Digitising vinyl with XS2?

I have a few LPs that either have never been released on CD or are long deleted on CD that I would like to rip to flac files so that I can listen to them on portable devices. The output from my phono stage is connected by RCA cables in to the AUX1 port on my Nait XS2. Is there any way I can get that signal out to a recording device, most likely a soundcard on my laptop? I’ve had a look at the manual but I can’t figure out if it is possible or not from it.

Buy a phono stage with USB connection then you can connect it to the PC and rip that way. There are quite a few out there varying in price. Or you can but the Korg DS DAC 10 R it’s supposed to be very good for ripping vinyl as it has a professional grade ADC.

Program called Audacity. Is free (or was when I got it). Tape output fronpm the preamp tp the sound card input. You’ll need to play with input level to find what suits best.if you can’t get levels right you could use main preamp output which is adjustable by the volume control.

Audacity lets yo do additional things like scratch/pop removal (very effective for distinct minor ones at least (with more than one solution).

It can be surprisingly good despite the relatively basic ADC in the laptop, however if that proves not good enough you could buy a secondhand ADC and sell after ripping at at negligible loss (various options, e.g. one of the Focusrite Scarlett products) feeding the digital output to Audacity on the computer.

Simple answer…
Don’t bother with connecting via the XS2, just use a phono to 3.5mm jack and connect the output of the phono stage to the line input of your soundcard.

Better Answer…
By a decent USB outboard sound recording ADC and connect that to the phono stage using phono cables or phono to XLR cables (as appropriate for the ADC’s input connectors).
.

AS IB says, Audacity works well as a digital recording and editing suite.

Thanks for the replies. I didn’t fancy the idea of a phono stage with USB output because my phono stage is a Rega Aria and I’d want the SQ from that. I don’t have that many records I want to digitise so buying professional grade ADCs wouldn’t be worth the money. I never thought of just using a phono to 3.5mm cable straight from the Aria so that sounds like the best option seeing as I already have such a cable. I’m quite familiar with Audacity, that’s what I was planning on using.

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Tape out rca to 3mm jack into my MacBook using vinyl recording audio app worked well.

Scott

The XS2 doesn’t have a tape out, would have made things easier f it had.

Use the Hdd in/out and suitable i/c to either a digital recorder or just use the analogue input on the sound card of your computer along with Audacity.

So the HDD in/out DIN socket will output whatever source is selected on the front panel? If that’s the case I’ll have to invest in a DIN to 3.5mm cable and just leave it plugged in to save messing around with the Aria.

It should do, otherwise there’s no point in having the OUT alongside the IN.

I use a Roland R-05 recorder. (£40 from ebay).

It’s a lot easier than connecting up to a laptop/soundcard. (been there, done that).

As Xanthe suggested the only other thing you’ll need is phono to 3.5mm jack connector.

Plus audacity for editing if you need it.

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If you want a fantastic bargain digital recorder then you should consider the Marantz PMD671. It’s a proper professional bit of kit that can act just like a digital version of a cassette deck. It has very good sounding circuits a good quality ADC and a pretty good DAC too - although plugging it’s coaxial digital out into a good quality DAC such as the Naim DAC or something like a Chord Hugo does lift its game, making the sound more spacious and dimensional (the internal DAC is still very enjoyable though). It can record at up to 24bit 96kHz and the nice chunky controls, and good meters mean it’s very easy to use. It’s good enough to have an almost permanent place in my big system, acting just like a digital tape deck. I then take the files off the CF card and edit them on the laptop with Audacity and metadata via DBpoweramp. It’s even very friendly when it comes to connections with a pair of RCA phonos for input and a pair of RCA phonos for analogue output so you can use a regular tape interconnect. I love it! Oh, and did I say it was a bargain? My boxed and near mint example with all the bits, I bought online for just under £200. Well used examples that have been used in the field you can pick up for much less.

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A used Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 doesn’t have to be all that expensive.

I would argue that if all you’re doing is digitizing stereo analog audio something like a Lynx E22 would be much better value. It is worlds ahead of a Focusrite in terms of sound quality for not a lot of money. That is an actual professional ADC.

The thing is, whatever ADC you buy, if you buy secondhand you should be able to sell for about the same money, so you he only met cost is the selling commission if you can use the likes of fleabay.

I would say if this is for casual use then most consumer computer based products would be fine… if for higher quality archiving purposes then I would look at commercial equipment… with processing to remove artefacts from the vinyl replay such as scratch and warp filter, optimise the RIAA and perhaps also slightly compress… as you may find the signal artificially companded.
Essentially you really want to be matching your front end with the back end of the chain.

That’s it in a nutshell, it is just a few records I’d like to get on to my iPod for listening to in the car. I’m not after the ultimate in sq because of the limitations of the target playing system i.e. iPod routed through my car speakers.

Pc sound card and some (free) software like Audacity sounds ideal then

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Tried that. SQ was average at best. Ok for MP3/AAC use in the car.

(Sondek etc. -> 82-SCap -> Creative XFi Elite, using Audacity to record as WAV.)

Finally having a go at this using a phono to 3.5mm cable from the back of the Aria in to the laptop. Selected line in on the laptop when I plugged it in and set source as line in in Audacity. Lower the to eat my and hit record in Audacity. Nothing. Double check all the settings, try again, still nothing. Then I noticed that after switching everything off to swap cables I forgot to switch the Aria back on :joy: Seems to be working OK so far…