Choosing the ‘correct’ workflow to import vinyl/minimising signal loss, Moved from Audio Hardware Options

[shmick23]

hi,

i'm predominantly versed in the field of photographic film capture and digitised images. But when it comes to a workflow for vinyl audio importation, i would really appreciate some advice.

i already have a workflow, but i would like to improve it (hence it will cost more money, always a compromise).

currently i have a TT with reasonable stylus (20-22kHz freq. response), reasonable phono stage (20-20kHz), good RCA interconnects but an average sound card with 'claimed' 24/96 IO which does not have RCA inputs.

i want to upgrade my vinyl source one day to something that supports 20-30kHz, and then match a phono stage and finally a sound card...

what are the best practices when selecting a sound card, or destination device to capture this analog source given my setup requirements?

which inputs produce less noise in an electrical sense - USB based, PCI sound cards, RCA inputs, TDM sync buses, particular product brands, amount of money spent, etc ?

IE. what is the most appropriate method of importing vinyl by losing the least amount of signal information at the destination ?

the only sense i could make of all these workflow questions is to match all components relatively, ie. price, specs. I don't know which audio companies/manufacturers are highly rated without spending a lifetime reviewing brochures and white papers...

i would appreciate some advice.