Quality Vinyl to digital service?

[Jim R.]

Does anybody know of and/or can recommend a good company who can digitize some special albums I have?

I've liquidated most of my albums (the ones I have quality digital copies of, plus record racks, and almost everything vinyl related but I have a couple of special albums that are not available in digital form anywhere so I'm looking for a high quality needle-drop service.

Thanks,

Jim

[howardnair]

Jim I don't know of a specific one
But acoustic sounds has taken a big step into digital they may be able to help

[Jim R.]

Howie,

Thanks for the suggesttion, I'll check in with them.

Thanks,

Jim

[fullheadofnothing]

It's been a while since I was on Vinyl Asylum, but cactuscowboy over there at least used to do this on a professional basis. I've never used his service, but he seems like an upright kinda guy.

[Jim R.]

Joshua,

Thanks much. Oh no, not the "Asylum." :-)

-- Jim

[rockpassion]

Jim,

I digitize my albums and would be happy to digitize your albums.  I currently use a VPI Mk IV turntable with all the upgrades, a Woody String Theory tonearm, with either a Dynavector 20x2 HO Cartridge or a Shelter 501 Mk II cartridge.  I pass it through an Eros Phone Preamp into a ASUS Xonar Essence STX Soundcard using Audacity software to do the conversion. 

What albums are you trying to convert  I may have them.  Also, given that you are a Bottlehead person I wouldn't charge for the copying,  you would  just need to pay for shipping charges. 

The conversions I have done sound much better than regular CD's in my system and car.  I can also download to a flash drive or both if you want.  Let me know if you are interested.

Richard

[Jim R.]

Hi Richard,

I'll have to count and find out what the albums are, but there aren't many of them.

The one thing that I care about most is the Impex set of the 9 Beethoven symphonies as performed by the Bremen City Orchestra. It's played a bit differently than most Beethoven cycles, the albums are pristinely produced, and it was a gift from my wife.

I can also send you a portable 2.5" SSD drive that I could then directly transfer to my Aries Mini.

I'll be in. touch once I know exactly what I have.

Thanks very much for the offer!

-- Jim

[rockpassion]

Jim,

No problem.  Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of classical, about 300 - 400 albums.  Still, let me know. 

By the way where are you located, I live in So. Calif. 

Richard

[Jim R.]

Hi Richard,

Well, with my album collection mostly gone, 3-400 is. way more than I have now. This Impex set was a fairly limited collection and I don't think it ever made it to CD -- at least I've never been able to find it.

BTW, I live in Boulder, CO.

Take care,

Jim

P.S. -- it's going to be a while before I can get this stuff together and out the door. I'll contact you offline for an address when the time comes.

[fullheadofnothing]

The one thing that I care about most is the Impex set of the 9 Beethoven symphonies as performed by the Bremen City Orchestra. It's played a bit differently than most Beethoven cycles, the albums are pristinely produced, and it was a gift from my wife.

These are available as hybrid SACD. All on Scamzon, and presumably other locations as well:

1 & 5

2 & 6

3 & 8

4 & 7

9

[Jim R.]

Hi Joshua,

Wow, thanks for this! I'll see what I can find -- if I don't have to ship the set, all the better.

Richard, I didn't get a chance to go through the other albums this morning -- too much else to get done and then I hurt my back again, so I'm out of commission for the rest of the day.

--- Jim

[rockpassion]

Jim,

Take your time, I am here whenever you need to have this done. 

By the way what equipment will you be playing this on.  Will you want to use a memory stick or CD's.  I can record this in 24/44 which is CD Redbook speed or, 96/24 or 192/24.  I have done each and in the car I cannot tell a difference.  However on my home system there is a slight difference using the 96/24 or 192/24 speed.  The music is both clearer and more precise.  Also, the soundstage is better.   But, the higher speed might also seem a little bright. 

I could do all three as a sample and let you decide.  It would not take long for me to do one side of an album and mail it to you.  Then you can make a decision. 

Richard

[Jim R.]

Hi Richard,

Setup is Auralic Aries Mini feeding Metrum Musette DAC via USB and then into a 5.6 watt, SE Class A EL84 amp and out to Orca DeLuxes.

I will most likely send you a 1TB SSD in a small, portable enclosure. 24/96 AIFF is what I prefer. I can then load the files directly to the Aries mini via the USB port. If you have a firewire interface for transferring the files, all the better -- I can supply an Audioquest Carbon Firewire cable too.

I should warn you, if I can find the albums on HD tracks or another hi-res download site, I'll probably just do that. I also have very few albums left and probably most of them are on HDTracks.

We'll just have to see what I have left. Laid up with a bad back again today so I can't get down to my listening room to see what I have.

Talk to you later,

Jim