I want to rip my 60's and 70's LP collection to my media server HD over the holidays. I'd like recommendations for any or all of the following: PC sound card (currently favoring the RME HDSP 9632), a phono preamp for my turntable, and software to manage the process (W2K or WinXP). Any other suggestions or tips will also be appreciated.

I use sound forge. i have hundreds of records ive ripped.
sound card really doesnt matter.
its only a stereo signal. pretty much anything will work.
I use a mixer as a "preamp"
it has monitor/booth output controls, but its really not needed. sound forge has level adjustments for incoming signals built in.

I use sound forge. i have hundreds of records ive ripped.
sound card really doesnt matter.
its only a stereo signal. pretty much anything will work.
I use a mixer as a "preamp"
it has monitor/booth output controls, but its really not needed. sound forge has level adjustments for incoming signals built in.
I read a review that said SoundForge is hard to use and it is also fairly expensive compared to other solutions. I am looking at the xitel inport package to connect between the tape out on my pre/pro and my PC. Don't the quality of the DACs on the sound card make a difference? I am planning to use either a lossless or near lossless recording format. This music is not for an iPod, it will be for wholehouse distribution, so I want CD quality.

Take a look at Audacity. It's free and should do everything you want.

I have a number of LP's to rip as well. Is there any method of automatically downloading lp information to name the tracks? Although there are many methods of ripping and identifying tracks, is there a database service (sort of like CDDB) that allows for autoomatically naming them based on data gathered about old LP's?

Would save a bunch of time.

you may be able to use audio fingerprinting software to auto-id your tracks once ripped.

i think musicbains offers such a service - i.e. the software formulates a code from your audio sample then submits this to a central database server. the server returns the track name, artist, etc (may also include album art).

try a wiki search for audio fingerprinting to find other options.

Cheers,
Vince.

For a phono preamp, check out needledoctor.com and audioadvisor.com. Prices range from $30 to $11.5k.