Many purists love the sound of vintage vinyl above all others. The high fidelity provided by analog recording and the audio warmth of the LP processing provide a timeless sound. If you have a large vinyl LP collection, you may own music that you don't have or even can't get on other formats. You may want to incorporate this music into your MP3 collection, or listen to it on an iPod. This is easily done.

Connect Equipment

You'll need first to link your analog record player up to your computer. Run the record player through the stereo amplifier you use to listen to records. Use a cable to connect the 3.5mm plug of your computer's line-in port to the audio-out port of your stereo. Either run the audio out of the RCA ports of your stereo speakers or the stereo's headphone jack. Electronics stores such as Radio Shack will be able to sell you a cable to connect your stereo to your computer.

Installing Audacity

Audacity is a free program for Mac and PC that is used to record and work with sound files. Go to the website in the Resources section to download Audacity. Follow the instructions on the website to install the program.

Record Audio

Open Audacity and press the large red "Record" button on the program's dashboard. Start a vinyl playing on your record player that you wish to record. Do not worry if you cannot hear the audio as it is playing: the blue waveform appearing on Audacity's timeline will tell you that your audio is recording correctly. When the LP has finished playing into Audacity, press Audacity's square "Stop" button.

Export to MP3

Select the portion of the audio track you want to export to MP3 by highlighting it on the Audacity timeline. To preview the track, press the triangle-shaped "Play" button. You can refine the start and end points until you are satisfied with the length of your track. Now go to Audacity's File menu and choose "Export selection as MP3". Choose the settings for the MP3 you wish to export or use Audacity's defaults. You can also enter track and artist information here. When you are happy with your settings, click "Ok" to export the MP3.

Source:

Cyberwalker: Record your LP records as MP3 files

More Information:

Audacity