Want to record vinyl to your phone? There's an app for that

The vinyl resurgence has seen the format adapt somewhat to the market it’s re-entered. We now have vinyl subscription services, special edition album launches, the annual Record Store Day and USB turntables with record-ripping abilities allowing you to digitise your vinyl collection to your laptop or computer.

Now Convert Technologies has come up with a method of making vinyl even more easily pocketable. The Vinyl Recorder is a free-to-download app that records your albums to 16bit/48kHz FLAC files.

Much like the desktop software provided with USB turntables, the process simply involves connecting a USB turntable to your smartphone via the appropriate USB adaptor cable and tapping the red dot on the app’s interface.

As Vinyl Recorder is supported by Gracenote, metadata is automatically detected and attached to the recorded files, separating them into individual songs and adding song title, album title, artist and artwork. The ripped songs are then stored in both the in-app music player and your phone or tablet’s library.

While the app may not cost you, any ripped songs will. The idea is that you purchase in-app credits – 10 tracks cost £1.99, 50 costs £7.99, 100 are £13.99 and 250 are £29.99. Do some quick maths and you’ll see Convert Technologies’ claim that each song costs less than 12p is correct. As an example, Arcade Fire's new 13-track Everything Now album would cost not quite £2.50 to rip.

You can, however, get a free 30-second clip of each song to check you’re happy with the sound quality.

The Vinyl Recorder by Convert Technologies is currently only available on the Google Play store for Android devices, although an email alert at the bottom of its product page on www.convert-av.com suggests iOS support is in the pipeline.

MORE:

A week of vinyl features for Record Store Day 2017

How to digitise your vinyl collection

Best USB turntables

The tech behind the vinyl revival

Best turntable deals 2017

Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10+ years in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices. In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.