How to Digitize Your Vinyl Record Collection with an iPhone

Digitizing a record is a short chain and getting each link right is what makes the transfer sound correct. Turntable, then a phono preamp, then a class-compliant USB audio interface, then your iPhone running Reel.

The interface turns the analog signal into audio the phone can record. Reel is where you capture and save it. Miss the phono preamp step though and the whole thing sounds wrong.

A turntable's output is not a normal line signal. It is very low level and has a built-in tonal curve called RIAA equalization that has to be reversed. A phono preamp does both jobs. It boosts the signal to line level and applies the correct equalization.

Many turntables and amplifiers have a phono preamp built in, sometimes as a line or phono switch. If yours does, use it. If it does not, add an inexpensive standalone phono preamp between the turntable and the interface. Without one your transfer will be quiet and tonally thin.

Once the signal is at line level, run it into a class-compliant USB audio interface. Then connect that interface to your iPhone with a USB-C cable or an Apple Camera Adapter. Reel detects the interface and switches its input to it automatically.

If you own a DJ mixer you already have most of this. A DJ mixer with phono inputs has a phono preamp built in, since that is how a turntable plugs into it in the first place. So the mixer handles the phono stage and you can skip the standalone preamp.

From there you have two routes. Take the mixer's line or master output into a class-compliant USB audio interface and then into your iPhone, exactly like the chain above. Or, if your mixer has a built-in USB audio output, connect it straight to the phone with a single cable and skip the separate interface.

One thing to check on the USB route. The mixer's USB audio has to be class-compliant for an iPhone to see it. Many DJ mixers use their own drivers for software like Serato. Those drivers will not work with a phone. If yours is not class-compliant, use the line-out-into-an-interface route instead.

Because Reel records in 32-bit float you cannot clip the transfer. Set a comfortable level and record a whole side in one pass. Keep the room quiet and avoid bumping the turntable while it plays.

Recording a full side unbroken keeps the timing and any between-track ambience intact. That is closer to the record itself.

After the side is captured, you can trim the start and end. If you like, split it into individual tracks. Export as WAV for an archival-quality copy that preserves the full dynamics of the record. A clean 32-bit float transfer is a faithful digital version of what is in the groove.