Arts >> Music >> Recording Music

How to Copy a Record to a CD

With today's technology, it has become fairly simple to record your albums to compact disc using a computer, a USB cord and CD-burning software. Copying your record to CD allows you to have your favorite album on disc while preserving the quirky sounds of pops and hisses that vinyl lovers have come to enjoy. In essence, you can have that warm vinyl sound on the go.

Things You'll Need

  • Record player
  • Computer
  • CD burner
  • Blank CD
  • USB cord
  • A/V cables
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Plug your turntable into the back of an amplifier. You need an amplifier to process the sound from your record player and convert it to a signal that your computer can use. For turntables that are made for recording purposes, skip to the next step.

    • 2

      Plug the audio end of a USB/audio cable into the back of your amplifier player where the A/V cable jack is located. Put the USB end of the cable into your computer. This allows the transfer of information from your record player to your computer.

      There are newer record players that come with their own cable to plug into your computer for recording purposes. If you own one of these, use the cable that came with your record player.

    • 3

      Find the correct software for your computer that will allow you to record tracks from your albums. There are several websites that offer this software free or for a small charge.

    • 4

      Record your album onto your computer as an AIFF or WAV file. Recording vinyl is different from recording other types of sound media because you must listen to the entire track in order to record it. If you do not do this, you will not get the entire song onto your computer. So, be sure that you have the time to properly record your whole record onto your computer.

    • 5

      Insert a blank CD into your computer's disc drive. Move the files you have recently recorded from your album into your CD-burning program, whether it be iTunes, Windows Media Player or another program. Once the files are in the program, you may burn the disc. Depending on the speed of your CD burner, you should have the files on your CD within minutes

Recording Music

Related Categories