I haven't heard that preamp, so I don't know... But, I did try a NAD PP-2 awhile back and I wasn't impressed at all. No bass weight and an overall "muffled" sound. It could almost pass for "warmth", but not really with the lean bottom end.
I recently bought this ART DJ preamp with a USB output to mess with on the advice of a friend. We both think it sounds incredibly good for the money. I think it sounds better as a phono stage than the $100.00 NAD I owned did and the digital transfers from the USB out come out very nicely. The only problem I've had with it is I get some noise if I leave the analog outs to my sound system and the USB out to my computer hooked up at the same time. I have to use one or the other. Don't know if this is common, or just my unit, or something about my computer or my particular setup...
http://www.amazon.com/ART-USB-Phono-Plus-Preamp/dp/B000BBGCCI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1286796929&sr=8-5You don't really need a USB output if connecting your current phono stage or tape outs from your receiver to a computer with a decent sound card and "line-in" jack is a possibility. A USB interface comes in handy if you have a laptop or something with no "line-in" jack, or you use the phono preamp built into a receiver that's too far away from your computer.
Whether you use a USB connection or an analog connection, letting your sound card do the analog to digital conversion, the process is basically the same. Audacity is freeware that can do any recording, editing (separating albums into CD tracks) and click removal you'd need. You can save as CD quality wav, FLAC, mp3, etc... There is simpler software designed just for the purpose of transferring vinyl to digital that can make the processs much faster and easier to learn. I'd be happy to share what I have. Just send me a message if you're ever interested.
