I want to record my vinyl. What is best to archive at 24/192 or 24/96 multichannel?

[MyCuff]

Hello all you savvy audiophiles,
I am looking for recommendations on what I should purchase to archive my growing vinyl collection. I may someday indulge in quad vinyls or reels, so I like the idea of 4+ channel capability, but for now I will be satisfied with 24/192 or even 24/96 2-channel recording. I just want to record from my rega turntable and lose the least amount of fidelity, and then very basic click removal. I would like to do this for under $300 dollars. It would be great to not need a preamp, but not a requirement.
Thanks all for your suggestions.
Mike

 

[Q8]

Look into the Delta and Audiophile lines of M-Audio computer PCI cards. This will allow you to record hi-rez stereo and multi-channel. Plus they are great for playback. You will need preamplification. You could just run a line out from whatever reciever you have the TT hooked to. In my opinion, this is a way better option than using a USB turntable (junk) or a USB preamp. You can aso use those sound cards with a wide variety of software.

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=PCIinterfaces

Also you can just use these with a turntable and a phono preamp. Any way you slice it, this should fit into your budget.

My personal recomendation would be the Audiophile 192. You can find them cheap on eBay, it allows you to record 24/192, 4 in 4 out. Plus the ability to hook to your reciever for 5.1 audio playback.

(I have no affiliation to this product, I just think it is the best affordable choice)

 

[kap'n krunch]

Don't know about sound cards, maybe you can get a used MOTU 828 MkII(that I have and bought in 2005 for $800, so it might be cheaper now). I am a Mac user, so I have it thru Firewire, but USB is fine too...

I got a basic preamp (needledoctor.com has many good ones) which was about 90 Euros in 2008.

As for the ONLY clear recommendation,
ClickRepair is the way to go for cleaning your recordings , it's VERY cheap compared to ANY other choice(about $30-I'd avoid any cracked version, plus you get updates constantly) AND you get GREAT service by its creator, Brian Davies (every time I have an issue he replies almost THE SAME DAY!).....

 

[par4ken]

Look into the Delta and Audiophile lines of M-Audio computer PCI cards. This will allow you to record hi-rez stereo and multi-channel. Plus they are great for playback. You will need preamplification. You could just run a line out from whatever reciever you have the TT hooked to. In my opinion, this is a way better option than using a USB turntable (junk) or a USB preamp. You can aso use those sound cards with a wide variety of software.

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.family&ID=PCIinterfaces

Also you can just use these with a turntable and a phono preamp. Any way you slice it, this should fit into your budget.

My personal recomendation would be the Audiophile 192. You can find them cheap on eBay, it allows you to record 24/192, 4 in 4 out. Plus the ability to hook to your reciever for 5.1 audio playback.

(I have no affiliation to this product, I just think it is the best affordable choice)

I can vouch for M-Audio as well, my Delta 44 is great but it can only do 96K. Personally I think that the bit depth (24 vs 16) is far more important than the sample frequency. You also need a very fast computer as you add more input channels and up the sample frequency.

 

[oxforddickie]

totally agree with you, bit depth is far more important than frequency. Always.

 

[Bob Romano]

I can also recommend the M-Audio Delta 1010LT card (96/24 sounds excellent) and Click Repair is an awesome program. It is constantly being updated and works incredibly well and is very fast and easy to use.

 

[MyCuff]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. M-Audio certainly got the most nods. I think I will get the audiophile 192 as it is only $89 right from M-Audio, with obviously the most up to date software. The included breakout cable only has TRS connectors, so I guess I need get another breakout cable, or some sort of adapter for the RCAs to TRS. Not sure what is best to minimize sound quality degradation. RCA to TRS adapters look kind of "non-audiophile". Thoughts on that, anyone?


Thanks again,
Mike