> From: "John Paul Altieri" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> I'd appreciate any advice regarding recording LP's onto Computer Hard Disk
> for cleanup. The new soundcard I bought is a Tracer SAS, which is actually
a
> Hoontech SoundTrack 128 DDMA. It also comes with the Hoontech ST Digital
> Bracket I/O III. I was disappointed that the analog inputs were only
> mini-jacks (bought over Internet)
I had a board similar to this (ST128 Gold) - the onboard converters were
Burr Brown, and actually quite decent - mini-jacks are no indicator of
output quality... my dad's TCD-D3 DAT portable proved that quite nicely.
Try going into a decent sound editor, like CE2K, and take a look at the base
noise level of the ADC on the ST128 with nothing connected - not the most
accurate indication of quality, but a decent starting point if you don't
have a test CD and a CD player of known good performance to play it into the
soundcard on.
A typical soundcard such as a Vortex2 will have a base level of
around -75dBFS or so shown on the CoolEdit VU Meter. An SBLive may perform
slightly better. Also take a look at an FFT of the recorded "silence" to
check for any serious glitches in the high frequencies.
Using an MD deck as an ADC (providing yours supports this feature), and
connecting it digitally to your soundcard, expect a reduced noise level
closer to that of higher-end soundcards... -85dBFS or better, typically.
Most of that noise is actually below 50Hz, and you'll be killing that anyway
afterwards in the vinyl cleanup.
> Recording the LP to MD and connecting the MD to the Digital Input on sound
> card to transfer to Hard Disk .
Not recommended, since that will put the LP through ATRAC. Lossy formats
are not really suitable for significant processing afterwards, since so much
information is thrown away. If your MD deck can be put into monitor mode
(most Sony decks can), then you should be able to use it as an ADC instead.
> Putting RCA to mini-jack adaptors from the Preamp to sound card--I think
it
> would degrade the sound quality alot (comments?)
Should have no bearing on sound quality - I for one have never heard
degradation due to such adaptors. You can actually buy a mini-jack to RCA
cable if you're really worried about this.
> Does anyone know of a better method, or better sound card for getting LP's
> onto hard disk?
The card you have should be good enough. It really depends how good your
record player is and also what the quality of the vinyl is like.
If you were going for a better setup, a Hoontech DSP24 or Midiman DIO2496
attached to a quality ADC (Flying Calf?) would no doubt achieve good
results. If the digital I/O bracket you already have is capable of 1:1
transfers, just the decent external ADC would do.
http://www.hoontech.com/product/digitalaudiocardbox/audiodsp.htm
http://www.midiman.net/Html/products/dio2496.html
http://www.midiman.net/Html/products/calfad.html
> I was concerned if I bought the soundcards with break-out boxes from
> Guillemot and Roland, that the analog inputs would not be compatible with
> standard RCA-jack stereo inputs. Is this true?
Nope. I have recently acquired such a board (Hoontech DSP24, with the
ADC&DAC2000 external box), and the unbalanced mono jacks are of normal
levels - a few cheap adaptors solves the connectivity problem.
- Tom Browne.
http://www.tbrowne.demon.co.uk
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