Recording LPs to Laptop Computer

My wife just got a laptop computer, which has a cd burner. The software that came with it is Record Now by Sonic. I don't see anything about recording from LPs, tapes, etc., which I would like to do. What is some good, idiot proof software that I should be looking at? Also, everything I've read suggests that the onboard soundcards in laptops are not the greatest for sound quality. I've read good things about the Echo Indigo IO, but it looks a little overkill for what I need, also more than I want to spend.
So, anyone here who records LPs to a laptop, what sound card and what software do you use?

Thanks,

 

First, don´t use that crappy software. Try Nero.

 

I've heard good things about outboard USB soundcards...forget the brand at the moment, but a bunch of members here have them and should speak up.

 

I have the Event EZBus and it rocks ... it's in my live rig now, so I needed to get a new one for my home PC, but the EZBus is probably overkill for what you want.

I'm currently figuring out if I like the new E-MU 1820, which comes with a breakout box that has phono RCA ins (with RIAA), but it has a PCI card.

Other options exist, such as the M-Audio Audiophile (USB or Firewire), the M-Audio 410, etc.

A decent external will cost you anywhere between $2 - $400 esp. if you want phono ins with RIAA.

 

M-Audio was the brand I was thinking of. My roommie's father has one and loves it, and does a lot of projects with it.

 

Thanks for the responses. I missed out on an Indigo IO on ebay Saturday. Yesterday I came across something called Dell Musicmatch Jukebox on the laptop, and recorded a couple of songs off of LPs and burned them to cd. Put it in the stereo and YUCK, it sounded awful. From all I had read, I knew it would, but I had to try. The Indigo goes in the card slot. What are the pros and cons of card slot vs. usb? An Indigo IO can be had online for $170-180. Now I'm thinking of getting a cheap audio cd recorder, burning cdrw's, and fixing 'em up on the computer. Pros, cons, suggestions? I was going to download the Nero demoversion, but they said a new version will be out later this week. The M-Audio stuff is more than I want to spend.

 

Can you find a cheap audio recorder that burns CD-RWs?

That's the way I do it, only without the CD-RWs, I tried those but they are so unstable it was difficult to rip them to the computer with EAC. So just use CD-Rs.

TurnTable -> PhonoStage -> Stand alone Burner (then if necessary) -> Computer via EAC -> declicker -> CD-R

 

I'm using the M-Audio Audiophile USB, which gives me a maximum 24 bit, 96kHz. I think I paid $169 plus shipping for mine. Works fine for me so far! Never have had a dropped signal or anything like that. Most of the consumer sound cards aren't that good--I even paid a little extra to get a Sound Blaster Audigy a couple of years ago, and quite frankly it was a waste of money. (It's fine for playing back sounds over the computer, but useless for audio.)

As far as editing software, you probably won't get much of anything decent sounding unless you're willing to shell out a couple hundred bucks. The sound editors built into the CD burning programs are very barebones, and their "declickers" are not very good from what I've been told. I use a combination of a few different programs, which isn't the cheapest way to do things.

I wonder if Music Match was converting to an MP3 file for storage. Just a guess.

At the local Sony outlet, I picked up a B-stock (refurbished) 2-CD deck. I can record analog to it, or duplicate CDs at 4x speed. I think I paid around $150-$160 for it. If all you want is music on CDs, it's a low-fuss way to go about it. Just stick to a name brand deck--I know of someone who bought one of those cheap CD recorders from Best Buy, and not only was it noisy, but it was lacking a couple of key features that made it rather worthless. I'm just concerned that for the sound quality you're looking for vs. what you're looking to spend, it may be a better solution.

 

Rudy, I set the Music Match to record .wav files. Don't think it would convert them to mp3 when burning the cd, but what do I know. I'd still like to hear from someone on the advantages/disadvantages of pc card slot vs. usb.

 

Don:
The most important thing for you to know is that your sound card must be a preamp with the RIAA equalization curve built into it. Many Many Many cards advertise that they can covert LPs to digital...and they can. But without the proper RIAA curve, they will sound like crap. Bad. Awful. And you will blame the card, when in fact, the people selling it don't understand what phone preamps do. If the card doesn't advertise the RIAA EQ. Curve, it doesn't have it. Don't buy it.
I use the Rolls GC104. It has inputs SPECIFICALLY for turntables, a separate input for a pro mic, a consumer line level input, etc. About $100 give or take if I recall.

 

Hi galactustrilogy,

If you have a phono stage, why not use it? I think in most cases it will beat the RIAA EQ on a sound card.

Of course if you don't have access to the phono stage/preamp output, use a sound card equipped with the RIAA EQ.

 

Hi Paul;
You could try to go from the line outs of your stereo preamp/receiver, but then your gain would be tied to the volume control. Doable, but perhaps not ideal.
Brad

 

Think of card slot as equivalent to PCI in a desktop. USB 2.0 or Firewire are OK, but a PCI-based soundcard is more often than not better than a USB or Firewire, and in most cases I've heard, as far as USB has become, Firewire is usually better. This is despite a higher rated (480 vs 400) transfer rate of USB 2.0 to Firewire. MOst people find Firewire more stable.

I have one USB sound source (the EZBus, which is now just a live mixer), and it was fine, so it really boils down to the manufacturer and the drivers made. SAme can be said for PCI or a card.

 

There's a turntable pre from ART Pro Audio that's really cool and only about $40. It has a ground and everything. It's called the "DeeJay Pre".

 

Actually, I have a choice of the tape outputs of my Marantz 2235 receiver, or my Musical Concepts MC2T preamplifier with teflon circuit board and teflon capacitors in the RIAA section. Both units have their own unique strengths. In fact, I'm wanting to record the same tracks to CD through each one. The more I think about it though, the more I'm leaning for an audio CD recorder, as you can see in my new thread, Rufurbished Audio CD Recorders, your thoughts. Thanks to all for your valuable input.

 

As much as I was told not to get a USB sound device, I got one anyway...and even with something installed (and sometimes running) on all of my USB ports, it works fine even at the lowest latency setting, and I didn't even have to stop working on anything else while recording. Could be my motherboard, too...anything I've run on USB (2.0) has been rock solid (35mm film scanner, Nextel phone, photo printer, webcam, etc.). Only my camcorder is Firewire. Pleasantly surprised I guess--after my last motherboard, I could have done without USB for the rest of my life. Now I have too many USB toys and not enough ports!