what's best card for recording from a line in?

I want to record and make soundtracks from my old NES, SNES, etc. systems. Which soundcard(express opinions if need be, I realize facts are considered myths to some) is best for allowing one to connect an audio cord to the card, and produce the best quality recordings, and maintain good 3d sound for games and mp3? Basically I want the quality to rank in this order:
1st priority:Recording
2nd priority:MP3 and other playback
3rd priority:Gaming 3d sound
Thanks for reading!
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The world sucks. Keep your pants on.

No, i think i meant from :x Budget < 200

The world sucks. Keep your pants on.

Who's Annie Sullivan?

And I do more live sound, not studio work. I actually don't know a whole lot about professional cards.

<font color=blue>Hi mom!</font color=blue>

<A HREF="http://www.gis.net/~mtf/sullivan.htm" target="_new">Annie Sullivan</A>

Toejam31

<font color=red>First Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=17935" target="_new"><font color=green>Toejam31's Devastating Dalek Destroyer</font color=green></A>
<font color=red>Second Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new"><font color=green>Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</font color=green></A>
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<font color=purple>"Some push the envelope. Some just lick it. And some can't find the flap."</font color=purple>

What did toejam THINK I wanted to do?

The world sucks. Keep your pants on.

I understood the question. The word "best" is what you mentioned (twice), and I took it literally.

But for $200, you wanted a miracle, if you wanted recording as your top priority, and still wanted D3D sound hardware acceleration and EAX support.

Remind me not to use obscure literary references on message boards, boys.

Toejam31


<font color=red>First Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=17935" target="_new"><font color=green>Toejam31's Devastating Dalek Destroyer</font color=green></A>
<font color=red>Second Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new"><font color=green>Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</font color=green></A>
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<font color=purple>"Some push the envelope. Some just lick it. And some can't find the flap."</font color=purple>

I couldn't agree more. A popular message board is a mini cross-section of society, and all kinds show up here. But generally, "asses" don't make much of an effort to stick around and attempt to lend other people a hand. If they do stay, and refuse to leave, we call them trolls. And they are anything and everything besides helpful.

Trolls are usually highly-opinionated, prone to starting flame wars, and most have low reading comprehension skills.

Thank God neither of us falls into that category. It's the little things that mean a lot, ya know?

Perhaps you might find this link useful in your search for a card.

<A HREF="http://www.digitalexperience.com/cards.html" target="_new">Digital Audio Sound Cards</A>

Enjoy the read!

Toejam31

<font color=red>First Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=17935" target="_new"><font color=green>Toejam31's Devastating Dalek Destroyer</font color=green></A>
<font color=red>Second Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new"><font color=green>Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</font color=green></A>
__________________________________________________________

<font color=purple>"Some push the envelope. Some just lick it. And some can't find the flap."</font color=purple>

Well...i'm not sure if everyone read his question very carefully. He is recording from NES and SNES not doing studio work. ANY GENERIC sound card will do...yes there are better and better cards out there. He is recording from a sound source that at TOPS will output 16bit sound which any card on the market will do. Most newer MOBO's come with intergrated audio these days and that card will do just fine. Especially coming from an NES!

peace

wow, this thread spiraled...just to clarify down here at the bottom. Any retail comsumer card with a line in will do fine for what you are planning to do, a SB Audigy or TB Santa Cruz or Herc GTXP will do awsome, a $240+ pro recording card will work really wonderfully...but then coming from NES and SNES you wont notice any improvement by using a pro card over a 70 dollar Santa Cruz or 50 dollar SoundBlaster. If your gonna do this with higher end more recent systems though i recommend going no lower than an Audigy or Santa Cruz.

Now, for the touchy part, I would PERSONALLY recommend the GTXP as the card of choice for you.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by williamc on 05/22/02 04:15 PM.</EM></FONT></P>