Our goal is to find awesome music on wax and share it with our friends.
Share any knowledge and experience you guys have in this thread
First of all, be prepared to spend some money. At the
very least, you're going to need a KAB EV-1. A $20 record brush and some cleaning fluid is not going to cut it. A VPI 16.5, Okki Nokki, Nitty Gritty, Moth, etc would be even better. Good fluid is also required, like Audio Intelligent. A clean record is a
must for a good needle drop.
Second, obviously make sure your table, arm, and cart are dialed in. A restored vintage direct drive paired with a modern arm and cart can provide great results because those tables had such low speed variance and W&F. If you're going that route, you'll want to invest in a good isolation platform.
If you're using a belt drive, it's worth it to invest in a motor controller like the Phoenix Falcon and Roadrunner.
The Phono pre is very important. Doesn't need to cost a fortune, but a Schiit Mani isn't going to cut it, sorry Schiit. I like the Musical Surroundings Phono pres because they are
so adaptable in terms of loading and gain options and sound great, but there are other good choices as well.
The ADC
cannot be a consumer grade soundcard like a Soundblaster or Asus Xonar. They simply aren't good enough. You need something designed for professionals - RME, Motu, Lynx, etc, not for playing video games.
Finally, no freeware recording software like Audacity. For whatever reason, every drop I've heard done using Audacity has sounded lousy. iZotope is a good option, and don't cheat by using any automatic click repair. Listen to your rip in real time, and take out the clicks and pops as you find them.
