Help me i'm Hungry

[OSSA]

Hola all,

I am a clueless ass when it comes to vinyl but I started collecting some records and now for some reason I want to listen to them. I only have 200 dollars to spend but could anyone recommend a turntable for me with USB.
Also dumb question but can I hook speakers right into it or must I purchase a receiver also?
Any help is very much appreciated!


V/r
OSSA

[steveinaz]

I don't think there is a USB turntable. You will need a receiver and/or some sort of phono pre-amp and amplifier. You could concievebly pull this off in the used market, but it would be tough with a $200 limit.

[PolkThug]

I don't think there is a USB turntable.

I've seen them advertised.

[skipf]

USB turntables are cheap junk from what I've seen. An external ADC would work better I would think. The old AR-XA turntables are good starters that can be had for about $40-$90 depending on condition. Cheap and very good TT's. The cartridge is where the money is, though the AR turntables sound good for your basic rock with a Shure M91ED that runs about $90. You do need a reciever or preamp / amp combo for power.

[OSSA]

so what your saying is the Cartridge is more important that the TT,
the reason i was asking for a USB is so that i could transfer the music. what i am doing is when i have a cd that is past its prime i am starting to replace it with the LP of it so i have that for home cause i'm starting to realize its alot nicer to sit around a record and talk/have a beer, than a cd player and then i can transfer it to some other format ie cdr or mp3 for my car? so no matter what i need at least a reciever huh?.

[avguytx]

Do a google search for "USB turntable". It brought up a lot of information about those very things. Numark and ION both make as USB T/T plus other companies have soundcards that can work with an existing T/T.

[OSSA]

thank you

[skipf]

Yes, the cartridge is the most important part of a turntable setup. I guess that needs a little qualification, if you have a truly bad tonearm or a lot of wow, flutter, or rumble in the turntable itself, the best cartridge in the world won't sound good. Generally speaking though, you should invest more in the cartridge than the turntable. A card for your computor that will accept analog signals and convert them to digital (ADC) would be IMHO better than a turntable specifically set up with a USB connection because you could then use any turntable or other analog source to record CD's. Look for a card that has RCA connectors and you can plug your analog source right into the card. You can also get RCA / mini plug adaptors if your card only has mini plug inputs as most do.

[OSSA]

what about a technic BD-22 witha shure cartridge?? is that a good table for 60bucks

[bigaudiofanatic]

Why Does Anyone Want To Listen Or "convert" Vinyl Just Get Cd"s Call It A Day

[George Grand]

As one of your audio advisors, I strongly suggest you go get a book called "Good Sound" by Laura Dearborn. Get that book and you'll never ask a question like the one about "Can I drive a pair of speakers with a turntable, or do I need a receiver" again. So far, I think it's the best advice you've gotten on this thread.

"An educated consumer is our best customer."

Sy Sims, mens clothier, Route Something or Other, New Jersey

[RuSsMaN]

Why Does Anyone Want To Listen Or "convert" Vinyl Just Get Cd"s Call It A Day

There is a lot of good **** on vinyl you can't find on cd. I prefer to just spin the vinyl, but to each his own.

[Keiko]

Ion and Numark are USB turntables. I wasn't impressed with either of em.
A better investment would be the AudioTechnica AT-PL120. It has a switchable on board pre-amp and has all the features of a high end Technics but at less than half the price. Included is an ATP-2XN cartridge which is fairly decent. You could upgrade later to an AT120E/T cartridge for 69.00 bucks or an AT440MLa for 100.00.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00012EYNG/ref=nosim/coffeeresearch65527-20

refurb at J&R

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4041630

Cartridge

http://www.garage-a-records.com/index.php

You can download Audicity, a free sound editor here

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

I use the AT-PL120 and Audicity sound editor for converting vinyl to CD/mp3 on my Mac. It works great. Awesome TT for just spinning vinyl too.

[Keiko]

There is a lot of good **** on vinyl you can't find on cd. I prefer to just spin the vinyl, but to each his own.
Ditto! And vinyl sounds better. :)

[pearsall001]

Ditto! And vinyl sounds better. :)

Subjective!! :)

[skipf]

^ Isn't everything?

[Keiko]

Subjective!! :)

Yes, perhaps. :cool:


I prefer to just spin the vinyl, but to each his own.

[BaggedLancer]

Not sure if you ever found what you were looking for....but this came up local to me:

http://nh.craigslist.org/ele/449043105.html

[rskarvan]

so what your saying is the Cartridge is more important that the TT,
the reason i was asking for a USB is so that i could transfer the music. what i am doing is when i have a cd that is past its prime i am starting to replace it with the LP of it so i have that for home cause i'm starting to realize its alot nicer to sit around a record and talk/have a beer, than a cd player and then i can transfer it to some other format ie cdr or mp3 for my car?


This is absolutely brilliant. Buy a new LP and then just A/D convert it and burn a CD. Then, you have the best of both worlds!