Please help, archiving vinyl to digital. Thoughts?

Hello everyone.

If any of you out there record your records to digital formats, I need your opinion about some things I am dealing with.

1. I generally find that the recordings have maybe 20-30% less bass than most of my modern digital files that I might purchase from Beatport etc. Sometimes I will find that the high end might sound a little too pronounced compared to some digital files, but I tend to not worry about that so much.

2. Another problem is that the recordings are way too quiet compared to my new music. I hate the loudness wars.
I guess actually my newer music is way too loud, but I digress.

So what would be the best way for me to try and add more bass to these songs without making the songs sound bad? It sucks that I have to process the entire song instead of being able to isolate and bass enhance individual track elements. I know my way around Sound Forge and FL Studio pretty well, but I don't have any super expensive tools to work with.

Or would you suggest that I just ignore the issue with bass and just adjust my EQs when mixing?

One comment I expect is "buy a better turntable." That's not gonna happen. I don't buy or own enough vinyl to make such a purchase sensible. I buy 1 to 3 records a year, if that. I have an older Technics SL-BD22 and I'm sticking with that.

Lastly, what are your suggestions for the volume issue? I need these sounds to match up with the newer music that I play. I usually try something like a transparent sounding limiter, but I feel deep down that I am messing something up by putting this music through a process that it has probably already gone through when recorded to vinyl.

The music you're archiving has already been processed and EQ'd, so unless you have badly worn vinyl do not mess with anything. It would be like mastering a DJ mix, it's completely pointless. Get a decent hifi stylus for your deck, research online what best fits the one you have. What are you plugging it all into? Volume shouldn't be an issue, I always record giving myself plenty of headroom and I then increase the volume in Audacity afterwards.
Upping the volume, and taking the silences out at the beginning and ending of the take, is literally all you need to do.

^Everything you need to know right there, mate.

But honestly - it hardly seems worth it for what sounds like a small record collection. Record ‘em as .wav, convert to your preferred format for DJ’ing, and EQ in the mix as necessary.

If I was you, I’d add a tag, or a note in the file name, indicating that it was ripped from vinyl. Just an additional visual indicator to remind you that you’ve got a little extra EQ’ing/gain to do when playing that track out.

Ozone 8 is your friend. This is a continuuing project for me (still buy 5-10 records a week). I record them into audition. Then I use Ozone 8 to bring the levels up. Then they are saved as .wav 24bit with a V at the end of the filename (reminding me that it is a vinyl rip).