If you have old records and cassettes sitting around in your house, you might want to store them in your computer so that you can share them or at least back them up digitally. VinylStudio will help you do that the easy way with tools designed around this specific job.
Installation & Requirements
The setup for the application should be very simple and the clear interface should help. You will have the option of creating shortcuts, choosing an installation folder and running the application and the ReadMe file immediately after the setup is over. The supported operating systems are Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.
Interface
The look of the program is quite clean and easy on the eye. It has an old-school feel to it but it never feels obscure. The buttons, toolbars and utilities are very well designed and they fit into the general frame of the interface rather nicely. The whole aesthetic of the program gives of a strange vibe although that is not necessarily a bad thing.
The first time you start the application you will be greeted by the Tip menu. You can immediately disable it by unchecking the box at the bottom left corner but I would advise against it. Some of the tips found there can really help you get a grip of the program. Furthermore, it offers a quick link to the Help contents that contain a very extensive tutorial on every single aspect of VinylStudio, even regarding the connection of your devices to your PC so that you can start recording immediately. The second box that will pop is the New Collection one. You will need to create a new album that you will store your files in but you can just use the default one. Keep in mind that the trial version of the application allows for five full albums to be recorded but no more than that.
Recording with a program is very easy as well. After all, the help contents should cover pretty much any question you might have. Of course, some albums are easier to record than others based on a variety of factors. First of all, the program can fill in information about popular and famous albums automatically. For the rest, however, you will have to enter the information yourself. Then, the recording obviously depends on the state of your physical media as well. Thankfully, the program offers quite a few tools that will help you with that. You can clean up the audio, remove background noise and even disregard some of the scratches that might be plaguing your physical copies. All in all, the tools offered by the application usually do an amazing job of recording whatever you need to record.
Pros
-Clean interface
-Amazing user guide that should clear up any questions
-Quite easy to use for basic functions
-The extra tools help with problematic recordings
Cons
-A bit outdated
Conclusion
Vinyl Studio for Windows is very good at what it does and should probably be the program of choice if you want to digitalize your records and cassettes. The various tools that it offers, combined with a robust recording interface contribute to an overall incredible program.
