is there a way i can take vinyls and record them into mp3's or anyother audio file? from what i've searched, it requires a special audio card and software. well, i was just wondering if i can use the software and my current audio card (my crappy 5.1 audigy). thanks

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-502 ... egacy=cnet

Hrm, first page results on a Google search.

if you can find a decent microphone (or if you have a player with headphone jacks or something, sorry, don't know much about vinyls) and filter out noise, or not if you can do it in a quiet room, you probably won't lose very much quality. you should be able to do it just fine with an audigy. in fact, and audigy is probably overkill for converting vinyls.

i've recorded many different types of media (including records) with perfect results using any regular sound card. to get a good sound from vinyl, you need a good pre-amp for the record player to go into your computer. sometimes the mic jack works better, sometimes the line in jack, depending on your setup. trial & error.

i would definitely get some good quality software to do it with, though.

the way i have done it for like 500 albums is this. hook a turntable to my comp using the mic or line in jack (actually i have a sound blaster sound card below my CD drive that allows for almost any audio cable to hook up directly) then use cool edit to record the whole album as a wav file. then you can convert that to mp3 if you want. which you probly will. cool edit is standard and should be on seek. the sound card shouldn't matter once you hook the turntable directly into your comp.

edit: cool edit will also allow for any filtering or what not that needs to be done to the recording and can allow you to split the whole album into individual songs.

cool edit is an excellent choice. it's been my main audio program for almost 8 years now. it can clean up records quite nicely.