MBP vinyl and cassette to cd or other

[bogart]

I have many vinyl LP's and cassettes that I would like eventually to make it onto my ipod touch. I have available

a recent Macbook Pro 15 inch
an AKAI belt drive turntable with magnetic pickup
- it was hi-fi then but that's many years ago
a Technics HD 350 cassette tape drive and amplifier

What other h/w and software do I need to do this ?

Is the audio-processing hardware needed there in the MBP already
or do I need to buy some other hardware.

The turntable has phono plug outputs and I have various phono to jack plug cables so for the vinyl it seems to me I could go via the Technics or straight
from turntable to laptop but I know nothing about the signal levels coding
and characteristics produced by the turntable pickup and needed by the input hardware on the mac.

What about software for processing ?

Thanks

andy

 

[CanadaRAM]

You will need to put the turntable through a stereo amplifier or receiver to decode the RIAA EQ curve and boost the levels. Take the "Tape Out" or "Record" output of the receiver (2 x RCAs) to the line in (3.5" stereo) of the Mac.

You could go straight from the cassette deck to the line in of the Mac as long as the levels from the cassette deck are in a reasonable line output range.

Alternatively you could buy the Griffin iMic USB interface, which I think comes with a simple preamp and RIAA compensation curve, and Final Vinyl software.

Audacity (shareware, check www.versiontracker.com) or Garageband (free with your Mac) software should capture the tunes OK

 

[bogart]

Thankyou

Brilliant, thankyou CanadaRAM - exactly what I needed to know.

andy

 

[hexonxonx]

You can also get a new USB turntable that simply converts the audio to MP3 automatically. These are available at most stores from $149 on up. It makes converting LPs allot easier.