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Vinyl records and cassettes right in your Android


You do not need a PC or laptop to convert tube analog sounds to digital. We will tell you how to do it right on your smartphone.

Vinyl records are being returned to music stores, and thanks to the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the same can be said for audio cassettes (with some stretch). Nevertheless, we are forced to admit that these newfangled digital things have a number of advantages over analog ones, especially if you are stuck in traffic in public transport. And therefore, if you just started getting acquainted with “rotating sounds” or are far from old technologies, read this article to find out how to play analog audio directly on your smartphone. You do not need a PC or laptop to do this.

Part One: Vinyl on Android


Suppose you have already decided which vinyl records you will use, now let's proceed to transfer the analog signal to a smartphone in order to get the highest possible sound quality that is only possible under such conditions. Considering the fact that the authors of the article are familiar with analog audio from the first days of its appearance, we will use a combination of old and new generation techniques, and therefore, with the exception of a couple of things, you can replace something and still get the desired result.

Old school equipment includes the vinyl record collection and the Marantz TT2200 direct drive turntable. To the new one is the 2019 Samsung Galaxy A30 smartphone and Behringer UFO202 Phono / Line USB audio interface.

Which player to choose?


Vinyl records consist of one long "thin groove" in a spiral section that reproduces stereo sound when you stretch a special needle - the so-called stylus - through it. The vibrations from touching the stylus to this groove turn into a very weak electrical signal (about 5 millivolts).For comparison, CD players emit up to 2 volts of signal. This level is too low to digitalize, and therefore the audio signal needs to be amplified. In addition, the frequency response of sound recorded on vinyl has been altered or “filtered out” by the method created by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to increase recording time. This means that we also need to convert the frequency response to restore the original sound recording.

The TT2200, like most players, provides only signal output directly from the gramophone needle. There is nothing wrong with this - this means that you need to choose an amplifier to which the output signal from the stylus will be connected. However, most players (including next-generation models) have both options: raw, unamplified output from the needle and amplified. And that's all thanks to the integrated RIAA amplifier switch.

So breathe freely if your player has an RIAA, because you don’t need to buy a new one, but if you don’t have one, then you have to.


Lexis Audio Editor - a program whose functions include sound suppression

Analog to Digital Audio Converter


Android smartphones are not designed to record high quality sounds. In the best case, you can purchase built-in stereo microphones, but this is not ideal for processing this kind of audio. And therefore, to convert from analog to digital sound, we need a converter.


Audio-Technica AT-LP60x player, which has a number of limitations.

For these purposes, we will use the Behringer's UFO202 audio interface. It costs relatively inexpensive (about two thousand rubles in online stores). It has RCA inputs and outputs, as well as a Type-A connector at the end of the USB cable. The main reason for choosing the UFO202 is that it has a switchable built-in RIAA amplifier, so despite the type of switch, you will have an analog audio recording method.

What do you need?


Let's summarize the list of devices that you will need:
- An Android smartphone with support for USB OTG technology - if you are not sure if your phone has one, download the USB-OTG Checker application from Google Play.


Samsung Galaxy A30 Smartphone Great for Digitizing Sound

  • USB-OTG connection cable - it has micro-USB or a USB Type-C connector on one end and a Type-A USB port on the other.
  • Behringer UFO202 is an audio interface with a USB connector.
  • USB Audio Recorder PRO (439 Google Play) – , OTG . USB Audio Class device USB, UFO202. www.extreamsd.com/ USBAudioRecorderPRO .
  • – , , . !
  • – , Behringer UFO202.


OTG micro-USB


Install USB Audio Recorder PRO on your smartphone, but do not run the application.
The physical setup is pretty simple: plug the OTG connection cable into the smartphone, then insert the OTG adapter into the UFO202 USB connector, and then connect the RCA outputs of the player to the RCA inputs from the UFO202. If your player has a grounded wire, then it can be connected to the ground pin on the UFO202.

It must be remembered that your phone supplies power to the UFO202. In our test, the UFO202 consumed approximately 50 milliamps of current, so the battery drain on the smartphone should be small. However, for reinsurance, make sure that your smartphone’s battery is at least 75 percent charged. We will record a vinyl record at 44.1 Hz / 16 bit, and this means that for one side of a regular vinyl record you will need approximately 320 MB of memory.


USB AudioRecorder PRO Records Digital Sound from UFO202

Amplifier installation


If an amplifier is built into your player, you have two options: use the current one or the one that the UFO202 has. We preferred to check each one in turn and find out which one is better. If you use the amplifier in the player, set the switch in the UFO202 to “line”. To use the amplifier from the UFO202, click the switch on “phono” and disconnect the amplifier from the player. Now you can go to the third part of the article and start recording.

Part 2 - Cassettes on Android


The process of digitizing old tapes to devices with Android support is quite simple, since virtually all tape decks, players and players output a line level signal, which is supported in the UFO202 in the "line" mode.

If you use a portable audio player and UFO202, you will need a 3.5 mm audio plug to the RCA jack. In online stores, it costs about 250 rubles. You will quickly find that analog audio is easier to distribute than digital.

Noise reduction setting


If the plate or ferromagnetic tape does not have the required dynamic range from the weakest to the strongest signal, then, as a rule, CDs come to the rescue. But before their appearance, various techniques existed to reduce the noise level: they were used to improve the dynamic range of the recorded film.

Dolby is the name behind the current Atmos multi-channel surround sound technology, but initially it developed real-time noise reduction schemes for tape recorders.

Dolby-B became available to a wide range of consumers in the early 1970s, Dolby-C in the 1981th, Dolby-S on high-quality cassette decks in the late 1980s. But Dolby was not the only option - the authors of the article preferred the lesser-known dbx brand, however, the JVC also has an automatic noise reduction system, and other models use High Com. The main thing here is that for best results you need to play back the recording using the same noise reduction technique by which the recording was made. If you do not do this, you will get a bad-sounding audio recording - the sound will be “clear” or hissing in the case of Dolby or “aspirated” in the case of dbx. Most commercial films were recorded using Dolby-B technology.

Part 3: recording on Android


After you complete the steps above, you can start recording sound to USB Audio Recorder PRO.

When all devices are interconnected, launch the application. Allow the application to access the UFO202. On the main screen at the bottom left, you will see the “tape transport” buttons and menu tabs at the top. Directly above the “tape transport” buttons is the amount of memory on the device, as well as input and output settings. If you do not see '44100, 16-bit' and 'STEREO' for I / O, click on the 'I / O' menu item and adjust the settings.

When everything is ready, click on the “mixer” menu item to adjust the volume control. Here you need to make sure that the mute button is not active and the level controls on the right and left are completely disabled. Now click on the “main” button in the menu options to return to the main page of the application.


To get the best sound quality, make sure that you set 44100Hz / 16-bit in I / O settings


The mixer is responsible for the volume control


The feed screen and maximum level sensors are displayed on the main screen.

Test run


Suppose you have already checked the readiness for operation of all devices, put the needle on the plate (or inserted the cassette into the cassette receiver), set the maximum volume level, pressed “MON” (monitor) on the USB Audio Recorder PRO and started recording. At this stage, you need to make sure that the recording levels on the application meter do not reach the limit. If they reach, use the level limiters on the screen, the so-called mixers. After that, you can put the needle on the plate, click on the round “record” button in the application and start playing and recording one side. In the process, you can cut individual tracks, but it’s easier to do this later and just record the entire side from beginning to end.

Summary


The TT2200 has a movable magnet pickup, and even with a USB Audio Recorder PRO recording level, the sound recorded on the UFO202 peaks at -4 decibels full scale. The authors of the article also tested the UFO202 by connecting the TT2200 to the input of the Marantz PM25 integrated amplifier. The monitor readings were taken on the UFO202, which was connected to the line input. The authors of the article preferred the second installation instead of the TT2200 variant on the UFO202 - the bass was more audible.

The UFO202 is good for recording Dolby-B cassettes because they have a full-scale signal-to-noise ratio of less than 65 decibels, and the noise level of the signal level on the line of the UFO202 is 78 decibels. Ideally, your USB audio interface should have a lower noise threshold than the source material, as can be seen in the UFO202.

However, a dbx-recorded film can have a dynamic range of more than 90 decibels, which means the UFO202 will not handle it, and you will need a more advanced audio interface with a better signal-to-noise ratio. But despite this, if you listen to music on the train, you are unlikely to notice the difference between 78 and 90 decibels. In the end, it all comes down to the question of how far you are willing to go in order to achieve perfection. Kia Cerato will take you to work, all other things being equal, as fast as the Ferrari F50, although driving on the latter will be much more pleasant.

How to get the best quality


The Behringer UFO202 is by no means the only option for digitizing analog audio. If you have an RIAA preamp and an excellent sound device with support for USB Audio Recorder PRO, then there is no reason to think that this combination will not work. The main thing is that the Android device supports the USB-OTG adapter, and it does not matter what kind of smartphone you have: Galaxy S20 or a cheap one, made by a brand of an unknown manufacturer. In addition to providing energy to the audio device, the phone captures the digital stream of audio data: the sound quality has already been set by the sound device, so remember this when you have technical problems.

The author of the article needed at least $ 400 (about 29 thousand rubles) to buy a decent player with good characteristics like a low detonator and adjustable tonearm clamping force.

But most importantly, if you are satisfied with the results, then this is enough. Carrying the player on the back is not very convenient every time from work to home, but you can listen to the records through your smartphone: now you know how to do it without a PC or laptop.

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