Hello all,

I've been reading the blog for a while now and appreciate all the informative posts! I'm by no means knowledgable on this sort of stuff so every little bit counts. I've never posted before so, hopefully, this is the correct area to ask my questions.

Currently, I am in the market for a new mixer since the Gemini one I have now is bleeding. Right now, I have my turntables connected to my mixer using RCA cables. My mixer is connected to my speakers using RCA cables. My speakers are connected to my sound card using RCA cables. I plan to use this setup to rip vinyl. However, I also need to be able to listen to stuff on my PC so I need to connect the Line Out on my PC to the Line In on the speakers. The primary purpose of my setup is to listen and rip vinyl. I also want to be able to monitor the levels on my mixer when I'm using the decks and on my computer at other times.

1) This setup seems like it can be simplified. Any suggestions or does it sound ok?

2) On my sound card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=claro%20plus), there are different inputs and outputs (mic in, line in, surround sound jacks, optical in/out, coaxial out). On the mixer I was thinking about getting (http://www.turntablelab.com/dj_equip...192/32883.html), there are XLR outputs. Would it be possible, or even audibly ideal, to connect the XLR output on my mixer to the optical input of my sound card? Or should I just do XLR to the Line In on my sound card? Or should I just do RCA cables to my Line In on my sound card? The mixer also has a USB option. Would this be the best and highest fidelity option to rip vinyl?

3) If the mixer above is not ideal for my needs, what other mixers do people recommend? The most I would like to spend is a few hundred bucks. I would like to be able to have a headphone jack on my mixer so I can monitor the other phono channel when one is already playing. Sorry but I'm not familiar with mixers so not sure if this is even a standard on all mixers.

Any information or links you can provide would be extremely helpful.

Thanks in advance!!!!