[Joey_V]

If I wanted to record vinyl onto my computer, what soundcard should I use?

How are the audio inputs different between soundcards, I mean - what should I look out for?

I assume this would be using the analog input and not the digital input.

 

[PsychoZX]

http://www.emu.com/products/product....1&product=9872

 

[Joey_V]

So.... the 1212 has 192 digital input? While lesser sound cards dont?

But what about the analog line in? How does the 1212 differ from say an audigy in this respect?

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey_V So.... the 1212 has 192 digital input? While lesser sound cards dont?

The digital input has nothing to do with recording from an analog source such as vinyl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey_V But what about the analog line in? How does the 1212 differ from say an audigy in this respect?

Well 1212m has great A/D convertors and is a card designed around professional recording and monitoring. This in turn will give you a much better sounding recorded file than your audigy ever could. Not only that but the card also makes for a great budget source so you could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey_V If I wanted to record vinyl onto my computer, what soundcard should I use?

That depends on how demanding you are. A basic Live! 24-Bit might do (one should merely keep in mind that it only supports 48 and 96 kHz natively), a Revo 5.1 or a Prodigy 7.1(LT). A true audiophile would, however, prefer a 0404, Juli@, Audiophile 192 or 1212m.
What to look for: High-quality ADCs, low jitter oscillators, decent input stage.

However, to put things in perspective, once you've got a half-decent sound card, the quality of the phono preamp (the RIAA EQ circuit mostly) becomes the limiting factor. Which is why you can buy a non-EQing preamp with software that'll do the job (you can even get a special record for deemphasis calibration).

 

[JaZZ]

I'm very satisfied with the sonic result of my vinyl recordings with an E-MU 1212M and the Creek OBH-15 phono stage (with OBH-2 power supply).

 

[emphatic]

i know this is the "computer as source" forum, but for this task, i wouldn't start with the computer.

recording vinyl is a delicate process, and *most* people don't have the right hardware environment to do it properly in their PC.

here is a suggestion, use a standalone CD recorder:
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorder...m_cdrw750.html

then, put the CD in your PC, and splice, and edit or clean up, or whatever your fancy is (lots of opinions here on what to or not to do with the .wav's).

if your goal is to have vinyl on CD, it's a one step process. if you want to encode them (.ogg, .flac, .mp3, whatever), then it could be as simple as the three step process (record, rip, encode).

in any case, the standalone recorder gets you a clean sound, unobstructed by nasty PC noise and other issues. most average PC's with an above average sound card will not compare to such a setup.