Digitizing Vinyl, Part Two: An Overview

I'm going to apologize now, because the following write up is a vast oversimplification. People can and do write volumes on every minute aspect of audio playback and recording. If you find any of my descriptions lacking in detail, you can find lots more information on the web.

There are literally hundreds of different ways to set up a system to digitize records, but most of them will have 4 main parts. Even if you have one of ION's all in one units, one way or another it will have the following things:

A Turntable -> A Preamp -> an Analog to Digital Converter -> A device to record on, probably a computer.

The turntable AKA "record player" can come in a variety of configurations, but most are either direct drive or belt driven. The preamp's job is to raise the volume of the turntable up to "line level" like your CD player or iPod. For decades, the job of preamplification was usually done by a stereo receiver, but new (cheap) receivers have omitted this option. The A to D converter takes the analog signal generated from your record, and converts it into digital glory. You can choose to do this with tons of different external boxes, or just roll with the built in audio input on your laptop. Finally, the recording device might be a computer, a minidisc player, a DAT deck, or a score of other devices that are on the market. As I mentioned above, some devices can combine one or all of these things. For example, if I had a spare 500 bucks, I'd pick up a Sumiko Debut III USB, which combines the turntable, preamp, and A to D converter. In the following posts, I'll be providing more detail about what I've tried, what worked, and what didn't.