USB turntable and audio software

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perc-o-prince

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I believe I may have brought up a similar subject a while ago, but I didn't move forward.

OK, so I have Roxio and a desktop computer with l/r audio inputs so I can use what I have to convert LPs to digital files.

But, I see on the Black Friday ad website (link below for those of you who don't know about it!!!) that Crap Shack has an Ion USP turntable that comes with Audacity software for removing pops, clicks, etc., and define/edit tracks.

However, EverythingUSB.com gave the Audacity software mixed reviews. The bad points were that the click/pop filter didn't really work, and the 's' sounds in the vocals were harsh and cut through like a knife. That's bad enough for me!

Now, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money for this project, but I want at least decent quality. Even a faithful reproduction of LP sound would be fine, with or w/o clicks, etc.

Has anyone had any first-hand experience with these? What about the audio editing software available? AVS4you.com has a number of free programs available.

Chuck

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I bought an Ion USB turntable at Costco last spring. It's ok. I like that it enabled me to transfer some treasured out-of-print LP's to CD and MP3's. I didn't like the quick software that came with it, so I used the freeware alternative that the manual recommended. It works ok, but it can be a lot of work/time to transcribe an LP to the computer and then to MP3's or CD's. After I'd done a several LP's I started to wonder if I couldn't just hook up my regular turntable (Denon from the early 80's) and use the freeware to control the transcription process.

A downside of the Ion turntable is that it's very lightweight and one must be very careful not to touch it or even the table it's on. Otherwise a low frequency boom can be heard on the resultant recording (esp with good headphones). My Denon doesn't have nearly the same issue - it has better dampening feet on it - so I might just try using that some time.

There are other USB type turntables on the market. I would look at some of those before getting the ION.
 
I had purchased the ION USB turntable from Bed, Bath & Beyond about two weeks ago and like it. I have already converted over 200 45's and 12" singles to Itunes with excelent results. I used the quick software that came with mine (EZ Vinyl Converter) it was very easy. When it went to the internet to retrieve the record information it found about 95% of the titles. I was also able to plug in a cassette boombox into the turntable and convert some of the cassettes I have. For the price I paid, $70 it was a good purchase. For me, my thought is why invest a lot of money for something you will not need to use alot once you get your records converted.
 
parunner58

How was the quality of the recordings? Acceptable at least? Also, were you able to break an LP into tracks and remove noise? If so, was that with EZ Vinyl?

I agree. It's a limited use "goodie," so there's no use spending a lot on it.

Chuck
 
some videos

I have been researching doing this also. Well a year ago I was researching it. Here is a link to some cnet reviews - there are video reviews of some models. There is a little video camera to click under the pic of the first few in the list.

reviews.cnet.com

Search Results - CNET

CNET is the world's leader in tech product reviews, news, prices, videos, forums, how-tos and more.
reviews.cnet.com reviews.cnet.com
 
Do you have a turntable now? Can you borrow one? I think that would be a much better route than buying a questionable product. All you need to do is feed your computer with the line level outputs from a preamp/receiver. I have no idea how good the software is at applying a RIAA curve which is needed for accurate reproduction.

I like Total Recorder software. It gives you many options for recording ANYTHING on your computer. It will record streaming audio, system sounds, anything. Plus you can easily choose the recording quality. I'd go full bore, 300kbs range, if file sizes is not an issue. One nice thing is that there is a spectral display and editing capabilities. while it would be a pain to cut out every scratch and tick, some of the worst could be done this way.

Let us know what you decide...
 
I have noticed many of the USB turntables may have good components on the USB audio side, but the turntable has got a lot to be desired. The cartridges are junk, and the tone arms are flimsy and not counterbalanced. The drive systems too are not all that great. They are using cheap cassette tape motors, instead of smoother turntable drive motors.

If your home stereo has a phono or turntable input on it already, You would be better off scouring yard sales and thrift stores for a good stereo component turntable from the eighties like a Technics or something. Many of these come with pretty good cartridges in them (audio-technica if it's Technics usually). You may however want to spend about $30-$50 and get a good cartridge in your yard sale find.

Buy a cable from radio shack that has RCA's on one end, and a mini phone plug on the other (headphone socket) Run a cable from the "Tape out" to your computer's "line in" (laptops usually only have a microphone in, don't use that) Start up your recording software, adjust your recording levels, and have fun!

One thing though is that the Audacity software is actually freeware, and if you paid for the software, you got took! It's open source, and is downloadable for free! Lastly, if you are making CD's of your records, do NOT compress! use WAV format and burn straight to the CD after recording. If you must compress to MP3, use 192 bit rate. I have found that the higher frequency content in records, and the imperfect phase alignments cause all sorts of distortion and weird artifacts when the all too common 128 bit rate is used. Analogue imperfections will be exasperated when converted to a digital medium because the algorythm does not know what sounds are legitimate content, and what is just noise and distortion, therefore, it tries to preserve it, but if it doesn't have the bit rate to do so, it compromises what you really want, resulting in bad sound.
 
so I can use what I have to convert LPs to digital files

I should have been a little more specific. I have a Technics turntable that I bought new in about 1980, and love it. I also have a spare receiver with phono mags. So, w/ the Roxio software and my desktop computer, I can do it now as long as I steal the aux monitor off my laptop. I do have the stereo input (mini plug) on the desktop.

"Audacity software is actually freeware, and if you paid for the software, you got took"

Audacity comes with the ION USB turntable.

I've also been looking at buying a used/refurbed Sony USB turntable off of eBay, but I think I'm going to try what I have first.

Thanks,
Chuck
 
We have 2 ways of recording vinyl...The Ion turntable and a Crosley stereo we got at Target. The Crosley works rather well but you have to stand there and put in the spaces between tracks. It can be done by remote control or on the unit. Scott then puts the newly burned cd into his computer and uses Roxio Creator 2009 to get rid of any hiss and pop from the recording. He keeps the latest version on his computer. I have an Apple and I have the Audacity Mac version. He will sometimes use it but not as much as the Roxio.
There is a new Ion turntable that does everything. It has a built in cd burner and it splits out the tracks and if i can recall it will even find the info for the record and put it on either your Ipod or cd.
 
Hey Mike,

How do you like the Ion?

The Dak system and software automatically detects tracks, finds the info, removes hum, scratch, pop and hiss (automatically, or you can choose to do it manually) and more. And, I can use my Technics turntable.

I have Roxio Easy CD & DVD Burning that has an assistant app in it for taking analog signals like LP and turning them into digital. It also has a pop/click remover and multiple burning apps. I haven't tried it yet so I don't know how involved it is.

We'll see!

Chuck
 
Scott likes the Ion but the new one out there is supposed to be better. I might get it for him for Xmas. He has alot of vinyl that needs to get transferred to our ITunes library. On the Crosley you can record a record at 78 rpm and it will speed up recording. Then when it burns it it will slow it down to what it should have been recorded at lets say 33 rpm on the record. Its kinda neat.
 
Taking The Luddite Route:

I have a 1970's Dual 1229 Turntable with Shure M91-ED cartridge, fed into a Dynaco PAS-3X Preamp. The RCA outs from the preamp go into the RCA ins on the M-Audio "Audiophile 2496" card in my Mac MDD Dual 1-gHz. I use an ancient version of Peak recording software.

I've found there are two ways you can send the signal to the Mac from the PAS: You can either go from the "Tape Out" jacks on the PAS, which gives a steady-volume signal, or go from the Main "Audio Out" jacks, which gives you volume AND tone controls in the signal (VERY useful for flat-sounding bad recordings from the 80s). The resulting vinyl transfers rock.

On my RCA "Living Stereo" LPs from the 1950s, the sound is amazing...much better than RCA's own CD-reissues. There's just something about that diamond-tipped needle dragging across those grooves that adds an amazing presence that you cannot duplicate strictly through digital mastering of a tape recording. By recording the physical act of dragging that needle through that groove, you actually can impart some of that "presence" even if the final result is digital. Sometimes I actually forget that I'm listening to the hard drive, and not the album.
 
I just bought about 150 78's from the same guy who sold me his grandfather's Victrola a year or two ago. There are some original acoustically recorded 78's in the lot; most of them are electronically recorded from the 30's and 40's. A lot of sets of classical music - most of which I already have on LP or CD but still interesting for the vintage performances. Some obscure jazz artists - and a flash from the past for me, an original minty 78 with the Davy Crockett theme song (which I remember well from my childhood but that one was nearly worn out from continuous playing). Another choice one is the Ink Spots singing "If I Didn't Care". Eventually I'll try to transfer some of it to DVD, although I'll have to hook up the Magnavox console stereo to do line outputs (I think it can if I open it up, it should have some RCA jacks for the optional tape deck it doesn't have). That's because the Magnavox has the only true 78 rpm needle and speed on it, and I'd rather not trash the elliptical stylus on the Denon by playing dusty 78's on it...

Frankly I didn't need to get all the 78's at this time - I have a lot of home projects to attend to in my three week or so work furlough - but I had told the guy I was interested two years ago and he finally got around to clearing out the last parts of his dad's stuff.
 
I would say it's probably better to use a decent regular turntable and a good phono stage. I have a Bellari VP-129 phono stage, which is inexpensive and good, but there are lots of decent inexpensive stages out there. For transfer to the computer, I use a Behringer U-Control device, another neat, really inexpensive little piece. You plug the outputs into the device and then plug the device into the USB port. Works great. I actually use it mainly to transfer cassettes rather than records. No preamp necesarry for that, of course, just plug the outputs from the cassette deck into the device, plug the device into the computer, and go.
 

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