Should I Buy A USB Turntable? Turntabling Reader Questions

Turntabling gets reader questions about vinyl, turntables, DJ gear and more, so it seems only right to answer them for all to see to spread the knowledge–or in this case, opinions–to help other people with the same issues.

One recent reader question came in asking about USB turntables. As in, “Should I buy a USB turntable?”

Transparency alert–I own nothing but USB turntables except for one or two consumer models like the one you see here to the left.

My current turntable of choice based on price, purpose, and performance is the Audio Technica AT-LP-120-USB. It’s got a pre-amp for DJing (which adds to the overall weight and heft of the damn thing), switchable output, variable tone control and other things I like.

Is it the BEST turntable out there? No, but it’s the one I currently own three of and I have no complaints. But back to the question. Why a USB turntable?

Well, for no other reason than that’s the way the industry is going. Yes, you certainly could avoid going USB if you reallllly wanted to, but most people seem ready and willing to digitize at least some portion of the vinyl collection and USB is the way to go for that, unless you really want to use those RCA plugs into an analog-in interface to your Mac or PC. Some desktops do have such interfaces built into the sound card…

I’m naturally biased in favor of the USB-in because let’s face it, if you’re going to MP3 anyway there’s a certain amount of audio loss you’re going to live with and if you’re really into audio fidelity, perhaps you should stick with listening to the vinyl records themselves.

There’s a lot to be said in favor of music portability.

SHOULD you buy a USB turntable? It depends, really. Is your old gear on its last legs? Or is your current gear functioning well? Are you happy with your current setup? If so, you could simply purchase a USB interface like the ones Numark makes to run RCA cable into a converter box with a USB out. These start at about $35-$50 and would be more cost effective than buying a new USB turntable in many cases.

Here’s one such Numark product

There’s a stereo line in plus a dedicated phono line in. You can also use this as a line OUT from your computer into a mixing board to run audio into a mix.

So if you are happy with your current setup, consider adding the converter box instead–there’s no need to shell out for another turntable unless you simply want one that will plug into a laptop or desktop PC apart from your stereo setup.

That’s my preferred method of converting–if I didn’t already own six turntables I’d purchase a separate one strictly for converting vinyl to MP3.

–Joe Wallace

PS. Ask YOUR question by leaving a comment or by e-mail: editor (at) turntabling (dot) net

Talking Vinyl Mastering With George Peckham

Nico of No U Turn Records interviewed George Peckham about mastering vinyl records and more in this excellent Youtube clip. The best part of this clip aside from all the insights is Peckham’s basic philosophy: “Make it louder!” Totally awesome.

Vinyl Road Rage Video-More From The Road

Yet another installment in the Vinyl Road Rage video series, shot in Austin Texas. This one’s a closer look at the Crosley Revolution portable turntable and how it performs when broadcasting to an FM channel as opposed to going USB in to a computer…naturally the USB signal will be much better, but when you need the FM capability, it’s pretty nice to have.

The Crosley, after road testing and playing with it onscreen, seems to be very handy for a low-tech streetcorner DJ concept, or perhaps a set at your local drive-in movie theater…very handy indeed! Get two, a big boom box and let your DJ skills fly.

Vinyl Record Players For Your Automobile

by Joe Wallace
While looking for vinyl oddities today, I stumbled across a collection of photos of record players designed to be installed in a car or truck. Designed for the lover of 7-inch singles, it would be truly awesome to see these come back in a major way. Of course that would necessitate a big industry for the the seven inch single coming back, too…but is that really a bad thing?

Check out the delicious retro loveliness of these players! Some of the images are courtesy of Dark Roasted Blend, while others are from eBay, BoingBoing and other sources. The video, which is first, shows the in-car vinyl player in action…sweet.

Crosley Revolution Portable USB Turntable

As yet another Vinyl Road Rage trip is being planned, (details on that coming soon!) it seemed like a good time to invest in a portable turntable.

One of the biggest gripes about doing the Turntabling cross-country record store blogging trip and vinyl buying spree has been the inability (until now) to play the vinyl while on the road.

That’s a thing of the past now, thanks to the Crosely Revolution portable USB turntable, which was purchased from Brookstone via Amazon.com and delivered just a day later.

It is, at the time of this writing, still in the box and a video demo is planned. But for now, the specs look awfully exciting. The unit is wireless–it transmits via FM to any radio within range. It’s USB powered but can also play with six AA batteries.

That means you can road trip with it, playing records all the way–as long as you have a friend to flip the record when Side A is finished. No distracted drivers, please. In the hotel, this is a no-brainer, and while the specs haven’t been explored on this notion, imagine what could happen if you had two of these units and a big effing boom box. Block-rocking beats DJ style, anyone? Those spontaneous neighborhood parties just got a lot more interesting.

We’ll have a full review of this unit in the days to come.

ION Vertical Vinyl Wall-Mounted Turntable

Now here’s a trippy notion–a turntable you mount on the wall. The ION Vertical Vinyl Wall-Mounted Turntable is battery powered and yes, it plays the records sideways.

The ION Vertical Vinyl turntable has onboard speakers and can function as a tabletop unit as well as a wall mounted one.

The ad copy for this says it’s “ideal for limited spaces” so without having had a chance to put one through its paces we’re guessing it is good for dorms, efficiency apartments, anywhere with a small amount of wall space to bounce the sounds off.

This is probably not the right purchase for a finicky audiophile (well, duh) but for those looking for a battery powered, eye-grabbing conversation piece, this could be just the thing.

You have to admit, the concept of spinning some vinyl for your friends by putting it on the wall is pretty damn tempting. Just don’t try spinning after beer number three or you could have a fatal (to the record) vinyl mishap. The unit comes with a 45 adapter and also plays full-length LPs. A nice retro-modern design oddity….tempted? I am.

–Joe Wallace

ION Audio Profile Flash Turntable

Here’s another consumer-grade turntable you can use to convert vinyl to MP3 portability. The ION Audio Profile turntable has a slot for a USB or flash drive, and the entire process seems as simple as starting the turntable and hitting “record” to get the process moving.

The chief draw for the ION Audio Profile turntable is that you don’t need a computer to record the audio. I haven’t used one of these yet, but in doing my research on this unit I discovered several favorable reviews stating that the audio quality is good for the average user. Some complain about rotation speeds on this unit and others like it being different that “true” 33RPMs, but typical listeners won’t complain, based on what I’ve read.

My main complaint with all these vinyl-to-MP3 recorders is that a degree of babysitting is needed to make them work properly. There’s either no silence sensor to split an entire album side into separate tracks without user intervention, or what is there isn’t really accurate or even able to be calibrated. I’m naturally coming at this from a busy/lazy person’s perspective–most users probably don’t mind the small amount of manual labor needed to break the recordings up into tracks.

All in all, I’ve seen this model get mostly favorable reviews and I’m contemplating a purchase of this simply because it’s got the computer-free recording feature. The built-in preamp lets you connect to most RCA stereo line/aux inputs, and it’s got a handy 1/8in stereo line in for recording from other sources–a nice touch.

What I’m most interested in is a hands-on, top-to-bottom review of this unit and others like it from a hard core vinyl junkie (not necessarily an AUDIOPHILE, mind you). If that’s you and you want to contribute a review of this or any other model turntable, please get in touch as I’d love to have some guest blog posts or even regular contributions from passionate vinyl lovers.

Drop me an e-mail at jwallace (at) turntabling (dot) net.

–Joe Wallace

How It’s Made on Making Vinyl Records

We continue our reports from Vinyl Road Rage tomorrow–there are plenty of record stores still to come from our road trip–but first, have a look at this fun clip on how vinyl records are made, courtesy of the Science Channel’s How It’s Made show.

Embedding was disabled so we can only link to it (see above) but the clip is definitely worth a look. One beef we have with these clips though–is it really necessary to explain that vinyl is making a comeback each and every time the subject comes up?

Other than that, this is a great piece…it’s always fun to see what it takes to actually create a vinyl album–it is NOT easy or cheap to do, so any band that takes the time and trouble to go beyond digital has our respect.

That might actually be a big part of why weirdness on vinyl is so special–somebody BOTHERED, and the fact that the end product is so strange makes the entire exercise more unique. Stay tuned for more Vinyl Road Rage tomorrow.