In general I LISTEN both to vinyl (good collection) as well as digital (files and streaming), with open ears, but on an audiophile scale of 1 to 10 – with 1 being newbie and 10 being willing to spend the value of a decent home on a sound system – I’m probably right around a 4.5. I have a good Pro-Ject turntable and Grado cartridge, but it’s certainly nothing in the big leagues. My system is Stellar Gold DAC, Convergent Audio tube pre-amp, Stellar M1200, Vandersteen 2ce speakers.
Once in a while, for various reasons, I have the need to digitize something vinyl or even from my reel-to-reel deck. At one point I could just plug an RCA-to-mini-jack into my Mac and record from there, but my latest Mac won’t let me do that. I started looking at analog-to-digital devices and quickly ran up against a dichotomy that others, including Paul McGowan, have talked about: although we spend a lot of time, effort and money converting digital data to an analog signal (DAC), going the other direction, it seems few people care much about it. I guess when it comes to RECORDING, we leave that to the pros, and maybe the technology of sampling audio at a good level is easier to do (?). Searching for Analog-to-Digital Converter, besides turning up mostly DACs (grrrrr), reveals losts of really cheap - as low as like $15 - devices for taking analog fed over RCA connectors and converting to digital over USB, but I get the clear picture that these adapters are very basic. I did find on some audio-focused sites some better examples, but most seem to be oriented to home studios where the idea is to plug in your guitar or keyboard and digitize the sound. There are very few of higher quality for recording from records, tapes, etc.
Any suggestions? I’ve narrowed it down to these:
Behringer U-Control UCA222 USB Audio Interface - Sweetwater - $25 - Paul mentions this in a YouTube video, but doesn’t seem to think too much of it.
IK Multimedia iRig Stream USB Audio Interface - Sweetwater - can do 24-bit/48k, but how “audiophile” it is, no idea - $120
NAD PP4 Digital Phono USB Preamplifier - NAD site - it goes to 16-bit/48k. I do like that it’s a respected audio manufacturer. I wouldn’t need its pre-amp part (mine is very good), but it can be set for standard line input – $349 (seen it as low as $200)
ART USB Phono Plus Phono Preamp & Audio Interface - Sweetwater - 16/48 - $99
I did find a few others but they output to SPDIF coax. Google AI told me I could convert from SPDIF coax to USB, but damn if I can find anything to do that. Maybe it doesn’t work?
JLawry, any of these will get a digital file into your computer, but eh… The sound quality will not be what you might wish to have as you get more familiar with the process. Given the investment of time that digitizing from analog requires, I suggest biting the bullet and going for a longer term solution. In my mind, that would be the Tascam DA-3000SD A/D D/A converter. The new model sells for $1500, but the older non-SD model is readily available in the used market for $400-600 (if you’re patient) and will work perfectly well. Both new and old models will record at up to PCM 192k and up to DSD128. They both write the file to an SD card inserted into the face of the unit, which you then transfer to an input on your computer to copy the file.
This unit is very commonly used for digitizing vinyl and tape, so there are lots of folks around who can offer assistance should you want it. I used to use the DA-3000 but sold it when I downsized, along with my vinyl.
Hey, what do YOU know about digitizing from analog? Seriously, I’m very glad you replied because I truly respect your knowledge and experience with the transfers from tape on HDTT. I’ll look for the TASCAM. I actually found the TASCAM DR-40X 4-channel Handheld Recorder that was interesting, but I don’t know how much I’d ever use about half of its features. The thing I need to keep in mind is that yes, I’ve wanted to digitize things for podcasts or personal things, or even for work (when I couldn’t find a digital version), but I’m just not sure any of my needs would involve audiophile-level quality. For instance, the way I got onto this path was I recently read a review in Stereophile about a rare Johnny Hartman recording that has some great audio. I’m a big JH fan, so I started looking…. and looking….. and looking, and even though the review said it was available in digital formats, the only place I could find it was on eBay in vinyl. So I bought it and yes, it’s great, and a pretty clean copy. One of my best friends is a jazz nut - he’s the one who first introduced me to Hartman about 25 years ago - so I asked him if he had heard it. He hadn’t, and I’ve never known anyone with a bigger collection. So I told him I’d convert it to CD and send it to him, for which he was quite excited. But audiophile? Nah, not Bill. So I just need something that will do a decent enough job every once in a while. I’m getting ready to retire, so maybe if I get more to where I’m digitizing analog, I’ll go bigger, but right now I’m thinking the NAD would do nicely.
I upgraded from the NPC to the Stellar Phono preamp. The NPC is definitgely lacking detail as compared to the Stellar phono preamp. My recommendation is to get a Stellar phono stage and find some other way to digitize your phono collection.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I figured it wouldn’t be as good as something newer. I too have a stellar phono pre and really like it! Wondering if I used the regular RCA line inputs (not the phono in with RIAA correction) on the NPC in order to record from my Stellar if that would capture the Stellar sound. Just a thought - haven’t tried it.
You could do that, but what will happen is the NPC will add it’s color to the signal that passes through it. In fact, no matter what you use to digitize the content it will color the output, so it will depend on whether you like the result from the NPC or not.
Finally, unless you have another means of digitizing the signal for a comparison, you will never know how good or bad the NPC is at the task.
makes sense. I just wondered if the NPC A to D conversion (separate from the phono stage) would be a step up from the sound of the NPC in general. I guess I’d have to do some comparisons. I appreciate your thoughts. I imagine comparing the analog output of the stellar to the digitized file of Stellar via NPC would give me some indication of how colored the output is.
Wouldn’t a phono stage color sound more than an A-D conversion? I wouldn’t know.
Hey, yes, I found that too and thought it has great potential. But here’s the catch: its digital output is SPDIF coax. I need to get it into my Mac Mini. I have looked everywhere for a converter that goes from SPDIF coax to USB, with no luck; plenty that go the other way. I’m wondering if the digital in SPDIF is somehow different from USB?
The Tascam unit is a professional model with excellent sound. Michal Fremer uses one to record various phono preamps for the purpose of comparing them. His website has dozens of these files.
Rega do a phono stage with USB output, but again no idea what the quality would be like.
Behringer have a couple of 24/96 units that can do this, but as with much of their stuff, the digital side is fine, the analogue stages not so good (but once the analogue stages are replaced/modded they are very good indeed).
I thought about that too, but couldn’t find one. Others here have pointed out that it’s also a pre-amp, is there a way to bypass the phono stage? I would have looked it up myself, but PS Audio has deleted its page.
One reviewer stated: “And since it runs as a core DSD converter with input sampling at 352,800Hz (5.6MHz) per second, it even has the potential to make Master-quality recordings from a live feed by using quality microphones using and an appropriate microphone preamp. The NPC produces both high resolution DSD or PCM from its digital outputs …”
Seriously, I’m very glad you replied because I truly respect your knowledge and experience with the transfers from tape on HDTT. I’ll look for the TASCAM. I actually found the 