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USB record turntables

the hick

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 5:19PM

Myself and a pal have been thinking of buying one of these to transfer our LP collections to MP3 files and then CD's. Does anyone have any advice on any recommended make to go for, or avoid, and any other hints and tips please? Any help much appreciated, thank you.

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john bunyan

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 6:19PM

I did it without any extra kit. If you have a system that plays CD's that also has a headphone socket, you can plug this in to your PC's microphone in socket using a phono cable with a
You have to record in real time. I use Roxio Creator 2010, but i think Audacitymale plug at each end. (free) would do the job.

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john bunyan

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 6:20PM

.. with a male plug at each end... You..

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the hick

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 7:39PM

john bunyan, thanks for info, I didnt know this was possible. My sound system is early-80's, with later CD player, and has 'phones socket. I shall borrow a laptop, since my PC is in diff. room to sound. I presume, there is no risk of damage to the PC/laptop doing this?

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the hick

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 7:39PM

john bunyan, thanks for info, I didnt know this was possible. My sound system is early-80's, with later CD player, and has 'phones socket. I shall borrow a laptop, since my PC is in diff. room to sound. I presume, there is no risk of damage to the PC/laptop doing this?

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john bunyan

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 7:52PM

I have an '80's system (Technics).You need the pre amp as built in and a phono lead with a male at each end.I have a sound card (X Fi) so I set Roxio to capture sound as heard through speakers.It should also work if the motherboard has on board sound. I would have a look at the software - do you have any? If not try Audacity.I took my system to the desktop. I do the same with a cassette/ radio to capture cassette music.It should do no harm to the PC.

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john bunyan

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Posted December 8, 2010 at 8:01PM

Sorry - meant to say LP's , not Cd's as the latter are not what we were discussing. You can burn CD's later in audio format using Audacity or iTunes etc.I have more or less put all my LP's, CD's and cassettes on to MP3 and use an iPOd and dock (30 amp) to play so not sure why you would want to create CD's. Why not go the whole hog and forget Cd's - get someone to buy you an iPod and dock for Xmas!

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QuizMan

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Posted December 9, 2010 at 3:29PM

Not all USB turntables are Windows 7 compatible if that is your operating system so be careful if you go down that route.

I use a similar method to john bunyan. I have an old turntable connected to an amplifier. A lead runs form one of the amps' output sockets to the line in socket on my sound card. You will need software to capture the sound. I use Polderbits click here. I dare say there is free stuff around too, but Polderbits works well for me.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted December 24, 2010 at 8:11PM

I bought the ION USB turntable when it was twice the price (£120) that it is now. That, in conjunction with the supplied (but also available as a free download) Audacity software did everything I needed.

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