Easiest (And Least Expensive) Way To Record LP's to MP3's?

[NDL]

I know that there are many threads on the subject, although I have yet to see a thread that addresses the problem that i'm having:

My turntable goes into the receiver (pre-amp), and from there, the signal is fed into the 'line-in' receptacle on my sound card (motherboard).

Here's the thing:

No matter how I adjust the signal coming into the 'line-in' input, somewhere along the line, the sound is overboosted, and it sounds it.

Yet, if I lower the 'line in' levels, you can hear some hiss, as if the line-in level needs to be raised - so I know that the 'line-in' level isn't set too high. But, in spite of the hiss, the sound still sounds overboosted.

I checked out the Inport device, although I wonder about it's ability to eliminate the problem that i'm having. Plus, buying a hardware addition seems like a waste, considering that I have all of the necessary hardware already.

That said, can anyone recommend a software program perhaps, that will automatically adjust the levels of sound coming into the soundcard?

Thanks in advance!

[Bernie]

With the information you provided it sounds as though you are taking the "variable" outputs from your pre-amp to your soundcard. You should be going out from a "fixed" output on the pre-amp or receiver such as a tape monitor or EQ output. Lastly, make sure your turntable is plugged into a "phono" input only.

Most soundcards or audio nput devices come with software to adjust levels and select inputs... so check your soundcard package or download it from the manufacturer's web site. Good luck.

[NDL]

Thanks Bernie, for your very helpful suggestions!

I would've posted sooner, but I wanted to try out your solution first. And sure enough, you were right.

Thanks again!

[Bernie]

You're welcome.

[darrens]

Actually, I had exactly this problem with the built-in sound card shipped with my new PC (back in 2003). I was using a purpose made Phono stage with my turntable rather than an amplifier, and yet I couldn't get the recording level on the sound card low enough to avoid clipping, without it being off altogether.

It turned out the built in sound card on the PC's motherboard was a load of rubbish. I had a slightly more expensive one installed in a PCI slot, which solved the problem (I have the recording slider set to half-way in Windows Volume Control which is perfect).

Regards
Darren