motorbike Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 i may get one depending on the answer to this question. i know they are for transfering vinyl to a digital format. my question is, can you just play your vinyl through your usb to your home computer without transfering? are there drawbacks? its a dumb question and im sure there is a way. this would clear up some serious space in my room. i have a new imac on the way and would love to have all media go through it. i dont know many vinyl heads personally and they all have old pawn shop set ups like mine so ive never had the pleasure of messing with one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobophobic Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 im sure you could play it through your computer, but it will never sound anywhere near as good as if it were coming out of a real system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechuckdiezel Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yep you can tottally just play it through your comp and honestly I do not see any drawback as long as you have a good sound system with you comp. The only real drawback I see with my USB Turntable is the fact that you hafta track it yourself because it means if you want to transfer you can not do anything else really while listening to your record because you gotta break the tracks up just at the right moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobophobic Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 also, i dont think you need a usb turntable to do this. I know theres some sort of adaptor that lets you hook up a turntable to a regular desktop PC....but im not really familiar with Macs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmonaut Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 also, i dont think you need a usb turntable to do this. I know theres some sort of adaptor that lets you hook up a turntable to a regular desktop PC....but im not really familiar with Macs I think a phono pre-amp with USB out would let you do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexH. Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 You don't need a USB anything, especially not a USB turntable. When you pay $50 for a brand new turntable, you'll get what you pay for. Get a real turntable and preamp and an RCA-to-1/8" jack adapter, hook the RCA end up to your preamp and the 1/8" end to your audio input on your computer, and open up a recording program. I use Audacity, it's free and cross-platform. Here's what the adapter you need looks like: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankerdesk Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 ^^this. read through the Turntable sticky thread. USB turntables should be avoided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmonaut Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 USB turntables should be avoided. In general, yes. But I think Pro-ject makes one that looks like it would be decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knealey Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 So is it worth buying the pro-ject usb phono preamp for 199..... http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ProJect-Phono-Box-II-USB-Phono-Preamp?sku=500389&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=234004056 Or should I get a regular preamp....and then buy the cable and download the program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorbike Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 let me re-word what i was getting at earlier because i think my first post didnt make much sense. basically, i have an older set up. one of those all in one type turn tables. i got some tax money and i want something a little more updated and less bulky. im not really trying to spend more than $100. i could break down and get another all in one table from target or somewhere but i figure i could spend the $100 on the basic USB table from the "help me pick a turn table thread" and it will probably be better. i want something i can plug in and play and not have to spend an arm and a leg to do. i was hoping with the USB i could just connect it to my mac and play straight through my mac speakers. *i dont really care to transfer the music to my computer for storage. i just want to play through the computer!* im not an audiophile when it comes to records. i like the idea of having a physical copy of an album and when im reading or playing video games or hanging out or whatever, its cool to throw a record on and listen from start to finish. doing that also keeps me from forgetting some gems that normally, if i were just picking stuff on my itunes, i would pass right over. all around i appreciate vinyl more than an mp3. HELP ME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamover Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 trust me, you don't want to play it through the computer. the whole point to having a turntable is the analog quality. putting it through usb to the computer defeats this purpose, and you'll be wasting your money on vinyl. if you don't also have some analog speaker system, there's really no point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtw88 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 If you are trying to go cheap, I would just go garage sale-ing. I'm also not an audiophile, so I know where you are coming from. My setup is a Pioneer receiver and tape deck, and a sony 5 disc cd changer that I got for free from my girlfriend's parents because it wasn't working (all I had to do was replace the fuse). My turntable is an older sony model that I got for $6 at a garage sale. Oh, and I also get speakers for free from the lady's parents. I just had to buy new cables for them though which cost 5 bucks at circuit city. I've seen set ups similar to mine at garage sales for like, $10-15. For the majority of my records there is no real reason to have a $1000 set up because the records aren't 180 gram virgin vinyl and the recordings aren't flawlessly mastered so the quality difference I would get wouldn't be worth the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davezer Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 i have a usb turn table, but i dont have it go thru my usb to play, its hooked up to my recording board in my studio, playing thru those monitors. over all it isnt bad, just something i use when im not home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjaicomo Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 also, i dont think you need a usb turntable to do this. I know theres some sort of adaptor that lets you hook up a turntable to a regular desktop PC....but im not really familiar with Macs I think a phono pre-amp with USB out would let you do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorbike Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 *the other problem i have is space, which is going to be even more limited in the near future. like i said, i have an all in one type set up right now. no receiver or speakers other than the ones made to it which so far have been good to me, cant really dump beers on my head and rage to my favorite municipal waste song at those levels though. im pretty dumb when it come to turn tables, again im not an audiophile here. i was under the impression the USB tables are plug and play. i figured that meant USB wise. like i said, im an idiot when it come to these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankerdesk Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I understand not feeling like you're adept in audio 'stuff'. But some of us (sorta) are, I think pretty unanimously we have said avoid USB turntables. You can take ANY turntable with a preamp and plug it straight your computer and play it through your computer, USB or RCA. There will be additional steps involved for various setups, but it can be done. Now you can drop $100 on a numark or some other USB turntable, but honestly you'd be re-buying a turntable in a couple years. The best advice for your situation is to take a little bit of time and look at used pawn shops, audio stores, or craigslist for a used TT. -OR- save up the additional $80 and get the audio technics at amazon. I'm not crazy about that TT, but it will be worlds better than a USB turntable. You have repeated that you are not an audiophile, which is fine, most of us aren't either, but there is a certain amount of quality that you'll want to invest in when you are dragging a needle across your vinyl collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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