Converting 78 LPS to Digital

Anyone know a DIY way to do this? I have a turntable that will do 45's and 33's, but I need to convert some really old 78's.

Newer turntables have the ripping feature built into them. I checked the Technics turntable website and it didn't state any RPM settings, but it did, however, give the specs of the mp3s it could pump out. Go figger.

I have a Sony CD player / recorder that will rip any input into digital. (CD or MP3)

Mine is similar to this:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/sony-rcd-w500c-cd-recorder/244679007000003?src=3WWRWXGP&kpid=mf244679P.003&gclid=CPm4woq4n7UCFQPOnAodDhoAKg

It's kind of a pain in the ass to use, but I've converted LP to CD and CD to MP3.

If all else fails, record it at 45rpm, and come up with a program that will electronically correct the speed in the computer?

I've used my turntable to play 33 RPM records and send a line-level output to the line-in on my computer. From there, most any sound software can record a .wav and you can convert to mp3 or whatever.

In your case, you're going to need to find a turntable with a 78 RPM setting. Mine dates back to the early 80's, and it's only got 33 and 45 settings.

In reply to 1988RedT2:

That's my problem. I have two turntables, one is just a regular one from the early 80's, and the other has the USB port to import into a computer. But neither play 78's.

I think your answer is to find a open source program to record and change the speed.

RossD wrote: I think your answer is to find a open source program to record and change the speed.

It does look as if this is going to be the easiest route. Such software does exist, although I have not used it.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Recording_78rpm_records

From the above page: "If your turntable does not have the facility to play records at 78rpm, you can use Audacity's ability to change the speed of recordings to record your 78 rpm records at either 33 1/3 rpm or 45 rpm. Since you are playing the disk slower than normal, tracking should not be an issue. The top frequency on a 78 will be around 8 kHz, and playing it slower will lower that to about 4.6 kHz. "

In reply to 1988RedT2:

That's an interesting potential solution. I'll check it out. Thanks guys!

While there have been turntables manufactured with 33, 45, and 78 speeds on the same unit, 78s were not meant to be played with 33/45 needles!

78s have a different groove shape and can be damaged by non 78-dedicated needles. Yes it will play with the wrong needle. It will not be good for the record. It will not sound the way it is intended.

Many modern people assume that in olden times the music that people listened to on their 78s was scratchy and E36 M3-sounding, but it's really not true. Most of the 78s that are still kicking around have been mis-handled and abused by incorrect needles.

At minimum, you need to find a quality antique turn-table and purchase a new and correct-for-78s needle, then line out to your favorite digital recording program.

And to explain the above better, the 78 groove is wider than that of an LP. The needles are fatter and rounder. An LP needle will dig into the bottom of a 78's groove where crap has been collecting for years, sound like crap, and damage the groove.

if it exists, it's probably already online in either mp3 or youtube video form... you could download the mp3, or use a site that converts the audio from any youtube track to mp3 and sends it to you as a file download..

i guess what i'm saying is that you probably don't need to screw around with a turntable or any software because someone's probably already done the work for you.

In reply to novaderrik:

I doubt that for the stuff I'm wanting to transfer, but I'll check. This is classical stuff that was recorded in the early 1900's.