Question about installing software

Hi folks, Nice to join you. I hope I’m not wasting your time with my issues. I recently purchased a vinyl to MP3 turntable (LP&No.1) from Amazon. The turntable appears to have been manufactured in 2020. I tell u this as I’m not sure of which version of Audacity software was included with it. I’m having trouble installing it as I have 2 USB ports on my HP laptop 14-dq0xxx. One is being used by a flash drive containing my iTunes library from a previous laptop. So I cannot plug in the turntable & my external disc drive to sync up the Audacity software to the turntable. I was wondering if it is possible/easier to download Audacity remotely from your website to my turntable? My second concern is that if I’m able to convert a vinyl record to MP3, where will it show up on my laptop? In iTunes? And would I then be able to add the song to an existing iTunes playlist? I’ve had trouble downloading iTunes playlists onto iPods in the past as songs would “Gray out” and not play or disappear altogether. I would be loading the playlists onto a new iPod touch 7. I’m sorry I can’t figure out which version of Audacity I have. I’m also writing to the folks at Best Buy where I purchased the laptop to ask if they know if I install the latest version of iTunes, will it wipe out my playlists which took many months to meticulously put together. Thank you for any advice you can give me. Bless you all & stay safe! Best, Jonathan Ryder. ( u can call me JR if u like).

The latest official version of Audacity can be downloaded from here …

I’m not sure of which version of Audacity software was included with it.

It’s usually outdated by the time you get the disc. You can download Audacity 3.0.4 [u]here[/u].

One is being used by a flash drive containing my iTunes library from a previous laptop.

Why can’t you temporarily unplug the flash drive? Otherwise you can get a USB hub.

my external disc drive to sync up the Audacity software

The “new” version of Audacity may not work directly with your external drive (It’s related to the file system and the new database format). Of course, once you have a file on your main hard drive you can copy it to any other drive.

My second concern is that if I’m able to convert a vinyl record to MP3, where will it show up on my laptop? In iTunes?

You can save them anywhere you like, and then add them to your iTunes library so iTunes knows where to find them.

Audacity can add the “tags” with the artist/title/album, etc., info which makes it easier to “see” and sort in iTunes (or other player software). But Audacity can’t add the album artwork so you’ll have to use iTunes or MP3Tag, etc. for the artwork. Actually, I usually do everything with MP3Tag because I can select all of the songs in a folder and enter the common information once, then go-back and enter the song titles and track numbers.

And would I then be able to add the song to an existing iTunes playlist? I’ve had trouble downloading iTunes playlists onto iPods in the past as songs would “Gray out” and not play or disappear altogether. I would be loading the playlists onto a new iPod touch 7

I have an iPod Classic and when I “sync” it, all of the playlists & files in my iTunes library are copied to the iPod.

if I install the latest version of iTunes, will it wipe out my playlists which took many months to meticulously put together.

I had trouble copying my “smart playlists” to a new computer and I had to re-create them. But recently I was able to make an “m3u8” playlist in Winamp and copy it to iTunes. It’s a “favorites” playlist and I’ve been listening to it on my iPod (which “lives” in my car, connected to the stereo).

P.S.
You may have more questions later and there are some related tutorials in the manual and [u]online here[/u].

I recommend that you export to WAV immediately after recording as sort-of a back-up. Then you won’t have to re-record if something “goes wrong” during editing. You can also save an Audacity Project (also lossless) but you probably don’t need one for something “simple” like this. Even when I make a project (rarely) I like to keep a WAV (or multiple WAVs).

As you may know, MP3 is lossy compression. It’s not “terrible” (it often sounds identical to the uncompressed original) but you should compress to MP3 ONCE as the last step. If you open an MP3 for editing it gets decompressed. Then if you re-save as MP3 you’re going through another generation of lossy compression and some “damage” does accumulate (sort-of like making a Xerox of a Xerox). AAC is immune to accumulated damage but it’s also lossy and the “best practice” is still to compress once.

I usually combine both sides into one big WAV for normalizing (adjusting the level), noise reduction, EQ, or whatever else I’m doing with the album before making individual files.

Also, regular audio CDs are uncompressed so you should avoid lossy compression if you’re making a CD. It’s also possible to burn MP3s directly onto a CD (like any other computer file) and you can play the MP3-CD in your computer or in some CD players. And of course with MP3 you can fit 5 or 10 times as much music on the disc.