your input.

January 4, 2006 - 3:11pm

ohfourohnine

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Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 7:41pm

Re: Need advice on turntable question

I've transferred lots of LP's to Redbook CD to play in the car etc. Over the course of making the transfers, I upgraded my turntable. It made a sonic difference when I played the CD's back on my main system. The car involves so much ambient noise that the difference doesn't make a difference there.

I've no experience with MP3 transfers. My guess is that the compression element might offset any benefit from a new tt/cart.

Assuming you get the 78rpm pulley, do you also plan to buy a cartidge appropriate to the 78's ?

Do you have in mind some sort of software cleanup for some of the old vinyl before you make the CD copy?

January 4, 2006 - 7:14pm

stanley

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Joined: Jan 3 2006 - 6:18pm

Re: Need advice on turntable question

Thanks, cheapskate! Yes, I am using Cakewalk Pyro 2004 for software on this project. I have completed about 230 LP's and I am generally happy with the software. It does seem to add some bass to the finished file if I happen to edit the file(s) for noise, but I can offset that with equalizer settings to my liking, although generally I'm trying to capture each LP just as it was when I bought it- I don't want to alter it unless the disc needs some help in order for me to enjoy it. My biggest gripe is speed- when I save the WAV files or convert to MP3 files in Pyro my speed is fine- currently 32X. But when I apply any editing commnads in the software for equalization or cleanup, my speed drops terribly.

I am cleaning each disc thoroughly with the Disc Doctor cleaning solution and his "A" brushes before I play each LP, and that has been the best thing I could have done- really helps.

For the 78 records, if I go with the Debut III it comes with an Ortofon 5E and I will purchase an Ortofon 78 stylus which uses the same cartridge. Any tips or tricks are appreciated-like what kbps setting to save the MP3 files (currently I'm using 160 KBPS. I have a 250 Gb second hard drive I installed in a Dell Dimension 8200 PC for this purpose). Hey, this stuff is fun- expensive! - but fun. I better keep my day job, eh?

January 4, 2006 - 7:29pm

ohfourohnine

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Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 7:41pm

Re: Need advice on turntable question

I'm sure someone else will chime in on the MP3 question, Stanley. I just don't know. You've already made what I think is the most important move by carefully cleaning each record before starting the transfer. I agree, the project is fun, but it looks as though you may be falling into the same trap I did. My original intent was to move many years of music I cared about to digital. I found I liked the old vinyl and all that goes with it so much that I upgraded turntable, cartridge, and phono preamp and began buying lots of the great vinyl reissues out there. Got to keep the high end alive the best way we can, right?

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