[ I do agree, it's extremely hard to find any Yello music here other than [ the mid 80's albums. Remixes? I wish I could get my hands on them!!!!! [ Back in the 80's, I bought everyone that came out on vinyl. Now I need [ to get an analog to digital converter to add them to my (more) compact [ library. I've heard that Formac is a good one (can convert video too) [ I use an iMAC. Hi Laurens, The original Formac is an internal card, so I would not recommend that. The computer generates massive amounts of electronic noise, and that can come through when the analog to digital converter (DAC) is inside the computer case. The current Formac is FireWire, so that should be better - especially if there is the possibility for external, independent power (computer noise can travel outside the case when the computer delivers power to the external device over the connecting cable). Actually, though, any modern DAC would be suitable for your needs. There is nothing special about the Formac. Others to consider would be Emagic, MOTU, Edirol, etc. FireWire tends to be expensive, so you can consider USB. But make sure that the audio device has external power available (the Emagic is powered by USB for convenience, but you can optionally plug in external power when you want the best quality). If you're concerned about the quality of your conversion from vinyl to digital, you'll need to pay attention to every step of the signal path. A clean record, quality needle which isn't worn, careful alignment, quiet tonearm and platter, good wiring, audiophile phono preamp, and isolated DAC are all essential. Obviously, we all have scratches and pops on our records. Don't play the record more than once a day, the friction from the needle wears out the record more the second time around unless it has time to cool. You should make sure that your needle and tonearm are aligned, because the left to right balance and the bass to treble balance can get off very easily. You might even want to record to digital in a quiet room, because even a well-isolated turntable can pick up loud sounds in the room. I never have the speakers on when recording - I use headphones to monitor. Some audiophiles would not use a direct drive turntable, because the impulses from the motor drive may end up in the audio. Belt drive turntables are recommended because the belt tends to filter out the higher frequency impulses for a very smooth rotational speed. Wiring is not critical, but you do not want really thin wires between each device. The most critical component, even for DAC applications, is the phono preamp. These usually add a great deal of noise (if they're cheap), or they do not accurately decode the RIAA amplitude and filtering that goes into every record. It is possible to skip the phono preamp if you DAC has enough gain *and* if you have an accurate RIAA filter in software which can modify the digital recording - but you'll want a 24-bit DAC if you're going to do the RIAA filtering in the digital domain. I've already mentioned in the first paragraph why the DAC should have an independent power supply so that it does not pick up any noise from the computer. It's not a good idea to make a 16-bit recording if you're going to edit the data before making a CD. Always start with a 24-bit recording, and then you'll have low noise when boosting the volume or applying filters. I have a TECHNICS SL-1220M3D turntable, ROTEL RC-980BX preamp and SONY PCM-R500 digital audio tape (DAT) recorder. The turntable is a DJ model with pitch control, but I can lock in the correct speed with a switch. I'm not sure if belt drive turntables have precise motor speeds, or if you're maybe stuck with factory calibration (which may vary with temperature and mains frequency). I keep the computer off (and speakers) during the recording, and the SONY tape allows me to convert my albums to digital without worrying about any noise from a computer. The ROTEL preamp is low noise, and should represent a high quality RIAA filter. The SONY has a 20-bit DAC with special algorithms to convert to 16-bit for CD quality. After I have a Digital Audio Tape of the vinyl, I can copy the digital data to my computer without any loss of quality, and from there it is easy to edit and burn a CD/R. I take time to set the record levels on the DAT because I do not edit the 16-bit recording afterwards. I realize that you did not ask for all of this information, but I hope it proves useful or at least interesting. A lot of this stuff is online. If you search on google for the right keywords, you'll find some articles on making digital recordings from old reel-to-reel masters and from vinyl masters. Brian Willoughby Sound Consulting