Alesis ML-9600 to archive my LP's in HI-RES CD24

The single best way would be to purchase a Nagra DII. I know of a few on the used market but they are a pretty penny ($10-15k used). The quality of PC results, as with any digital storage, will be as much based upon the quality of the A/D convertor as anything. There are several professional digital workstations out there (the most common of which is ProTools... but its quality leaves a lot to be desired even though it is the industry standard) but it won't be nearly as user friendly as the Alesis. If you aren't looking to spend the kind of money on the Nagra, it would be hard to beat the Alesis.

I own a Masterlink. The problem with archiving via the CD24 format is that you can only burn approx. 21 minutes per 700 MB CDR, not enough even for one side of most LPs. Something like a Masterlink that burns to DVD-R would permit archiving a complete LP at high bit/clock rates.

The Alesis is a nice machine, but it's nothing special. If you used it for archiving at 24/96 you'll be stuck with using Alesis' proprietary format. In it's favor the Masterlink is relatively cheap (street price as low as $700), it's a one box solution and it's easy to use.

The archives contain a large number of threads regarding LP archiving.

In my experience Alesis is a so-so device. Most professional PC or MAC soundcards would be able to do a much better job of AD conversion.

I also own a Masterlink, & agree with most of the above comments about the sound quality. I don't know why Fremer was raving about the sound quality so much. I don't think it's bad, but I agree that high quality A/D convertors are supposed to improve the sound a great deal. (I'm thinking about buying one of the Apogee or Grace products, like the Apogee Mini-Me).

It is incredibly versatile, but getting thru & figuring out all the menu stuff on the front panel & deciphering the manual can be frustrating. It's great tho, if you want to do different mixes or orders of different recordings, etc. once you learn how to use it.

It's probably worth the $$. At the very least, it's a very cool toy. And since you know how important converters are, maybe just figure that into the budget.....of course, you could buy a used DAT machine instead of the ML for $200 or $300, but it wouldn't have the versatility of the Alesis (or HI-RES CD24).

Personally, I always enjoyed listening to LP's I'd taped on my Nak BX-300.....