Anyone figured out how/if the Ultra can digitise/capture vinyl?

[574stereo]

Hey All,

Wondering if anyone has come up with a way of digitising Vinyl with their Ultras? I have a load of LPs of assorted music which was never even released in the digital domain and would love an easy way of capturing the phono input while also listening back.


I started a feature request about this some time ago... maybe there's been some movement on this I don't know about?


Thanks!

 

[Burnside]

As I’m sure was covered earlier, you can certainly output phono input via the ultra, but you’d need some external means to both record and listen to that at the same time as WiiM devices only use one output at a time.

 

[canard]

Maybe it could just be recorded in FLAC directly during playback in Wiim Home? ..then transfer from our phones-tablets to PCs etc.
so stupide this idee? fundamentally impossible?

 

[Burnside]

Maybe it could just be recorded in FLAC directly during playback in Wiim Home? ..then transfer from our phones-tablets to PCs etc.
so stupide this idee? fundamentally impossible?

Audio doesn’t go thru the WiiM home app, just thru the Ultra.

 

[canard]

I know...
but the ultra or others won't be able to send a stream to Wiim Home which would record it at its level...?
(You will have understood that I don't know much about these subjects...)

 

[rubato]

You could perhaps connect the Ultra's USB output to a PC, and record the digitized audio with something like VLC, while listening through the computer's speakers. That's the closest thing I can think of. Not owning an Ultra, I can't actually experiment.

 

[574stereo]

USB doesn't work as it's a host connection and your computer also has host connections. You'd need a slave device for this to work (like an audio card which has a data recorder, such as the RME DuREC).

I can use a TOSlink > USB-C adapter with my laptop and just connect to the TOSlink digital output, but then I can't listen to the rip as it's happening.

If WiiM gave the option to output from a secondary output but at full scale (not controlled by the built in volume control), this would totally solve the issue. Whether the hardware in the Ultra has the capacity to do this is another thing of course...

 

[spareflyer]

A cd recorder or minidisc via optical output works best, as does a nice turntable and a good record obviously.

 

[jfbuk]

The most straightforward way to digitize vinyl is to use something like a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 to take your RCA output from your turntable or preamp and output via USB to a computer with recording software.
Audacity is freeware that ships with the Behringer but if you plan to edit a lot of recordings into named tracks and add metadata then you should look at/invest in Vinyl Studio.
It has some neat time saving functionality using media data from the Discogs website database to help you split into tracks and add metadata

Behringer | Product | UCA222

www.behringer.com

Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

Audacity is the world's most popular audio editing and recording app. Edit, mix, and enhance your audio tracks with the power of Audacity. Download now!

www.audacityteam.org

Record LPs and Tapes to CD and MP3 on your PC or Macintosh

VinylStudio software makes it easy to transfer your records and tapes to CD and MP3. Runs on both PC and Macintosh Computers and includes a full set of sound cleaning filters.

www.alpinesoft.co.uk

 

[canard]

"would love an easy way of capturing the phono input while also listening back."
( with ultra)

 

[jfbuk]

"would love an easy way of capturing the phono input while also listening back."
( with ultra)

The Behringer has an Aux out and RCA out to monitor

 

[Burnside]

"would love an easy way of capturing the phono input while also listening back."
( with ultra)

It’s already been established that “(with Ultra)” alone you can’t, hence the helpful alternative means of doing so

 

[canard]

It’s already been established that “(with Ultra)” alone you can’t, hence the helpful alternative means of doing so

"There will never be PEQ(/RC ) on Wiim Mini...not possible!"

(solution to usb "zipette" ( DUrec rme) ? ;-) )

 

[canard]

The possibility of recording the analog inputs on the Ultra to USB would be elegant...
(ps I'm not speaking for myself, I don't have an Ultra but other means of digital capture etc.) ..

it would be good to be able to talk directly with the competents peoples at Wiim on these subjects...
the same on the PEQ / RC modes etc...
the precise characteristics of the latest amp....
etc...
this product never....and often wastes a considerable amount of time for everyone etc.

 

[dtc]

The best route is an A to D converter that takes in the analog from the player and outputs digital to a PC. You can get ones that accept MM/MC output and applies RIAA or just a straight A to D which accepts the output of a phono preamp. The quality of the conversion process varies so you need to decide how much you want to spend, which depends on your turntable and on your playback system. Vinyl Studio is a great recording program. It records, allows tagging, removes hum and hiss. Since it is set up for digitizing vinyl its work flow is very nice.

 

[s3igell]

The ability to capture and output digital copies of media input or streaming content readily verges on abetting copyright infringement (of course we KNOW that NOONE wishes the capability except for Personal Archival). Various countries have moderate to strong legal restraints on these sorts of hardware, and many licensing media sources have very tight restrictions on such hardware as licensing conditions. This is why so few major Consumer Audio Equipment manufacturers offer such digital capture capabilities - and surely WiiM falls squarely within that group given the plethora of Streaming Sources they offer.

 

[dtc]

Digitizing ones vinyls or CDS is a very common practice (at least in the US). I don't think anyone would classify that as copyright infringement.

 

[nickhews]

The ability to capture and output digital copies of media input or streaming content readily verges on abetting copyright infringement (of course we KNOW that NOONE wishes the capability except for Personal Archival). Various countries have moderate to strong legal restraints on these sorts of hardware, and many licensing media sources have very tight restrictions on such hardware as licensing conditions. This is why so few major Consumer Audio Equipment manufacturers offer such digital capture capabilities - and surely WiiM falls squarely within that group given the plethora of Streaming Sources they offer.

Making a copy of what you own (not rent via streaming) is legal in most countries. What is illegal is the broadcasting or onwards sale of such a copy.
There are various devices on open sale in Europe and USA for making such recordings, and they do not transgress any local legislation(esp. in USA!).
@rubato (above) described a straightforward method of doing this from vinyl, which I have tested, using an optical-to-usb converter from the Ultra to my laptop and using Audacity.
Hope this helps.