Ripping vinyl/recording mixes to mp3?

Does any one know of any free software I can use to rip my vinyl collection onto my computer and then convert to mp3 if neccesary???
Also looking to record some mixes of around an hour or so in length both live and from cassette!
Sound recorder is not producing recordings of good enough quality for what I need & I have googled but cant find anything free!!!

for decent quality you need to be recording mp3s at 320kbps, or to save size use a VBR that goes up to 320kbps when needed. there are loads of mp3 encoders that do it "on the fly" from any input source. for example http://www.download3k.com/DownloadLi...-Recorder.html

The one I use is called audacity, you can get it here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/late...-win-1.2.6.exe
(from the page: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows)

mp3 encoder you need is here:
http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/libmp3lame-win-3.97.zip
(inderectly from the page: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help...&item=lame-mp3)

It's really simple and powerful, why the mp3 isnt bundled I'l never guess

There's also a host of functions such as fade effects, white niose generation, click removal, FFT manipulations and tons more downloadable things that I haven't played with.

i use a piece of software called cool edit, it has a 5 channel mixer as well as waveform editing (so you can get all songs in mix to same level/EQ)

it can record direct from a line in source and can save it in raw audio (biiiiig files) or mp3s.

you will need a fair wack of hard disk space to use it for an hour long mix. (uses a a few gig if just mp3s)


Im sure there easier software packages out there but im used to using this for everything