Greeting Chip,

    Thank you for your relentless advocacy for we "Yule Log" fans.  By the way, I just bought a lot of vinyl records from Ebay that included Mantovanni- Christmas Carols, Robert Rheims-Christmas in Carols, Fred Waring-Now is the Caroling Seasons, Robert Shaw-Joy to the World and Billy Vaughn.  Now I am trying to find a USB digital turntable to record them on my computer.

Warm Regards,

Lisa

Lisa,

I too collect Vinyl Records, especially Christmas Albums.  There are several different USB Turntables out there.  I personally use an ION ITTUSB Turntable but it only has 33 1/3 and 45 but with software, you can record a 78 at either 33 1/3 or 45 and then convert it so it sounds right on the computer.  I also like the turntable because it has the RCA jacks so I could use this turntable with a regular stereo system too.  And, it has a mini-jack input so you could hook up a cassette deck or something and not have to disconnect the cables going to your sound card if you wanted to rip cassettes to the computer.

There are some USB Turntable out there, but be careful I purchased one made by Memorex and it didn't state that it was a ceramic cartridge and it ruined the first LP I tried to play. (I'm sure that it wasn't the cartridge itself, but a bad needle)  But a lot of USB Turntables have a Magnetic cartridge which is much better.

Thanks, Susan

Hi Yulelights,

Sorry everyone that we're getting off topic.

Thanks for the links.  I am very familiar with ceramic and magnetic cartridges.  I used to work for a professional sound company and they had a recording studio with all the works.

I would like to eventually get a stylus for one of my two magnetic cartridges so that I don't ruin the regular stylus that I use or 33 /1/3 and 45.  But I still have the problem of not actually being able to listen to a 78 at the proper speed without ripping it to the computer first and then Time/Pitch/Stretch using CoolEdit Pro.

Even though my ION turntable is well grounded, I get 60 Hz hum from the power supply when the tonearm is on the record.  It isn't where it overpowers the music like a bad ground hum does, but I use software the easily removes the 60 Hz hum and it's only there while the tonearm is on the record because it actually picks up the vibration from the transformer through the chassis and case of my turntable.  Most people probably wouldn't even notice it, but having experience in the field, I know it's there and it would show up on an oscilloscope.

Even vibrations from someone walking across the floor are picked up when I am ripping a record to the computer, but you can't hear it in the music but it is visible in the waveform.

The main problem I have is declicking and denoiser.  I've used pretty much every program but on some records some of the clicks end up sounding like a thud or thunk and the denoiser makes it sound like they are singing into a tin can, but it is only on certain records.  Most of what I have ripped to the computer has cleaned up very well, and unless you have a very high quality sound system, you would think you are listing to a live taping or from the master tapes themselves.

I know that software isn't as good as professional sound editing equipment Mixers, Equalizers, etc, but it's the best I can do and in most cases it works fine.

I prefer vinyl over CD and a lot of people don't realize that a typical audio CD chops off audio content above 22 kHz while vinyl records can play up to 50 kHz and maybe higher.  Though people listening to music on an MP3 player wouldn't be able to tell the difference while listening with headphones/ear buds.

In my opinion, though digital audio is good for preserving music, but vinyl is final  Basically what you hear is exactly what was recorded.  When converting analog to digital everything get compressed and frequencies get lost.

Basically the only reason I rip my albums to the computer is so I can listen to more than one and not have to turn the record over to hear the other side.  I rip them a 48000 sample rate and save them as MP3's at 320 kb.  then too, once they are ripped to the computer I don't have to worry about scratching them.

For cleaning the records, I use distilled water and a very soft cloth.  I don't want to use anything that has any form of alcohol in it as eventually it will eat into the vinyl.

Thank you so much for posting the 2010 yule log info. As a child, my parents would play this every christmas morning as we opened our gifts. Now as a new mom with a daughter of my own, I plan on doing the samething for her first Christmas.

Thanks for the good news Chip. I recorded the original Yule Log in 2007 and have watched it for the last three years. Now with the four hour version, I will have it an the original. I collect movies and I feel it is an honor to own both the original and this new "Director's cut" or Expanded Edition. You are the man Chip. George Lucas and his Special Editions don't have nothing on you.