Software for Music from LPs

[#1]

I used to copy my LPs onto my pc using a program called Audio Cleaning Studio 2004, but now I have gone to Windows 7, I cannot reload it - well I can but it insists on being re-registered with the maker, and they don't want to know. Does anyone know of a good replacement - I still have a load of LPs that I would like to be able to get at the music.
Thanks

[#2]

Have a look at Audacity.
It's free  
Forgot to mention that you would need to install the free Lame installer in order to save as mp3s.

[#3]

Thanks Mav. Have downloaded Audacity, and have "saved" Lame. Problem with Lame is it is a gz file and I haven't anything to unzip/uncompress it. Any suggestions please?

[#4]

On the page I linked to there is a link to a zip file. You need to extract that to another folder then open Audacity, go to Library Preferences and configure it to search in folder you extracted the files to.
Or you could download and run the exe file which is how I installed it (v3.99.3 is what I have installed).

[#5]

gz file and I haven't anything to unzip/uncompress it. Any suggestions please?
If you still need something, I suggest 7zip.  http://www.7-zip.org/

[#6]

I have gone back to Mav's first reply and used his link. I think it has done the unzip part, but I was unable to follow his instructions "go to Library Preferences and configure it to search in folder you extracted the files to". I guess that was because of my ignorance. Perhaps when I have fixed the next problem (see below), I can go back to learning how to use Audacity
However, where I am at now is, I have my record deck connected to my pc as I had it in the days when I was using Audio Surgeon on Win XP (now I have Audacity on Win 7), but I cannot get any sound out of the pc speakers. I know they work cos I have videos (railway steam train videos I filmed myself, before you jump to conclusions) on my hard drive and I get the sound from them through these speakers. Also, I have just found I cannot play music CDs on the DVD drive in my pc - the pc sees the CD, just no sound from the speakers.
So that is three sources of sound, but the speakers only produce from one of them. I have installed the Audio driver for my Dell 755 but that made no difference. Any suggestions?

[#7]

I have just recently... ( last week or so, )... installed Audacity.... and also the Lame file for MP3 encoding... as I wanted to make an MP3 CD of my music videos....  I don`t remember anything about a .gz file... I ran the Lame file from an .exe file that was suggested during the installation of Audacity...
Now have over 180 tracks on a "normal" CDrom,....
Also, for info,.... I Found this...... MP3Gain    v1.2.5                    which analyses and then fixes ( seperate input from your finger required on toolbar )... the music files to give them (almost) the same volume on playing instead of having to reach for the volume control on each different track.....

[#8]

With regard to my post about MP3Gain...... Although you can choose " all files " when importing files to this software.... it is designed to work on MP3 Files.... therefore... MP4 and MP5 files... will be corrupted, and the video suffers severely from blocking in the video picture.. 

[#9]

Quote from: penneck

where I am at now is, I have my record deck connected to my pc as I had it in the days when I was using Audio Surgeon on Win XP (now I have Audacity on Win 7), but I cannot get any sound out of the pc speakers. I know they work cos I have videos (railway steam train videos I filmed myself, before you jump to conclusions) on my hard drive and I get the sound from them through these speakers. Also, I have just found I cannot play music CDs on the DVD drive in my pc - the pc sees the CD, just no sound from the speakers.

I don't use Audacity myself, so this may not help, but you may need to look at the settings/preferences in Audacity to see if you have selected the record player input as the source and what it is outputting to. Also, some sound recording programs require you to select a "monitor" function to actually hear the sound as it is recorded. Is Audacity recording what the record player is producing?

[#10]

Not sure if this has been sorted, but with my recording from vinyl (or any audio recording I did on my computers) I found in Audacity that pressing Pause then Record turns on the audio monitor, so you can hear when to start the recording as the stylus lands on the dead wax and moves into the audio track (saves trimming after recording), though to be honest I got bored of recording my records, I prefer to listen to them directly, part of the "experience" of vinyl...
Of all my whopping collection of 20 records, only one has music that's not on the likes of spotify or i-tunes, and that's Four Score (the Channel 4 theme form 1982 composed by David Dundas, the one where they right royally screwed up with the royalties), so I can listen to my music via other means quite easily and save the Analogue experience for when I feel the need to...

[#11]

I use something called EZ Vinyl/tape Converter, finding it easier than the more sophisticated Audacity. My LPs are classical, and I don't find Spotify etc a lot of use. I have to watch Tunes, which sometimes gives them an incorrect label by identifying a different recording.
But a current nuisance is that my transcription turntable seems to developed something which may be just the stylus - although I suspect not. Only 2/3 through my collection! 

[#12]

Have you remembered to clean your stylus? 
Seriously though, playing a lot of records can build up a lot of dirt & gunk on the stylus, which can mess with the sound, that or the stylus could be worn if it's a cheaper non-diamond stylus (especially on cheap & nasty turntables sold for transferring vinyl to PC with built in low-quality USB audio hardware), but if your stylus is warn then it's worth replacing, as a worn stylus can damage records...