🚀 go-pugleaf

insect,

Let me share my experience.

I'm "remastering" my collection of LP's, open reel tapes and cassettes
and so far have processed some 300 tracks out of 2000+ still waiting.

My Pentium II 400 (M747) has an inboard CMI8330 based sound system. 
Using the inboard sound was just fine, despite of the noise floor that
is a bit high in that board.  However, the 8330 is incompatible with the
MS ForceFeedback joystick and overall the motherboard was very tricky to
configure for the CPI is 2.0, but that's another story.  I disabled the
inboard sound and the Joystick worked just fine.  Then I installed my
old SB16 and worked okay but sound was not as good as with the CMI8330. 
So, I decided to get the SBlive!  What a difference!  It is not a
professional grade card, but it is one of the best cards available for
personal use.  The only cracking noises out of the speakers I have heard
were produced by the tremendous bass response, almost flat, down to
10Hz. Cranking down the volume control was the cure to the noises
produced by my cheap 3" speakers. When I feed my Sony amplifier there
are no noises at all.  Check this NG for some reports of malfunction due
to poor wiring layout and/or hardware constrains. With the Sblive!  I
hear sounds I never heard before with the CMI8330 or the SB16, so I
started all over again despite of the fact that I had some 150 tracks
already converted to MP3 and CD's.

My turntable is an old Sony I purchased some 20 years ago; so it is not
necessary to spend too much in a turntable, providing it is in good
shape and has low rumble.   I recommend you purchase instead a good pair
of headphones.  You need an equalized preamplifier to feed the turntable
output to the card line input.  Any audio amplifier with turntable input
is okay, providing that features line output too.  Forget feeding the
soundcard mike input or directly to the line input without and equalized
pre amplifier.  If you don't care MIDI or digital I/O, the SBLive! Value
is OK; after all it's the same card.  

The program I use is DartPro32, but there are many other, even free or
shareware, in the WEB.  Regarding the format, 44.1 and 16 bit is
standard for CD audio.  Some programs automatically convert to that
format previous to recording.  The soundcard samples at the rate you
select by software.  I recommend you search the WEB and try several
programs until you find the one you like. 

That's my $0.05 contribution.



Insect wrote:
> 
> I understand I can plug a turntable through a preamp into a soundcard, and
> then record to a PC based CD-R.
> 
> 1.  What soundcard is recommended?  One alternative is the Soundblaster Live
> Value or Soundblaster Live - what is the quality for my purpose?  Do I need
> to step up to something like a Gina card?  What other cards would be good?
> Is it true that the SB Live samples at 48KHz, and I need 44KHz to record to
> CD, and will therefore get a sound degradation?
> 2.  What minimum spec do I need for the A/D converters?  Does anyone know
> the specs on the A/D converters on the SB Live? (e.g. 16 bit, 18 bit, etc)?
> 3.  What software is recommended?
> 4.  What turntable/cartridge is recommended?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> insect81@hotmail.com