Vinyl collection, now what?


Hey folks,

Just inherited a really interesting collection of records from my audiophile crazy uncle.
Lots of master and super master pressings, a complete Time Life Records collection, Sheffield track records, etc.

I have never owned a turntable and know very little about them.

Does anyone have experience digitizing tracks to file using a USB turntable?
Any recommendations for or against?
Am I looking at something potentially very expensive?
I haven't looked through everything but saw lots of albums I would like to digitize.

Thanks everyone!
hleeid
I digitize my records using a free app on my Apple - Garage Band.  Tedious, but works well  I use a cable from the tape monitor loop of the preamp to the mic input of the Mac.
@hleeid If you can get a used P8 for a good price from a Rega (or respected) dealer (local to you would be best so they can set it up and add spacers if necessary), I would jump on it. Not sure if I would buy it (or any turntable or really any amp or speakers) from an individual unless I knew them and they could provide some kind of guarantee. I would buy a used phono stage or power conditioner or maybe preamp from an individual as they would have a far lower chance of having problems with no moving parts.

That being said, I've also heard some good things about the Technics DD model, but I think Rega arms are fantastic and for the money, untouchable. It's almost like the table is a throw in after considering the value of the arm and the power supply unit (PSU).
If you go the Rega P8 way i would combine it with a  Rega Apheta cartridge and a Rega Aria phonostage. It will give you a good SQ for the investment.

In my opinion this is the minimum analog setup for good recordings if you want to preserve the SQ. A equivalent CD will outperform the this setup, if the original recordings are good.

I did a lot of digitalizing of vinyl in the last few years. I ended up with a Benchmark ADC which is transparent. For a bit less money RME and Apogee will get very good results.
The most used software would be Audacity.

Make no mistake it is a very time consuming exercise. You have to edit tracks and tags and add album art. You need to stick to a certain convention to label the tags.
My recommendation is to buy equivalent CD‘s and rip them with DB Poweramp. CD’s are very cheap these days. Where no CD is available you digitalize the LP.
Rather spend your time in the Nature than in front of the computer.