Good People of this board...I need advice

If anyone has been to www.turntablelab.com there are two different devices that I am having a hard time figuring out which one do I need. One is called a Echo Indigo I/O #acc-383...it is a sound card...and The Terratec Phono Pre amp USB Studio # acc-295 is the Item number. O.K. which one of these devices would be best for me to convert my record collection to MP3 format. The laptop that I have only has a mic in and and headphones out. Could someone check that site and let me know which one I need to get..Thanx in advance

Both look good LK.....I like the Echo IO I was going to get this awhile back but then decided on a Audiophile Firewire....Echo makes good stuff in my opinion and it is not too expensive. Another great thing about the Echo is it uses your laptops Cardbus.

I like Terratec unit also but it uses USB...I know it will be fine for just recoring your records to your laptop....its just a preference of mine with Firewire available it would be a shoe in. Anyway it will do its job for what you want it to do.

I would go with the Echo IO! :)

P.S. Always shop around for the best price.

I see, I was more worried about the inputs to them. I know the echo works with the cards slot, I was just worried about the size of the input. I'm so use to phono lines, those mini's worry me. The only thing I see with the Terratec is I can use it with more than one computer because it's USB. I'm still up in the air but something is being bought this week though.

I know yo know dis and i undastand yo want quality but just get a gutiar lead and an adapter from big to small which fits into da lappy mic input n record.. shja cheap is da best

I've just got the midiman audiophile firewire and am very happy with the results so far. Very well built in a metal case and a lovely blue led to match the ssl box! :)
It's got 2 phono inputs, 4 phono outputs and digital in and out as well. oh yeah, there's even midi in/out thrown in for good measure.

maybe a bit overkill for you, but the sound quality is superb

s

i aint recorded a record track using da lead to record a beat. Ive only recorded shit dat way fo quick samplin. i read yo want to convert yo ishk into mp3's.. :P

i use the griffin technology imic (the same people that make the powermate that ssl users seem to either love or hate). it is a little usb hockey-puck looking thing that has 24-bit audio in and out. i use it on my mac, but it works on pc too (98SE/2000 input only, XP- input/output). it accepts line and mic (phono) level inputs. they have some kick ass software for mac, but pc they tell you to just use any old audio app. it's only $40.

www.griffintechnology.com

I hear you about the USB LK....If you are leaning more towards a break-out box type unit...you should really think about looking into the Audiophile Firewire or the Firewire 410......they give you some more capabilites for a little extra loot!! :)

Also I can't find the TerraTec Phono PreAmp Studio USB in the US for sale? So I can't do a price comparison?

beware of the iMic. I had one and found it to have two problems. It would magically loose some low end in the recording meaning I usually had to knock up the bass a tad on my mixer when playing tracks recorded with the iMic.

Also, with the first lot of iMics that came out there was a problem if you had it plugged straight into the usb port on your computer you would get 'clicks' whilst recording. Apparently it was noise every time the hard drive wrote a chunk of data. The solution so griffin told me was to plug the iMic into a 'audio spec' usb hub and then into the computer. I kinda lost faith in the iMic after that and went the midiman route.

I hear that the latest hardware revision of the iMic is fixed in this respect, but you might still wanna be a bit weary about the frequency response of the thing. Still, can't be bad for $40

stu

i've had my imic for 3 years now (bought it because the audio port went out on my clamshell ibook), never had those problems. we sell them at our shop, never had any complaints. it sucks that griffen doesn't make final vinyl for pc, i use that program to record all my mixes. (i think some are still floating around bit torrent if you search for 3pm)

check out

lists.apple.com

and

www.griffintechnology.com

It was so long ago that I used my iMic. It now sits somewhere in my house. I think I was using 10.1 or 10.2 when I was recording stuff.

s
:)