Stereo cartridge archiving mono LPs

[LtMandella]

I bought a nice set of Franklin Mint LPs (100 greatest classical).  LPs appear pristine but I always ultrasound clean LPs anyway before ripping.

My problem is that these LPs are all mono, and I only have a stereo AudioTeknica moving coil cartridge.  It was a bear for me to install  and setup (eyesight pretty feeble at 70+ years, not to mention my hearing) and my TT arm does not use interchangeable shells, so I am stuck using the stereo cartridge.

Is there a recommended stereo to mono converter that will safely and optimally convert the two channel output of the cartridge or phono preamp into optimal sounding mono signal?

Could I do it with optimal sound quality in Audacity or VinylStudio after ripping the LPs with the stereo cartridge?

I understand the main problem is dealing with the vertical channel of the stereo cartridge when there is no intentional vertical signal in the mono discs, just noise...

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

VinylStudio can handle this, although I'm not sure about the noise.  Just check 'Mix down to mono', either when you create an album or later on, in the Edit Album Details dialog.

VinylStudio will still record in stereo, but your tracks will be saved in mono.

[LtMandella]

Thank you for the reply Paul.  Could you share the algorithm?  From my reading it seems there are possibly some ways to do the conversion that are better for overall sound quality than others. 

My USB ADC is a Korg 10R which only encodes to DSD so that won't be editable I presume. 

I do have a Sony portable ADC that does PCM so I guess I will need to record to .wav on that and then import to vinylstudio. 

Do you know if an imported stereo .wav file will be "editable" to "mix down to mono"?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Mono = (Left + Right) / 1

Your Korg can also record PCM, and yes, you can convert an imported file.

[LtMandella]

re:Korg PCM.  Yes, thank you I stand corrected (a common occurrence for me

Seems it is Korg's new "recording studio" windoz app that does not support PCM. Korg's Audiogate has no problem PCM digitizing.

I will experiment with mix-down to mono, thank you for sharing the algorithm vinylstudio uses.  There may be different algorithms that minimize some of the potential issues with using stereo cartridge for mono LP (crosstalk, noise, etc).

The first test digitizing does sound quite good considering.  It is the original recording with Elgar himself conducting his composition(!), and a young Yehudi Menuen is the violinist.
 
After ultrasound cleaning, zero surface noise on playback.