Gadget Reviews
How to digitise your vinyl
If you're hanging on to old LPs for reasons other than they're
collectable, why not digitise them before throwing them out?
PURISTS may still swear by vinyl, but there's no denying the LP is all but
dead as a mainstream music format.
If you are anything like me, though, you can't face throwing all those old
tapes away without doing something to preserve their contents.
Modern technology offers a way to digitise analogue recordings and burn them
to disc but one word of warning:
don't rely on a single disc copy.
Recordable CDs and DVDs have a limited shelf life. They are incredibly susceptible
to sunlight - half-an-hour on a hot window sill will wreck a disc as surely
as putting it through a shredder.
So why not back up your precious recordings/records to a portable hard drive
as well? A capacious drive shouldn't cost more than £100 and then you have the
security of a second backup should your discs turn into coasters.
Not only will this 21st Century conversion free up space in your home, but
the almost magical alteration of your old videos, cassettes, 33s, 45s and even
78s will be a fun-filled trip down memory lane.
Digital Film Scanner
£89.99 www.iwantoneofthose.com
Most amateur snappers have a collection of slides and a stack of negatives
from the time of 35mm film, but how often do they break out the projector these
days?
Scan them through this machine and convert them into JPEGs to share with friends,
make photo albums, mugs, tshirts, canvases for your walls - then enjoy tear-inducing
moments of laughter as you recall the fashion sense and haircuts of yesteryear.
USB Cassette Deck
£99.95 www.iwantoneofthose.com
Okay, so it looks like something from a 1980s "music centre", but
the USB cassette deck has more than one trick up its sleeve. Dig out all your
old tapes and switch them to MP3, or burn them directly to CD and relive those
memories as you convert all those old compilations.
Plus Deck Cassette Converter
£79.95 www.firebox.com
Anyone who has a burgeoning collection of cassettes will recognise BASF Chrome,
C60s, C90s and Cr02. If you have a hankering to get these over to MP3, integrate
this in your PC tower, plug your tapes inside and convert them in an instant.
Instant Ripper
£39.95 www.iwantoneofthose.com
One more job for your old hi-fi before you consign it to the electrical graveyard
- hook it up to this little ripper and then connect to your PC.
This instant music ripper starts recording from the analogue audio source to
digital audio formats of all the most popular varieties and can even filter
out music imperfections as you go.
USB Turntable with iPod Dock
£129.95 www.firebox.com
Transfer vinyl directly to your iPod without a clumsy computer with this brand
new product, with an integrated dock. Pop your player atop this retro spinner
and record as you go. It couldn't be any easier even if you asked someone else
to do it. Hook it up to a PC and you can switch around tracks in play lists,
proving that vinyl can still be lots of fun.
iRecorder
£94.95 http://boxhappyblog.typepad.com/gift_ideas/the-irecorder.html
You don't need a degree in computing to transfer programmes from your TV source
onto your portable video gizmo.
One end of the iRecorder plugs directly into the source (analogue TV, cable,
set top box, satellite receiver box, DVD or your camcorder), the other into
your iPod or other device, so you can fill it up for the morning commute.
7:13pm Thursday 1st May 2008
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CommentPosted by: PT on 8:34pm Fri 2 May 08
I think that your comments like "old" "dustbin" and "LP is all but dead" are out of date. Vinyl sales are increasing more than ever, and in fact it's CDs that are selling less. It IS a minority market, I'll give you that but a little research next time, eh?
http://blog.wired.co
m/music/2008/04/riaa
-admits-vin.html
I think that your comments like "old" "dustbin" and "LP is all but dead" are out of date. Vinyl sales are increasing more than ever, and in fact it's CDs that are selling less. It IS a minority market, I'll give you that but a little research next time, eh?
http://blog.wired.co
m/music/2008/04/riaa
-admits-vin.html
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