[linux-audio-user] Hardware recommendations for recording under kernel 2.6/Alsa

[Jason White]

My main interest at present is in making archival recordings of
material that I originally recorded on audio cassette. My system
currently contains a C-Media CM8738 controller as part of the Asus
system board, which is recognized by Alsa. I assume that for quality
results I will need better sound hardware. I asked this question of a
local user's group last year and was informed that the M-Audio Delta
66 is of high quality and has good Alsa support. It was further suggested
that one of the USB A/D converters could be useful as it would also
work on a laptop.

Taking into account price, performance and driver support, what
options do you think I should consider?

To connect to a cassette tape recorder is it sufficient to run a cable
from its audio output to the input of the sound card, or is an audio
isolation transformer also necessary (not sure where one would acquire
this but I have heard that they are sometimes needed)?

There are informative reviews at http://www.linuxhardware.org/ but
they focus mainly on playback functionality rather than recording.

Any suggestions for a newcomer to the field would be most welcome.

Jason.