USB Record deck - any recommendations?

[littleandy0410]

My dad's birthday is coming up, and I'd like to buy him a USB record deck, so he can transfer all his old vinyl onto his PC. Has anyone got one, or can anyone recommend a particular model?

They seem to vary in price from about £45-130, but I'm thinking no more than £70. Unless there's a really good reason to spend more, that is. If a £45 one does the job as well as a £130 one, then the cheap one will do.

Mods: I realise this should be in computers and gadgets, or whatever it's called, but I've never looked in that section, and I'm guessing it'll get more views in the Lounge to start with. Please give me a headstart before moving it! Thanks!

Edited by littleandy0410 on Monday 13th July 21:38

[koenig999]

If he has an ordinary record player, and amp with tape out and a laptop / PC, you can get a cable to get USB audio into the computer, download Audacity and there you go.

Likely to be mch better quality than a plastic USB deck.

Koenig

[HereBeMonsters]

Don't bother. Quality is absolutely rubbish, even when compared to iTunes downloads. For the time and effort you have to spend putting tracks on the PC, you might as well spend the cash just paying for them again.
I just bought all my vinyl again on CD, and ripped that at a high bitrate. Far better quality than the original vinyl, and much less effort.

[N Dentressangle]

HereBeMonsters said:

Don't bother. Quality is absolutely rubbish, even when compared to iTunes downloads. For the time and effort you have to spend putting tracks on the PC, you might as well spend the cash just paying for them again.
I just bought all my vinyl again on CD, and ripped that at a high bitrate. Far better quality than the original vinyl, and much less effort.

It's a nice idea, but ultimately a bit disappointing. The quality is really poor, and reminds you of the limitations of vinyl in ways you didn't want to be reminded.

Download digital copies of the music, and for anything really rare some cables and Audacity would probably do, as the OP suggests.

[telecat]

Denon, ProJekt and Rega all do USB versions of their turntables which are better than that horrible piece of plastic trash sold in magazines. You will pay more for them however. As for quality? Yes digital can be better but then how many people have 24 bit 192 Khz recordings. Most "converted" recordings come off the crappy turntable that's available and that does not stack up against a decent turntable.

[Evangelion]

If you already have a record deck you can plug it directly into the Line In socket of your soundcard as long as you put a thing called a Phono Pre-Amp in between. This is to convert the signal to the correct level etc, basically it's what your hi-fi amp does but it's much smaller and can be battery operated. £10-20 secondhand, try eBay.

I use WaveRepair to record and edit. Not tried it on a record yet but have had good results with cassettes and RTR tapes. Like anything else, you need to play with it and experiment a bit first.

[clonmult]

N Dentressangle said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Don't bother. Quality is absolutely rubbish, even when compared to iTunes downloads. For the time and effort you have to spend putting tracks on the PC, you might as well spend the cash just paying for them again.
I just bought all my vinyl again on CD, and ripped that at a high bitrate. Far better quality than the original vinyl, and much less effort.

It's a nice idea, but ultimately a bit disappointing. The quality is really poor, and reminds you of the limitations of vinyl in ways you didn't want to be reminded.

Download digital copies of the music, and for anything really rare some cables and Audacity would probably do, as the OP suggests.

You've never had a good enough turntable then - either of my old ones, the Linn Sondek or SEE Revolver, was either equal to, or better than virtually every CD system I've ever heard.

[N Dentressangle]

clonmult said:

N Dentressangle said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Don't bother. Quality is absolutely rubbish, even when compared to iTunes downloads. For the time and effort you have to spend putting tracks on the PC, you might as well spend the cash just paying for them again.
I just bought all my vinyl again on CD, and ripped that at a high bitrate. Far better quality than the original vinyl, and much less effort.

It's a nice idea, but ultimately a bit disappointing. The quality is really poor, and reminds you of the limitations of vinyl in ways you didn't want to be reminded.

Download digital copies of the music, and for anything really rare some cables and Audacity would probably do, as the OP suggests.

You've never had a good enough turntable then - either of my old ones, the Linn Sondek or SEE Revolver, was either equal to, or better than virtually every CD system I've ever heard.

That may be (although I think the scratches, crackle and hiss on my played to death old LP's probably has more to do with it), but look at:

a) How much the OP wants to spend
b) The likelihood that the OP's dad is as into audio as you are

Spend enough cash and you're probably right, but I still reckon it's a nice idea that's probably best left!

[HereBeMonsters]

clonmult said:

N Dentressangle said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Don't bother. Quality is absolutely rubbish, even when compared to iTunes downloads. For the time and effort you have to spend putting tracks on the PC, you might as well spend the cash just paying for them again.
I just bought all my vinyl again on CD, and ripped that at a high bitrate. Far better quality than the original vinyl, and much less effort.

It's a nice idea, but ultimately a bit disappointing. The quality is really poor, and reminds you of the limitations of vinyl in ways you didn't want to be reminded.

Download digital copies of the music, and for anything really rare some cables and Audacity would probably do, as the OP suggests.

You've never had a good enough turntable then - either of my old ones, the Linn Sondek or SEE Revolver, was either equal to, or better than virtually every CD system I've ever heard.

I have a Technics direct drive deck with a Linn cartridge. Can't make up for the input material though - vinyl sounds great when you're actually playing it, but when recorded on PC it shows up all the crackles and skips very readily.

[littleandy0410]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. My parents don't have a record deck any more, I think they may have a 90's midi hifi kicking about, but they've never exactly splashed out on electronics (most of their current stuff is tesco's own brand, Tecknik or whatever they're called!

I used to be into my hifi, had a Denon amp, CD, tuner, kenwood minidisc, and Tannoy speakers. Still got the Tannoys, Mc, M2 rears and M3 floorstander fronts, all in birdeye(?) grey. Not currently hooked up to anything, as a mate has my AV amp.

From what I remember from reading What HiFi mag, I understand a top-end deck is unbeatable sound. Shame I can't stretch to ££££ for a good set up for him!

Anyway, back OT, what do people think to this: http://www.richersounds.com/product/turntables/num...
I believe Numark have a fairly good rep with DJ types?

[HereBeMonsters]

littleandy0410 said:

Anyway, back OT, what do people think to this: http://www.richersounds.com/product/turntables/num...
I believe Numark have a fairly good rep with DJ types?

Yeah, Numark are fairly good, but they do make some terrible low end stuff. My first decks were Numark belt drives, absolutely terrible.

That deck looks like a rebranded ion deck though..?

[Ultuous]

I'm afraid I have to echo what others have said: I've got fairly high-end DJ decks and carts, married to an external audio interface of similar standard (none of this is a patch on audiophile stuff in terms of listening experience, but it's still a relatively lavish setup compared to the USB decks you're looking at - that particular Numark platform is also marketed as an 'entry-level' DJ deck)....

It only took a couple of hours of recording my vinyl (levels, bitrates etc. all set correctly) before I decided it simply wasn't worth the bother - the results just didn't justify the messing about - unless I'm absolutely desperate to dig out a particular old tune, I refrain from playing it unless I have access to record decks or can source a digital copy!

IMHO you'd probably bring your dad more enjoyment with a decent (maybe S/H?) deck to play his old vinyls on directly!... Sorry if we all sound like a stuck rec...