LPs to CDs and MP3s: Music to My Ears

Steve Bass

Sometimes I get lucky. I asked my editor if I could do a fun column for a change, and he agreed. (I usually try this trick early in the day when he's still in a fog.) So I had the chance to dig out my old turntable, locate my apple crate of long-playing albums, and record some music onto CDs.

On the software side, I used Roxio's $99 Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum and EnhancedAudio's $99 Diamond Cut 32. These programs guided me through transferring music from long-playing records, audiotapes, or even other CDs, and record them onto compact discs.

I burned the CDs with a CD-RW drive, Plextor's ancient Speedwriter 8/2/20, which won PC World's World Class award in its day. PCWorld.com has reviewedthe more current model, the Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32S.

To get details about my LP-to-CD escapades, read my recent column, "LP to CD: Music Soothes Savage Bass."

Want to Burn? Read on...

You might be new to burning CDs, so first check out Andy Brandt's excellent "How It Works: CD-R, CD-RW."

Matt Lake's story "Create Your Own Music CDs"--really more of a dissertation on transferring LPs to CDs--is essential reading. (Matt's one of my writing heroes, cranking out solid stuff that I plagiarize early and often.) The most valuable parts of this seven-part article are the tips, techniques, and terrific What You Need sections. And don't be put off by some references to older software versions. Even though Matt refers to, say, Cool Edit 96, the link on the page brings you to our Downloads area that has the current version, Cool Edit 2000.

For another good hands-on story, see "Going Digital."

Catch the Burn Bug

If you're smitten with all this, here are a few more sites to look over. First is Mike Richter's first-rate CD-R primer

Then zip over to the PC Sound Card Technical Benchmarks site and read an extremely in-depth report about sound cards.

And don't miss Clive's authoritative site about transferring LPs to CD-R

There's also a small Yahoo group for talk about CD-RW, DVD, and transferring old vinyl recordings to CD. I know the guy who runs it (moi), so I know I can get you in. To subscribe, send an e-mail to cd_rom-subscribe@yahoogroup.com.

Dig this: Remember when you used to play in a sandbox? I didn't think so. Nonetheless, here's a grown-up pile of sand that'll fascinate you for hours. [Note to Bass: This is a riot. Got no work done today because of it. Thanks.--Ed.]

Old-fashioned people can try The Little Audio CD Book ( PeachPit Press, ISBN: 0-201-20897.3), an essential reference book. It costs about $30. Find it at

You say you already have pristine long-playing records? Here's a quick-and-dirty way to transform LPs into MP3 files.

Try These Tools With Your Tunes

If you're now ready to burn your own music CDs or to reorganize your collection of MP3s, we have the stuff to do it:

• Audiograbber: Copy digital audio from CDs to your PC--bypassing your sound card--for perfect copies.
• Diamond Cut 32: Terrific filters preset for transferring recordings of live performances, 78s, and 45s. Even includes a cool Virtual Valve Amplifier feature that emulates the characteristics of the tubes you'd find in old stereo amplifiers.
• Top Ten Music Management Utilities: Many of you have enormous MP3 collections and could use a way to keep them organized.
• Dart Pro 98: Another audio restoration tool with features to remove pops, clicks, hiss, and scratches. The program has a built-in CD-recorder and allows real-time previewing of edits. Dart Pro lets you record audio from multiple sources and includes editing tools such as mix, split, unite, compare, and reverse. Built-in graphics give you a view of distortions and signal processing functions include fade, equalizer, gain, resample, and mute.

Dig this: Do you sometimes think you've been browsing the Web way too long for your own good?

Sign up to have Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter e-mailed to you each week.