I was thinking of how I could digitize an album through Audacity, but play it at 45rpm rather than 33.3rpm, as a way to get more done in less time. Would be similar I suppose to the means of digitizing 78rpm records on a turntable that only goes up to 45 (by adjusting the pitch and speed afterwards).
I expect this would require a higher sample rate (in order to bring the recording back down to 44.1kHz when it’s finished). Of course, the thing I forgot about was that the pitch would also have to be adjusted to compensate for the sped-up recording speed. Is this even a workable idea?
There would be some loss of sound quality, and increased wear on the stylus by playing a record faster, but it could be done.
Also, the RIAA equalization built into the pre-amp will be slightly off, but that could be corrected later if necessary with Audacity’s “Graphic Eq” effect.
I don’t think there would be much practical benefit in recording at a higher sample rate as the pre-amp probably won’t go much over 20 kHz, though there may be a marginal advantage in recording at 48 kHz sample rate if your equipment works well at that rate.
The key question is “how to slow down the recording”.
To do that, apply the “Change Speed” effect. This will correct both the tempo and the pitch at the same time. https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/change_speed.html
As Steve above, music on a record is not straight, plain, and flat. It’s intentionally distorted with the RIAA compensation—high sounds boosted and low ones suppressed. The boosting and suppressing would move too. That’s one difference between “Line-In” on your interface or preamp and “Phono-In.” “Phono-In” has all the RIAA tricks.
So use “Line-In,” right? Sorry, can’t do that, either “Phono-In” is an electrical match to the cartridge. “Line-In” isn’t.
So, no. Bad idea.
If all this transferring is a bother, then you may be the poster child for buying it all again. Records degenerate over many playings. What’s your time worth?