What kind of issues are there with converting Vinyl LP Records to CDs or MP3s?

Converting Vinyl LP Records to CDs or MP3s is one of the harder conversions to make because of several reasons:

• The difference between the quality of used vinyl recordings and modern digital recordings is significant due both to modern production techniques used in digital recording as well as because of the scratches, dirt and wear of vintage (nice way of saying "old") records.
  
  
• Our ears, even our aged ears, are very sensitive to such differences and imperfections.  We also have an audio-emotional relationship with original recordings we grew up with and remember fondly.  
  
  
• Although a lot of imperfections can be reduced using digital signal processing on the audio signal, such filters also impact the portions of the recording that do not have such imperfections.  This can lead to digital recordings that have a different feel than the original vinyl recording, proving once more that You Can't Go Home Again.

So, what can be done to get the best conversion from a Vinyl LP Record to a digital CD or MP recording?  Several things that we do in our conversion of your records:

1. First, we gently clean your LP Record with cleaning system that includes a Vinyl Record Microfiber Cleaning Pad, a Mini Dust Brush, along with D4+™ Fluid which is safe to use on Vinyl records that removes dust and dirt from the record surface without scratching.
   
   
2. Next, the signal sent from our turntable via a digital USB cable to the computer insures that no additional noise is introduced to the original signal by things such as ground levels differences between the turntable and the computer. This eliminates the introduction of hum in the conversion process.
   
   
3. Once in the computer, we trim the recording so that you get just the sound from your recording, not the introduction and ending introduced by the turntable.
   
   
4. We use programs ( Audacity ) to process the MP3 recording that can spot unusual high frequency sounds introduced by scratches and dust, and remove just those sounds.  To insure that we are just removing the sounds that weren't in the original recording, we listen to the records to make sure that the identified sound is actually an imperfection, not part of the music.
   
   
5. Once we are satisfied with the results, we write the digitized recording to a DVD and/or a MP3 file, depending on your wishes.