Alright. Vinyl. Let’s go over the basics, just to remind you.

Caring for da BLACK DISK

Keep away from heat
Store vertically, in dust jacket and case
Avoid touching the playing surface when possible

Digitalizing the ANALOGUE MUSAK

You know how to record it, but once you’ve recorded, follow these simple and easy steps before exporting:

Removing vinyl surface noise.
This isn’t part of the original music, so why have it in the audio? It’s easy to remove. Simply select around a second of the noise itself. Usually found before and after the track starts, before the needle is put on/removed. Select it > Effects > Noise Removal > Get Noise Profile. When you’ve done this, select the whole track and repeat. Select > Effects > Noise Removal (Keep default settings) > OK. Vinyl surface noise removed! Score! You can now trim the track to remove the lead in and trail out.

Removing clicks and pops
Clicks and pops appear when the record is scratched by the needle, there will be little, if none if you have a well cared for/new record. It’s best to remove any anyway. Easily done, Select Track > Effects > Click removal. Yessir. Easy as pie.

Replacing lost low end.
As I’ve said, bass is decreased with vinyls, to stop the needle jumping around. It can easily be added back in. Effects > BassBoost. Settings here – Freq 100, DB boost 6. Job done. Nice.

AMPLIFICATION
Most vinyls don’t have the same source as CD/Digital versions. The sound is less compressed, and not as loud. If you’re going to be listening on Ipods/PCs you will want to rectify this, as it will sound noticeably quieter to other tracks. You don’t want to boost the volume too much, as sound will be lost and it will begin to distort. Effects > Amplify. As long as “Allow Clipping” is UNTICKED, no damage will be done. Audacity will usually set the amount to amplify by the the maximum you can go before damaging the waveform/audio. Drop it down by 1 or 2 if you want, and there we go.

Export as you wish, job done

Lovely. I think so.