USB TT showed up today.

[thekid]

I know all about all the horror stories associated with these units but I am just getting too backed up on recording vinyl and this just seemed to be the quickest solution.

I am not pushing this TT by posting this link just the easiest way to give you all some sense of the unit.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8734569&type=product&id=1201913280989

[jonnyhambone]

I'm curious what your reasons are for digitalizing your records? I know people do this but don't know quite why. I can see wanting to be able to make a mix cd or playlist with some stuff I only have on vinyl but wouldn't you just play a couple albums?

[02audionoob]

For those who already have a regular turntable (no USB output), keep in mind you can connect it to a phono preamp and run that into the Line In on a computer sound card.

[3-LockBox]

I have a neighbor who's been considering one of these, but I suggested he just upgrade his sound card. I'm curious to know the quality of the stylus and cartidge on these USB units. BTW: I'm watching my neighbor like a hawk, cuz he gots vinyl up the wazzu and a lot of it is rare, OOP, never transferred to CD stuff.

[Stone]

I understand the reason to transfer some vinyl to CD/wav/flac, but I don't understand the reason for going the USB route.

[thekid]

Reviving this thread because I found the time to get everything set-up today. The early returns say this thing is a winner. Both the TT and the software are very easy to use and produce CD quality recordings. I have the TT hooked up to a Kenwood KM-106/Basic C-1 pre-amp powering a pair of Genesis 10 speakers. I am not too worried about the amp at this point since that is only being used as the power supply. I would not use this TT for a every day player but it serves its purpose for getting it to the computer. The Vinyl Restoration software does a great job of eliminating most clicks/pops and allows you to record to your hard drive and burn a CD at the same time.

Best of all I showed my son how it works and he is going to stay up tonight and record all of my Dylan and Tom Waits LP's so he can make copies for himself. The fact I don't have to now do this allows me to watch some B-Ball on the tube.......

[02audionoob]

Have you listened to one of your recordings, yet? It will be interesting to know how the overall sound survives the analog part of the process.

[JohnMichael]

The reason I make cd's of some of my vinyl is so I can play the music in the car. I can also share some of my music with friends. I will gladly make a cd for someone but I would be loathe to loan an album. Of course I do not know how to do it with a computer. I just use a stand alone Sony cd recorder in my stereo system. Once you have the levels set it is time to let the record play.

[thekid]

Have you listened to one of your recordings, yet? It will be interesting to know how the overall sound survives the analog part of the process.

Yes, and the results are very impressive!

I will grant you that the discs that were recorded and played to this point were several Bob Dylan LP's that were in near mint condition so there was practically no hiss or pop to begin with. My son is very much into BD and has about half a dozen CD's. To both of us there was only a very slight difference in SQ between his CD's and similar burned vinyl tracks. I played them using my Toshiba DVD/MSB DAC combo so that might have helped as well.

It looks like there will be a lot of gripping and ripping at the house for some weeks to come. I have collected about 200 LP's at the local thrifts over the last 18 months that will all get converted eventually. The vinyl will still remain handy for listening as well but since I have 3 other set-ups w/o a TT this will give me more options for listening to music.

[Mr MidFi]

A buddy at work bought one of these not too long ago, and made a copy of a long-OOP album for me (Buckingham-Nicks...hey, my wife's a big fan). The results were surprisingly good. YMMV.