How to copy LPs and tapes to digital (audio capture)

[many a good man]

I'd like to digitize some of my old albums and tapes so I can burn them to CD. Can anyone recommend a good software program to do this?

Apparently you can just connect the line out from your tape player into the line in on the sound card. XP comes with a built-in SoundRecorder program but it can't record longer than one minute. I see numerous freeware, shareware and pay programs out there but have no clue which one to get. Some can even capture streaming audio --which sounds pretty cool.

[mainegreen]

1. First, unless your sound card serious rocks hard, don't connect to it!

It will muck up your sound. You should get an external usb sound capture device!

Heres 3:
Cheap easy option with software
More complex option/no software
Badass option/no software

For software you could always try Audacity a great free open source sound editing/capture tool.

[many a good man]

2. Audacity rocks!

Its easy to use and it sounds great! Even from a headphone jack!

I guess my sound card is good enough. I have a RealTek AC97 hardwired into my motherboard and I added an ATI AIW graphics card. The AIW lists something called "ATI WDM Rage Theater Audio" in Device Manager. RealTek is the only thing that shows in the drop-down lists, though.

I can record streaming audio by choosing "Stereo Mix" in Audacity's input dialog box. Recording from a tape player is a little trickier. Since the AIW is using the Line In jack, I have to go to a video editing program and start a video capture (luckily I don't have to actually capture it).

Thanks again for the great advice.
:toast: