How to put Records onto an iPod

Mike: We’re taking your questions on Get Connected. Ron from Saskatoon writes in and asked, “I’ve got a large vinyl record collection, how do I get them off there onto my iPod so I can listen to them on my next business trip?” What we’re going to go into timely music and find out for you Ron. DJ Jazzy Mike here and my good friend Justin. Bet you wish you had a cool name like me. Justin: I wish. Mike: We want to find out how to get our old record collections into laptops. It’s been difficult for many people but there are apparently turntables that plugged right directly into PCs. Justin: Absolutely. Mike: And Mac’s for that matter. Justin: And Mac’s. Mike: It’s all we got here. Justin: Right now, we’ve got two turntables on display. The Numark TTUSB and the Stanton T.90 USB. Mike: Okay. Let’s start with this one. Justin: Absolutely. The TTUSB made by Numark is a high-end hi-fi recording playback device. Mike: Okay. Justin: It has a built drive turntable which is really important for the appropriate signal. Mike: Okay. And so typically a high-end turntable would be built driven. Justin: All of them would be yes. Mike: Okay. And so this one here, not only can you plug it into your stereo system and listen to your records but it also has that USB connection that we’ve got plugged in to this MacBook. Justin: Directly, yes. Mike: Okay. And so what do we do here now once – it comes from some software – Justin: It comes with Audacity software. Mike: Okay. Justin: And to load up Audacity is very simple, just go over here and load up Audacity. As soon as Audacity loads up, all I have to do is hit record. Once I hit record, I hit start on my turntable. The playback will begin on my computer and I can listen to my recording and make sure that the quality is adequate. Mike: So it’s a – actually digitally encoding, it’s all analog record right into the (Voice Overlap). Justin: Taking my record and quickly turning it into an Mp3. I can put in to my iTunes, put on to my iPod or any other portal digital device. Mike: And do you have any flexibility with the software and – in the different encoding beat rates and stuff like that? Justin: Absolutely, we can go all the way from 16 to 32 beats. We can change the volume level, we can also record the live mic right off the computer as well with Audacity. Mike: And Audacity, does it work on both platforms both Mac and Windows? Justin: Absolutely not platform specific. Mike: And do – I mean, it looks like there’s a lot of stuff going on here. What kind of knowledge level would someone have to have it, they just want to get their records on to their computer? Justin: Well, a lot of the data on here, at first it might seem to be extremely complicated. All we really have to worry about are the red and green sound levels and make sure that we’re not peeking out anywhere along alone our chain. Otherwise, the software is going to do it all for us. Soon as the track ends, all I have to do is hit Save and it’s going to save it directly into an Mp3 which I can just bring right into my icons. Mike: That’s pretty easy. Justin: Super easy. Mike: And so, how much were something like this here? Justin: These will cost about $205. Mike: $205. And you know, we heard a lot about DJs now, I mean that’s why turntables are so big again, is that something that a DJ would use? Justin: This is more of a high-end turntable for recording audio files, customers who would have a large record collection that they’re just looking to get on to their iPod. Mike: So, I got to ask this question. Why wouldn’t you just download all these songs from iTunes? Justin: Well, the difference between vinyl and a CD never mind between vinyl and a download is incomprehensible. Mike: In what way? Justin: When vinyl is recorded, it goes through tube three amplifiers. So most people who have vinyl know, it has this beautiful warm sound to it. There is never been a better quality sound than vinyl. And quite possibly, there might never be. So that’s why it’s so nice that we can take that and keep the same quality but digitize it. Mike: Are a lot of people coming in for this? Justin: I have a hard time keeping these on my shelves to be honest with you. Mike: Oh really, that’s amazing. So looking at this one here, this one is a USB as well but this is more of a DJ– Justin: This is our system that would integrate either into a DJ system or into a standalone system, yes. Mike: Can it be use to record music into the – Justin: Absolutely. Mike: Okay. Justin: The major difference that I find between the two turntables is that the TTUSB has the built drive. Mike: Okay. Justin: So the built drive isolates all of the rumble. Whereas the T.90 has what’s called the direct drive, the platter and motor are directly connected. If there’s any hum or wobble, I’m going to hear that. Mike: Okay. So this is more of a DJ thing, you can use it to record the audio but it is not something that you typically hook into like your high-end – Justin: No, most of the people who I see for something like this, our DJs looking to take all of their vinyls and encode them so that they don’t have to bring the– Mike: And what kind of price you are looking for these types– Justin: This would be about $335. Mike: Very cool, well, pretty simple. Thanks Justin. Justin: Any time. Mike: To get your records into your computer, pretty simple, you just buy one of these turntables nowadays that have the built-in USB connection, use the software and you’ve got all your old favorite songs in Mp3 format. Female: If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, send it to us at inbox@getconnectedtvshow.com.