Phono Preamp Reviews

I read this article with interest as this has been a passion of mine for several years now.  I have no issues with anything said as it's essentially what I've been doing.

I would like to share a couple of alternatives, however:

The Graham Slee Project "Jazz Club" pre-amp (www.gspaudio.co.uk) allows you to select from a variety of different equalisation curves or just pass the signal through without equalisation.  It's got pretty good performance specs as well.

Sound Studio from Felt Tip Software is a pretty versatile but easy to use program. Support is excellent and the product has never failed to perform to my expectations.  I do high-res transcription at 24-bit, 192kHz and this works a treat.

For post-processing I use wonderful suite of products from Brian Davies called ClickRepair and DeNoise.  The beauty of this product is that it is NOT a set of filters but a sophisticated yet easy-to-use digital signal processing program.  It also has built-in equalisation capability if you wish to use it.  It's also very very affordable.

For storage of the raw files I use the DroboPro.  I mention this simply because I have terabytes of raw files and although I've had some serious HDD problems, this system has not lost a "bit" of any of my recordings.

BTW, really enjoying the site although suffering from technology envy when I read about some of the systems.

Oh, although I haven't done any work in this space, I've heard great things about the OPPO BDP-95 universal optical disc player.  If you have the capability of producing DVD-Audio discs at 24-bit 192kHz, and your mates have an OPPO, it's a great way to share new music.

Not everyone owns a Mac computer....indeed approximately 90% of the computing world is non Mac and I suspect the majority of those reading this blog or Stereophile in general are PC users.  So what are the viable NON MAC alternatives for converting vinyl to digital?  For many, the use of Audacity software (free download) and ones's own internal sound card or inexpensive secondary card provides a good starting point, but what are better alternatives?

I'd love to use the Pure Music software but first I have some serious hardware upgrades to consider, mainly a new turntable and cartridge. Mine is just too old and has spent too many thousands of miles in moving vans to be viable for such a huge undertaking. But someday . . . yes!

I'm a PC user so the Pure Vinyl is of no use to me. I have been digitising analog sources for a few years now using a Denon DN F650R digital recorder which transfers onto an SD card. I then plug the card into my PC. Using Nero software I chop up the files into the individual tracks, I can also edit any unwanted noise at this stage. The process is somewhat laborious but once you get used to it you can create a digital version of your vinyl/tape etc fairly quickly. The Denon records at 24/96 so SQ is acceptable. During this time I have been upgrading my vinyl playback so I suppose I would need to go back and re-record the early transfers, but I think life is too short !

...not all of them are equal.

Recording from vinyl is what I do for a living so forgive me if I feel I know more about it than others... but I have also found that I know less and less when it comes to the bewildering selection of software available.
I can't enjoy the 'Pure Vinyl' experience because I am a PC user... but I have been for many years using a venerable and now quite free version of Adobe Audition 3.01

The strengths of this program are difficult to nail down but amount to a great flexibility in choice. Automation of tasks is achieved through scripting and the interface is relatively easy to learn. Frankly I don't know what I'll do if it ever becomes unusable on modern computers!

Irrespective of software, I should stress that you are always going to get better results from a better turntable/arm/cart/pre/sound card than from any software. You can get a decent rip - if that's all you need, from free software such as Audacity.
As always, there is no easy way to make a bad rip sound good in software.

I shared the thought of a digital high-resolution rip.
On a very second thought:
- I waste a lot of time to create a copy, that I could use to read a book, ride a motorcycle, or bicycle, meet family and friends, travel. Recording what I listen to, while I listen to? Ok, doable.
- I record what actually has been digital information before? To save some bucks or what? To listen in a compromised environment (mobile)?
- Can I really capture all of it? All information, all emotion?
Result:
I decided to buy a second turntable instead for my second location I frequently stay and chose to listen to records I buy there, or move over. I had a good second chain of equipment already (not high high end, but good classic) that I moved there.
I listen to music and feel the emotion.

What do I rip?
CDs, because they're crap, don't age well, less well than my digital files.
Do I listen to them? Yes, in the car and on the train. (.wav)
I'll be deleting all MP3 files, soon, even the ones without a .wav copy.

Nothing against the software approach above, it's really a great idea, just not one that I consider using.

thank you.
Carlos.

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The ability to record directly to hard drive at high resolution is intriguing. Would love to see how ChatGPT could imagine different ways to use this software beyond just archiving vinyl.