The feeling of placing a vinyl album on a turntable and listening to the magical sound is unbeatable. But, the experience of listening to our favorite music on the move through MP3 is no less. If you want to convert vinyl or LPs into MP3, this blog is especially for you.
You can find plenty of new music on the internet, but the rare vinyl tracks are hard to find. By converting vinyl tracks you have, you can let others and yourself listen to the same vinyl tracks anywhere you go on your Smartphone or any other device. So, convert your LPs into MP3 today and spread joy with others.
What are the requirements to convert vinyl to MP3?
Converting your vinyl to MP3 is not a daunting task. First and foremost, you need a decent laptop or PC that includes a USB port and headphone/microphone jack. Both PC and laptop will work fine for this process, but the laptop will be considered best for converting LPs into MP3 as it will be easy to set them up with the vinyl.
Other than this, you need to have the exact cables for connecting vinyl player with the laptop or computer as well as software for recording and editing music. One of the best software for this purpose is Audacity. It is free software that comes with decent features for recording and exporting audio. There are plenty of other software in the market, and you can choose the one you like instead of Audacity. Last but not least, a vinyl player is essential. It will be easy for you if you have a vinyl turntable with a USB output. Otherwise, it will be a little time-consuming.
Five steps to convert vinyl to MP3:
1. Set up computer and turntable
If you own an extensive vinyl collection, it might take a long time to save the recordings. Though, you can make things easier for you by checking your vinyl turntable if it is dust free and the speed is right. Or most of your time will go in fixing the turntable. Also, clean up your hard drive in your PC if space is less as this process will demand an ideal storage space in your computer.
2. Connect vinyl turntable with PC
After setting up, it is time to connect equipment to start the process. Connect the USB cable into the USB port of your PC if the vinyl turntable is equipped with USB type cable, and then turn it on. You will see the notification on your PC once the turntable connects as an input. If it doesn’t, you need to download the essential driver and then try.
3. Get started with Audacity
If you have successfully connected your turntable with the PC, launch the Audacity software on your PC. After launching, click on the microphone icon present at the top of the screen and choose your vinyl turntable as an input device. Now, run the recording process by pressing the red Record button present in the software and play your vinyl at the same time. You can see the audio being recorded in the form of waves. If the waves are going up and down and not straight, it is recording smoothly. If it goes straight, your vinyl turntable is not connected with the PC.
4. Start recording
Before initiating the recording process, make sure Quiet Mode is enabled in your PC. Otherwise, the notification sound will also get recorded, and you will have to start the process again and again. After checking this, start the recording process in Audacity and play your vinyl afterward. It might take around 25 minutes to record one side of the vinyl as the average length is the same for one side. Stop the recording when one side entirely gets recorded and save the project.
5. Edit the project
You will get the recording as one track and will have to edit several separate tracks from the file. Use the waveform to find out when the song starts and ends in the recording process. Now, go to the menu bar in the software and click the Edit button present over there, select Clip Boundaries, and then Split to edit the tracks accordingly. Keep saving them one by one to listen to the tracks perfectly later on.
6. Add song details
The last step is to add the metadata of the MP3 so that the correct artist name and other information of track go ahead with the song. Enter the name of the artist in the asked column, album name as well as the genre of the song, and save it with the song name and track number. Click OK in the end to complete the conversion process. You can follow the same method for recording the other side of the vinyl too.
In this way, you can easily convert LPs into MP3 and share the rare tracks with the world!
Karen Minton is a creative person who has been writing blogs and articles about cybersecurity. She writes about the latest updates regarding norton.com/setup and how it can improve the work experience of users. Her articles have been published in many popular e-magazines, blogs, and websites.