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When you are using your PC to capture and store the original recordings from your vinyl record collection, the capabilities of the sound card in your computer is a key factor in determining the ultimate quality of raw data that is stored. Most PC sound cards are marketed in terms of their sound output. There is not as much emphasis place on the INPUT features. Here are the key features that you will want to look for in a PC sound card for your LP to CD conversion needs.

Channel Stereo Input
All sound cards have ports for external speaker connections. Most will have additional ports for other external components such as surround sound, MIDI devices, microphones, and other miscellaneous input devices. It is this last item that we are interested in and it is referred to as the LINE IN port. You will want to make sure that the card has one or more LINE IN ports capable of capturing the left and right stereo signals independently. The device driver for the card must be able to allow recording software to adjust the input levels of the left and right channels independently and capture them as wav files. It’s OK if there is only one physical port as long as is can separate the signals from a stereo jack. Do not attempt to use a MICROPHONE PORT as a line in port even if your jack fits into it properly. Most microphone ports are mono, not stereo and only support an 8-bit depth or less which we will talk about next.

24-bit Sound Input
The WORD LENGTH, or BIT DEPTH capabilities of the sound card determines how much information is stored or played in a single slice of sound information. Most PC sound cards support a 16-bit depth which is acceptable for most applications including listening to CD music. 16-bits covers the full spectrum of frequencies that the human ear can hear. But for the audiophile, it is not enough to pick up just those frequencies. We want the entire spectrum that was available on the original analog recording. It is the lost frequencies in 16-bit digital recordings that rob us of the full bodied listening experience and contribute to sensory deprivation. It is those off-the-chart frequencies that contribute to HARMONICS and OVER-TONES which give he music its depth. Just beware, because most PC sound cards that advertise 24-bit sound is strictly for the play-back feature. Make sure that the sound card you are going to use for recording supports a 24-bit depth for LINE-IN recording. This one feature will usually drive up the price of a sound card dramatically.

Sample Rate – Higher is Better
The sample rate determines how many slices of sound data are captured or played PER SECOND. A standard music CD supports sample rates of 44,100 or 48,000. A regular CD player is not capable of handling a higher sample rate, and the data storage capacity of a standard compact disc would prohibit you from storing an entire LP at a higher sample rate. So why would you want to record your LPs at a higher sample rate? Because the technology is evolving. One example is the Super Audio CDs (SACD) that were introduced in 1999 that store 10x the capacity of a standard CD and support a sample rate up to 2,822,400!!! The bottom line is that the audiophile will want to record and store as close to the original sound as possible so that nothing will be lost when the technology catches up. In the mean time, if you wish to playback recordings that were captured at a higher sample rate than your hardware can playback, the original source file can be used to create a scaled-back version that is supported, but you will still have your original file or recording for the future. PC Sound cards like m-audio cards can be found that support sample rates of 44,100/48,000/88,200/96,000/192,000.

Tags: audio recording software, audiophile, m audio, maudio, recording, recording software, records, stereo, vinyl record, wav files