Here is how I did it for all 2 of the LPs I have:
- I bought an inexpensive turntable that has a built-in phono pre-amp. The turntable has your standard L/R analog audio outputs. [If your turntable does not have a built-in pre-amp then you need to either buy a pre-amp or run the turntable thru your receiver].
- You connect the analog audio cables (with RCA connectors) to the turntable and then purchase (from Radio Shack) a cable that has the two RCA connectors on one end and a 1/8" STERO mini plug on the other. Connect the mini plug to the line-in jack of the soundcard. [My soundcard uses the 1/8" mini plugs for line-in; some soundcards actually have cinch connectors (RCA) and they can be used without having to get the converter cable].
- Now you need an application that can record from the soundcard. You can get away with using the simple Windows Recorder but I would recommend something better like a good Wave Editor (I happen to use Sound Forge).
- If the app requires it, 'arm' the recording (basically tell it get ready, I'm about to hit record). Start playback of the LP and adjust the record level so that it peaks around -3 dB. You can adjust the record levels from the sound card's mixer applet. You should listen to a good portion of the record to ensure that the recording doesn't clip. If you set the record level really low, you ensure that it will never clip, but then you would have to post-process the recording (normalize, compress, etc) to bring the volume up.
- When the record level is set properly, start the LP playing again and hit record. I usually record the entire side in one shot and then split it into tracks afterwards. There are some tools that do a decent job of automatically splitting into tracks by detecting the silent gaps between tracks, but I find it better to do it manually so I have total control.
- Now you have a WAV file. Use any mp3 encoder to convert the WAV to mp3. Again I just use Sound Forge for this purpose, but a great free alternative is to use LAME.
Sound Quality is dependent on the condition of the record, how well the turntable tracks it, and the quality of the ADC in the sound card you are using. If you use a good wav editor to do the recording, you can also use it to clean up the recording a bit. You can fade in/out the ends of the tracks, normalize to make it louder, apply a noise gate to remove low level hiss (or better yet use a good noise reduction plugin), and many other things to get it to sound good.
It might sound intimidating, but it's really not. Just post any questions you have along the way - many of us have experience doing just what you want to do.
