Converting vinyl lp's to cd's with same quality sound. When we use our turntable played through the stereo connected to our iMac and use Audacity, the resulted cd sounds tinny compared to the vinyl record. Thanks so much for any information you can give us!!

It is possible BUT can depend on the turntable you have, what connectors are on the turntable/Laptop and the software program you are using to 'translate' the information.
You are trying to convert 'Analogue' information, (the Vinyl), into Digital information, (The laptop). They are nowhere near the same language.
You can buy relatively cheap little turntables with a USB port and a built in converter that you can plug directly into your laptop. This is by far the easiest way to do it. All you need then is a software app like "Audacity" to use to actually record the music as it plays. However it is worth noting that you might not get as good a sound quality from the cheapest of these turntables.
If your turntable does not have this feature you will probably need an extra piece of equipment often called an 'Audio Capture Device'. Again sound quality can sometimes be affected depending on the price you paid.

The popular recording software known as Audacity is a good choice for getting all sorts of sounds saved in a digital format. The easy-to-use features of this program will help you to create complex musical compositions, or just record incoming audio streams. One of the basic things you can do with Audacity is to record sound from vinyl records. Many people still keep vinyls on hand, though the production of this medium has diminished. Here are the basic steps that will help you to use Audacity to record vinyl.

Steps

1. Get your phonograph or record player. Assemble your collection of records and make sure that your record player is in good functioning condition.
   


2. Use a cable to connect your record player to the computer with Audacity installed on it. In order to record from vinyl, you'll need to make sure you have accurately connected your record player as an incoming audio stream into the microphone jack of your computer.
   
   
   
   • Use hardware adapters to secure your cable connection. Many older record players utilize a 1/4-sized input jack. The modern laptop computer, as well as many desktop models, use a smaller, 1/8-sized input jack. You can buy simple adapters at your local electronics store to fix this problem.
   
   
   • Make sure that your cables and adapters support stereo.
   
   


3. Open the Audacity program on your computer. You will see the signature Audacity screen, with controls at the top, and an empty space to accommodate created tracks.
   


4. Start playing the record on your record player.
   


5. Hit the red circle that represents the "record" button in Audacity.


6. Observe the sound coming into Audacity. You should see the track being populated with sound, represented by a fluctuating line as the cursor moves along.


7. Hit "Stop" to stop the recording.
   


8. Stop the record player.
   


9. Repeat this process with the entire track. Reset the record player, start playing and hit the Audacity "Record" button again, allowing the entire track to populate with the sound of the vinyl record.
   


10. Save your project in your desired format. Audacity supports a number of file formats for the finished product. You can select one of these when you have recorded the entire track. Make every song its own track, or simply record the entire side of the record on one track.
    

You will have got the audio muted in your windows recording mode. If you right click on your speaker icon it will say recording devices. Click that and you will be able to see all the devices and if they are activated.

Hi, maybe the record is worn and that's why the sound is low. By using third party audio editing software (i.e. cool edit [paid] or audacity [free]) you can improve quality and volume of digital sound.

is the vinyl clean vinyl is supposed to sound weird thats what its all about. if the records not clean it could make it sound ****

opening the file from audacity you made from the vinyl? are you making them .wav or .mp3 files. If not I sugguest you do . Much easier!

There do exist turntables with a USB port.

Or, if your turntable just has the "post-and-ring" RED and WHITE stereo audio RCA-jacks, then you need an adapter to merge the two audio channels, and to connect to the "microphone-input" socket on your computer.

Then, tell Audacity to listen to that "microphone-input", and record from that source.

The turntable won't make sound on its own when connected to the USB port. There are probably some drivers on the CD packed with the table that you'll need to install, and then you'll need to select the device in the Windows sound control panel. You'll also need some software to record and edit your vinyl if you want to transfer your records to CD.

I'm not familiar with the brand of turntable you have, just the ION, but it probably came bundled with some application on a CD. The ION table comes with Audacity, as well as some trial versions of audio processing (click and pop filter, hiss remover, etc.). Audacity is free, open-source software you can download here if you want it. It allows you to listen to and record your vinyl audio as wave files, then edit it, split tracks, add effects, and other fun things.

Get a computer with an audio input or soundcard. Like a Mac with garageband and a soundcard. connect both with a male 1/8" to male 1/8" cable. Press play on the tape deck, record on the computer. Once done, edit and trim the beginning and end. Import to itunes. Create a playlist. Burn to cd. Simple.

I use Audacity. It's a 100% free sound editing software and works great for vinyl transfers...Linky

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/