Hardbopjazz Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 My Pioneer turntable that I bought back around 1980 recently died. Are USB turntables worth looking at as a replacement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have a Numark UBS turntable, and it works fine for digitizing. Not quite CD quality sound, it always seems to record at levels a little lower than I'd like. Any attempt to adjust said levels results in noise. A friend who is a DJ has pro-style turntables and a stand-alone CD burner, and his system produces a higher quality CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have a Numark UBS turntable, and it works fine for digitizing. Not quite CD quality sound, it always seems to record at levels a little lower than I'd like. Any attempt to adjust said levels results in noise. A friend who is a DJ has pro-style turntables and a stand-alone CD burner, and his system produces a higher quality CD. Kind of a stupid question, but USB turn tables are supposed to work without pre-amps, right? I know my regular turn-table can't be used for recording unless I put a pre-amp in "the chain." I wonder if there is a USB-compatible pre-amp. Maybe a good business opportunity... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have one of these and I've used is successfully several times to digitalize LP's. They're fine for what they are and if you're just moving the conversions to iTunes, the sound is about what you'd expect i.e. approximately mp3 quality. Needless to say, if you're working with unkempt vinyl, all the scratches, pops and clicks will be picked up and transferred along with the music. The deck I have has some enhancements and editing functions, but I'm not nearly smart or curious enough to find out how they work. ejp626 - mine works without a pre-amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 (edited) I had one for a while. It did the job ie played records, but after reading the various horror stories about them on audio forums, I felt like I'd comitted a crime by using one. I sold it after I bought a used Dual, which sounds much better. Edited August 12, 2011 by rdavenport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Well, I guess USB turntables are not what I am after. I don't want to have poor sound. I do want to listen to my LPs. I just only see stores selling USB turntables today. I'll have to look on ebay for a turntable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 (edited) Well, I guess USB turntables are not what I am after. I don't want to have poor sound. I do want to listen to my LPs. I just only see stores selling USB turntables today. I'll have to look on ebay for a turntable. There isn't a stereo store in town with used equipment? A place like this: http://www.yelp.com/biz/saturday-audio-exchange-chicago or this: http://www.decibel.com/ ? Decibel does ship, and I would trust them way more than a random ebay store. While they make their money from DJ equipment, they do sell used turntables for people like us. I got a decent turntable from them for under $400. I would not go to BestBuy or the like. They only have one or two turntables brands in stock and they likely play at the wrong speed. That was certainly my experience. Edited August 14, 2011 by ejp626 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Well, I guess USB turntables are not what I am after. I don't want to have poor sound. I do want to listen to my LPs. I just only see stores selling USB turntables today. I'll have to look on ebay for a turntable. There isn't a stereo store in town with used equipment? A place like this: http://www.yelp.com/biz/saturday-audio-exchange-chicago or this: http://www.decibel.com/ ? Decibel does ship, and I would trust them way more than a random ebay store. While they make their money from DJ equipment, they do sell used turntables for people like us. I got a decent turntable from them for under $400. I would not go to BestBuy or the like. They only have one or two turntables brands in stock and they likely play at the wrong speed. That was certainly my experience. I did go to Best Buy and they only had two USB turntables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 I did go to Best Buy and they only had two USB turntables. Right BestBuy bites for this kind of thing. Either a local stereo shop, or if you have to go on-line you are much better off with a dealer like Decibel than some random eBay or Craigslist seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Buy a real turntable (used) and go from there. All the usb units seem like crap to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) That's what I've done. There is a local store that sells albums. They also had turntables. I just need a new cartridge. Edited August 16, 2011 by Hardbopjazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 It was $75. Not a bad price I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) Pro-Ject, Music Hall and Denon all make decent USB-equipped turntables. Of these three, I would look at the Music Hall first, Pro-Ject second and Denon last, mainly because from what I can tell, Denon's USB output port is limited to lower bit rate CBR mp3. Stupid move if you ask me. If you want to move up the chain and still want USB capability, you could always get one of the Pro-Ject, Music Hall (and others) phono pre-amp with a USB output. They're only about $50 more than the ones without USB. Kevin Edited August 16, 2011 by Kevin Bresnahan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 That's what I've done. There is a local store that sells albums. They also had turntables. I just need a new cartridge. Looks nice - what manufacturer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. This looks great, but I'm not sure if it works with a Mac. I emailed the company to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 If you have a few tools: http://www.retrothing.com/2009/04/build-your-own-turntable.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 That's what I've done. There is a local store that sells albums. They also had turntables. I just need a new cartridge. Looks nice - what manufacturer? Sansui. Never heard of it before. The photo I found on eBay. It is the same model as what I bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. This looks great, but I'm not sure if it works with a Mac. I emailed the company to find out. It does not work with a Mac. That's one reason I keep a Windows machine around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. This looks great, but I'm not sure if it works with a Mac. I emailed the company to find out. It does not work with a Mac. That's one reason I keep a Windows machine around. Chuck, it looks very interesting to me, for my own 'domestic' purposes, so I'll likely get one. But I asked a friend-in-the-recording biz about it, and he says: Record players need an RIAA preamp. While there may be record players that do have a preamp built in, so they may be connected to an aux input, this is by no means certain. The opening lines presented here could lead the non-suspecting buyer to believe that a record player, since it has Stereo RCA outputs, could be used to record from. Only in the small print at the bottom they mention the fact that one cannot record directly from a record player. [i think he means, in this case, a turntable.]. Audio signals in the ‘household RCA connected audio domain’ usually run at –10dB or around 250 mV. This thing comes with 30ft of unbalanced cable and at –10dB one has to wonder what’s left, or more accurately how much hum, distortion et al has been added to the original signal? I watched the accompanying video and it appears that the whole thing is nothing but a (cheap) soundcard with audio editor with some hum/click/noise removal tool added. Features like fading, panning, mixing and a host of other things that make digital editing so much more versatile than analog are not available. It’s also telling that the specs of this thing only indicate how it relates to the computer, the max./min/ levels, S/N ratio, crosstalk and other audio related data is nowhere to be found. If music is something you only use to bob your head up and down to, (regardless whether it comes at you from a very good stereo or a set of ‘two dollar ear plugs’) because it feels and sounds better than the rest of the stuff the world whispers/screams into your ears, then this device is probably OK. If you care about ins, outs, ‘air’ in between, dynamic range, etc., then you’ll probably end up disappointed. I suspect he's being a bit of a snob about this, given his investment in his own gear, but might he have a point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) He's at least a snob. I have used it for a few years and love it. Someone misunderstands how this works. It is not direct from the turntable - connect it to the out terminals of your amp. I really don't think he investigated the product. If you want an example, I can send one. Edited August 18, 2011 by Chuck Nessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 I found a pretty good deal on the Sony PS-LX300USB USB Stereo Turntable at Amazon so bought one. I understand the software is a bit problematic, but for the price [$96 bucks] I couldn't pass it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIS Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 (edited) If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. I just bought a slightly different version. I've only copied one LP so far but it worked pretty easy and for my 63 year old ears and needs I think the copy sounds pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation. Edited April 6, 2013 by NIS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 If you are working with a pc the best deal is (as I have said many times before) this but you need a working tt. I just bought a slightly different version. I've only copied one LP so far but it worked pretty easy and for my 63 year old ears and needs I think the copy sounds pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation. That TWO satisfied customers, Chuck. I bought one on your recommendation quite a few years ago and have been very satisfied with the results. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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