I'm interested in coping vinyl records to CD via my computer (P3). I would like to upgrade my soundcard (Sound Blaster 1060) for this process, but to what? Where can I find information and independent reviews about soundcards that would be better than others for this application?
Thanks all
Sound card for IP Vinyl music to CD?
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FlyingPenguin
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Frankly unless you have a VERY sensitive ear, that card should be adequate.
Newer cards might have a smidgen more seperation and ever so slightly better THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) specs, but it's nothing you'd notice - not for casual recording of LPs.
Your REAL concern is that you're going to want to use a good audio recorder program - preferably one the has a scratch, pop & hiss filter. It's amazing how you can digitally restore the most scratched up records with a good filter.
Good sound editors are not cheap. I use Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge with the Vinyl Restoration plugin, but it's very expensive - like $350 (I used to be a sound engineer so I have a lot of professional sound editing software).
A reasonably priced one that does a good job is Cool Edit: http://www.syntrillium.com/
Keep in mind, also, that you CANNOT directly connect most turntables to the Line input on a sound card. You need to connect the turntable to a pre-amp or a tuner, and then connect the line out from that to the line in on the sound card.
Newer cards might have a smidgen more seperation and ever so slightly better THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) specs, but it's nothing you'd notice - not for casual recording of LPs.
Your REAL concern is that you're going to want to use a good audio recorder program - preferably one the has a scratch, pop & hiss filter. It's amazing how you can digitally restore the most scratched up records with a good filter.
Good sound editors are not cheap. I use Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge with the Vinyl Restoration plugin, but it's very expensive - like $350 (I used to be a sound engineer so I have a lot of professional sound editing software).
A reasonably priced one that does a good job is Cool Edit: http://www.syntrillium.com/
Keep in mind, also, that you CANNOT directly connect most turntables to the Line input on a sound card. You need to connect the turntable to a pre-amp or a tuner, and then connect the line out from that to the line in on the sound card.
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“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” - Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez
“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” - Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez
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EvilHorace
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I've done it with my SB Live and Easy CD Creator a couple years ago and it turned out pretty well. I still have a few old albums that I havent yet found on cd so I'm planning to make some more in the near future, as soon as I find and buy another stylus for my phono (available online) as my kid once brought the phono downstairs w/o securing the tonearm and the needle bounced until destroyed. He didn't know that that could be a problem as he's unfamilar with "stoneage" technology from the 70s 
.
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EvilHorace
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I was browsing around at Crutchfield tonight and not only do they sell stylus's, they sell what's called a phono pre-amp which I believe is all that's needed to go between a phonograph and soundcard,
here.
When I did it before, I had to use an old receiver in between the phono and soundcard to get its pre-amp function or nothing would happen.
here.
When I did it before, I had to use an old receiver in between the phono and soundcard to get its pre-amp function or nothing would happen.
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FlyingPenguin
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Yes that's exactly what you need, or just connect the phonograph to a reciever's tuner input and then connect the tape out or line out to the sound card's input.
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“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” - Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez
“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” - Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez
One thing I discovered, perhaps others have had this problem...
I tried in vain to record tape and vinyl for years on my main machine, but no matter what program I used, I couldn't get a decent input level. At 100% volume for the Line Input, the level meters of all programs I tried (Goldwave, Cool Edit, Cakewalk, etc) peaked at about 20%. The resulting file output volume confirmed the levels were correctly rendering during recording. I tried formatting, different drivers, etc. I searched high and low all over several search engines, couldn't find anyone else having this problem, much less a solution.
I thought it was my MX300. So I replaced it with a Live 5.1...including a complete rebuild. No dice.
I knew I had recorded analog before, with no problem, on an SB16. So I pulled it out of the ol' P5, dropped it into my main machine and...no dice.
Put the SB16 back into the P5 and...it woiked! At 50% volume for the Line Input, I was occassionally red-lining.
Determined to figure out why I could not get decent levels on my main machine, I tried various software and OS configs on BOTH machines (yes, both my machines were imaged). It took me two days of troubleshooting, and finally came down to this:
As soon as I installed DirectX, I was forked. Tried DX3, DX5, DX7, DX8 and the L&G (each was installed clean...yeah, tons of image drops). It was as simple as getting great levels without DX, then installing DX and getting snuffed. The MX300 required DX5 to install. My main machine could also record fine, as long as I used OSR2...as soon as I installed Win98SE, it was useless.
I couldn't believe DX would do that, which is the reason I repro'd so many times. I kept thinking it had to be something else. But levels were fine on both machines, installed DX, time to format again.
So, my old P5 now does all of my analog recording. It's just OSR2, no patches, and IE4 (it's not connected to the net anyway). I just record, connect and transfer the waves to my main machine, and compress there.
I tried in vain to record tape and vinyl for years on my main machine, but no matter what program I used, I couldn't get a decent input level. At 100% volume for the Line Input, the level meters of all programs I tried (Goldwave, Cool Edit, Cakewalk, etc) peaked at about 20%. The resulting file output volume confirmed the levels were correctly rendering during recording. I tried formatting, different drivers, etc. I searched high and low all over several search engines, couldn't find anyone else having this problem, much less a solution.
I thought it was my MX300. So I replaced it with a Live 5.1...including a complete rebuild. No dice.
I knew I had recorded analog before, with no problem, on an SB16. So I pulled it out of the ol' P5, dropped it into my main machine and...no dice.
Put the SB16 back into the P5 and...it woiked! At 50% volume for the Line Input, I was occassionally red-lining.
Determined to figure out why I could not get decent levels on my main machine, I tried various software and OS configs on BOTH machines (yes, both my machines were imaged). It took me two days of troubleshooting, and finally came down to this:
As soon as I installed DirectX, I was forked. Tried DX3, DX5, DX7, DX8 and the L&G (each was installed clean...yeah, tons of image drops). It was as simple as getting great levels without DX, then installing DX and getting snuffed. The MX300 required DX5 to install. My main machine could also record fine, as long as I used OSR2...as soon as I installed Win98SE, it was useless.
I couldn't believe DX would do that, which is the reason I repro'd so many times. I kept thinking it had to be something else. But levels were fine on both machines, installed DX, time to format again.
So, my old P5 now does all of my analog recording. It's just OSR2, no patches, and IE4 (it's not connected to the net anyway). I just record, connect and transfer the waves to my main machine, and compress there.