Converting an LP to a CD-R is not trivial. It requires a good bit of time, work and patience. For some, it's not worth the effort and they would be better off just buying a new copy of the recording on CD. Of course, if you have a large LP collection, this gets to be an expensive proposition. CD-Rs are relatively cheap so if you're not overflowing in cash, it makes sense to invest some time and do the conversion.

Some random thoughts and advice:

• If you have an MP3 collection, you can encode the seperated tracks before you delete them. This saves you from having to read the CD-R later.
• Don't use cheap CD-Rs. You don't have to spend lots of money to get quality. I like blanks made by Taiyo Yuden and normally sold under the Fuji brand name. These can be found on sale all the time with various rebates.
• Using seperate computer systems for digitizing and editing can be a great time saver. A portable USB/1394 disk drive or a 100 mbps network is needed since the raw data is quite large and copying can take a lot of time over a slow 10 mpbs network.
• The larger the drive, the more you can buffer your files between the various stages of the process the affect disk space. For example, some days you may not have time to play back and verify the previous day's burned CD-Rs. But you can still keep on digitizing the next batch of LPs. Being able to store lots of LPs on disk allows you more flexibility in handling the different stages of work - digitizing, seperating tracks, and verifying the results.

Finally remember to enjoy the music !

UPDATE (12/15/02): llungster has added an addendum to this article with regards to backing up cassette tapes. You can find that article here.

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