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Analog to CD Recorders/recording

lmfree

lmfree

Active Member
I was kicking around the idea of getting a CD Recorder to make some of my own custom CD's from my Vinyl collection. Anyone have any advice or a good quality and easy to operate Recorder. I bought a Sony 5 or so years ago but finally gave up because it was just to darn complicated. Also thought about going to a R to R machine since that would be easier but would only be able to play it at home on one dedicated system.
 
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You'll have a ton more flexibility by just getting a decent soundcard meant for recording like an EMU 0202, and using a phono preamp to bring the signal from the TT to line-level and record into the soundcard via your computer. You'll get excellent quality conversion from that unit (I had one a while back) and then you can edit the tracks as you please with a free editor like audacity (there are many others) and use a typical burning program to put them on disc.

Best part about that is that you can also encode them as mp3s and throw them on any potable digital player/phone/etc. As a plus, you've then got an excellent general computer soundcard to listen to stuff through on your computer with.
 
I would recommend an Aiwa XC-RW700. Its simple to use. All you do is hit record, let the needle hit the record and then push play to record. Ive had mine now for nearly ten years and paid $300.00 for it new. You should be able to get one for half that price now. And by the way, transferring vinyl to cd sounds amazing! Good luck.
 
If you buy a standalone recorder just make sure an owner's manual comes with it. A remote would be handy if distance between TT and recorder is greater than arm's length. Literally set up like a tape deck. Many auto track functions can get fooled, so just as well to record one whole side of an LP at a time.

A PC solution would provide greatest control and editing solutions. Need to make sure system requirements are satisfied.
 
If you are going to get a standalone CD Recorder, if at all possible get a professional unit which doesn't need Music CD-R media. Good quality, reliable Music CD-R media is getting difficult to locate. Sony, TDK, and MAM-A/MAM-R is it anymore. A Tascam is especially recommended. I love the CD-RW 700, CD-RW 750, CD-RW4U, CD-RW 900 and CD-RW 900SL for best reliability and being able to use any CD-R or RW disc you like. Alesis Masterlink and the Fostex standalones are also very good units and the new Marantz is fine. The only consumer units I ever had any luck with were the Pioneers.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
If you are going to get a standalone CD Recorder, if at all possible get a professional unit which doesn't need Music CD-R media. Good quality, reliable Music CD-R media is getting difficult to locate. Sony, TDK, and MAM-A/MAM-R is it anymore. A Tascam is especially recommended. I love the CD-RW 700, CD-RW 750, CD-RW4U, CD-RW 900 and CD-RW 900SL for best reliability and being able to use any CD-R or RW disc you like. Alesis Masterlink and the Fostex standalones are also very good units and the new Marantz is fine. The only consumer units I ever had any luck with were the Pioneers.
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Yeah Kent thats the downfall of owning a home cd burner. You cant just buy the compact disc recordable cds. They have to be compact disc digital audio recordable. And they cost a helluva lot more than the blank cds used for computer burning.
 
Metalownz said:
Yeah Kent thats the downfall of owning a home cd burner. You cant just buy the compact disc recordable cds. They have to be compact disc digital audio recordable. And they cost a helluva lot more than the blank cds used for computer burning.
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The way I do it, and it takes an extra step, is to use "music" CDRWs, and then transfer them to a computer and erase and re-use the CDRWs. Works great for a blues radio show that I record every week.
I use a Yamaha recorder with a hard drive based system and love it. Avoid Pioneer recorders. I went through a few of them and they were very problematic.
Having said that, if I was starting over, I would probably use a computer setup.
 
I have 2 of them . A Philips and a HK . The HK is a little easier to use IMHO. I get the blanks at Staples .
 
KentTeffeteller said:
If you are going to get a standalone CD Recorder, if at all possible get a professional unit which doesn't need Music CD-R media. Good quality, reliable Music CD-R media is getting difficult to locate. Sony, TDK, and MAM-A/MAM-R is it anymore. A Tascam is especially recommended. I love the CD-RW 700, CD-RW 750, CD-RW4U, CD-RW 900 and CD-RW 900SL for best reliability and being able to use any CD-R or RW disc you like. Alesis Masterlink and the Fostex standalones are also very good units and the new Marantz is fine. The only consumer units I ever had any luck with were the Pioneers.
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I see there are several of the Alesis Masterlink 9600's on the Bay for sale. Do you think this is the way to go. I see they record in standard Redbook. They seem fairly reasonable to me. I paid over $500 for my Sony and it was worthless. I searched Tascam and about 4000 items came up so I don't know what models to look for here.
 
Why not use you computer's sound cards aux input and burning that way ?

Very easy with a TT and a phono pre-amp or a receiver with one and I use Audacity for software .



Barney
 
Adding my voice to those here who've already recommended using your computer to do the recording. Seriously, people seem to shy away from this option because they think it's too complicated and actually it's ridiculously easy. If you're not doing pro-level work, recording software runs all the way from free to fairly cheap to very reasonable, and even a high end sound card will be far cheaper than any good standalone recorder. You can use standard CD-Rs (or any other digital storage media, for that matter) and editing capabilities leave standalones in the dust.

Plus-- (yes, there's still more!) -- excellent noise reduction software that can remove the pops and clicks and not remove the music along with them.

You will need a phono preamp if you aren't connecting your stereo system tape outputs to the computer (the cheapest way, and usually the best in terms of sound quality). Think someone mentioned that already, but just in case.
 
KrisM said:
The way I do it, and it takes an extra step, is to use "music" CDRWs, and then transfer them to a computer and erase and re-use the CDRWs. Works great for a blues radio show that I record every week. I use a Yamaha recorder with a hard drive based system and love it. Avoid Pioneer recorders. I went through a few of them and they were very problematic. Having said that, if I was starting over, I would probably use a computer setup.
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I never thought about using cdrw's. I have a few lying around. Ill have to try em out.
 
Music CD-RW media is getting difficult to locate. The consumer units won't use a regular disc. The Tascam models I have mentioned earlier are good reliable units as is the Alesis Masterlink. Music CD-R media is now getting to be few choices which work reliably. If you buy a standalone, Go Pro! The computer is superb if you have it in the same room as your other audio gear. Many of us don't. And you need to get a quality sound card and software (I avoid Creative for this job due to many reasons). When I need to do heavy editing or noise reduction (I do so lightly to not ruin sonics), I use EAC and Adobe Audition to do my job.
 
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KentTeffeteller said:
Music CD-RW media is getting difficult to locate. The consumer units won't use a regular disc. The Tascam models I have mentioned earlier are good reliable units as is the Alesis Masterlink. Music CD-R media is now getting to be few choices which work reliably. If you buy a standalone, Go Pro! The computer is superb if you have it in the same room as your other audio gear. Many of us don't. And you need to get a quality sound card and software (I avoid Creative for this job due to many reasons). When I need to do heavy editing or noise reduction (I do so lightly to not ruin sonics), I use EAC and Adobe Audition to do my job.
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Thanks for the input, I think the Pro direction is the way for me for many reasons especially since my computer is on a different floor from my audio gear. I purchased an Alesis Masterlink and should arrive in about a week. I'm looking forward to trying this unit.
 
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