Gary Kjos
garykjos at gmail.com
Tue Aug 8 08:30:32 CDT 2006
I received my USB turntable a while back but didn't get a chance to try it out until last evening. I'd have to give it a very favorable review after just that one exposure and not having tried to do convert LP's to digital format in any other way. Setup was easy, needed to put the belt on the motor and the back-weight on the tonearm and put the cartridge on the tonearm and set the balance of the tonearm and that was it. One thing I thought was lacking was a lever to raise and lower the tonearm. It is completely manual, you pick up the tonearm and set it on the record by hand. There are on and off buttons and 33.3 and 45 rpm buttons. You can do 78 rpm records by recording them at one of the other speeds - 45 I imagine - and then using the software to correct the speed. You can also record the 33.3 rpm records at 45 rpm and then slow them down. This will save you time if you are doing a lot of conversions. The software seemed kind of clunky at first but I got the hang of it by the end of the first side and the other sides I did went pretty smoothly. You do have to tell it where to break the songs. You have the ability to "clean up" extra clicks and pops if you choose. You can save the music as either WAV or MP3 although you need to download a dll file from a source of your choosing in order to do MP3's. A way around their paying license fees for the MP3 format I suppose? I googled the dll name and downloaded the first one I found and it worked fine. I recorded 3 full albums last night but I only got the first two broken into songs. I did burn a cd with those first two on it and listened to it on my drive in to work this morning and I have to say it sounds as good as a regular Store Bought CD I have of the same music. I chose an album by John Hartford called Mark Twang for my first recording. I think it was an interesting choice because it includes a song called "Don't Leave Your Records In The Sun" where John goes into what happens if you leave a vinyl record on the back seat of your car and he mimics that sound with his voice. He also describes that there was no electronic overdubbing or processing of any kind used in the production of the record. So what better record to digitally process? ;-) Anyway, I give Two Thumbs Up to the ION Usb Turntable. GK On 6/15/06, Gary Kjos <garykjos at gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Jim, > > The Yamaha HTD5960 does have a phono input on it. See the data here > http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/HTR5960.htm# > It's the top left input jacks. > > I have a Yamaha receiver that looks to be similar to this one > excepting it doesn't know about XM radio or IPOD's. The reason that > receivers needed to have PHONO inputs in the past was that turntables > put out a lower powered signal than other audio gear and so there was > a special "pre-amp" for the phono that was used for the phono input > jacks. Many turntables you find now have the pre-amp built in to the > turntable. You can also buy the phono pre-amp in a seperate device, a > sort of black box which audiofile types supposedly consider better > because there is less chance of crossover between circuitry if it's in > a seperate box rather than crammed in with other stuff. > > Don't get blown away by all the inputs and outputs. You only neet to > use the ones you have things to plug into and if you plug in one set > of cords at a time it's not that terrible. Optical connections are > jsut another option for connecting devices. They transmit signals > digitally and so there is no loss of quality or pickup of extraneous > stuff when you use that method of device interconnection. Optical > cords cost more though too. > > The Yamaha receivers are intended to serve as the hub for a home > theater system so there are video as well as audio inputs and outputs > on most connections. You do end up with a huge mess of cables after > you have it all hooked together. > > I ordered the USB turntable from Amazon but it is on backorder until > August 31 I think it was. I should have it by winter when I would have > the time to play with it. > > GK > > On 6/15/06, Hale, Jim <Jim.Hale at fleetpride.com> wrote: > > I have just started this LP to MP3 adventure. I am looking at replacing my > > 30 year old Pioneer stereo amp (the right channel has gotten arthritis kind > > of like its master) First, it turns out very few receivers (it took me two > > hours to figure out "stereos" are now "receivers")have phono inputs. I found > > the Yamaha HTD-5960bl and took one look at the back and about passed out. Do > > I ever feel old! What the hell is optical I/O? I don't think even the > > starship Enterprise had that feature. My old stereo had inputs for phono, > > the new fangled cassette tape decks, and one extra for good measure. This > > Yamaha sucker has XM radio connections, a bunch of decoders, an ipod dock, > > S-video, etc, etc ,etc. I think there is even an option where you can talk > > to God and possibly the NSA. I hate to put the Pioneer (aptly named now that > > I think about it) out to pasture as we have been through a lot together (I > > just found some of my old original Beatles 45s). It is a sad day when a > > fella's stereo has to be put down. I'm seriously thinking of just buying the > > ION. That I can handle (I think). Are you having any success? > > > > Jim Hale > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: John Bartow [mailto:john at winhaven.net] > > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 10:43 PM > > To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' > > Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Rip your old LPs > > > > > > Stuart, > > Thanks for that link. So far I haven't undertaken vinyl transfers. The > > cassette tapes went horribly wrong. I experimented a few months ago with > > different methods and eventually bought a "PlusDeck" unit which is a 5.25" > > cassette tape unit that mounts in the PC. None of the software works very > > well so I used to it to feed SoundForge but about the time I got everything > > figured out with my test batch of tapes I found that the vast majority of my > > cassettes just don't work anymore! They have a load squeal to them when > > playing :o( > > > > Maybe I'll have more luck with the vinyl - I hope! > > > > John B. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Stuart McLachlan > > > > Some time ago there was a discussion about ripping LPs. > > > > Just came across this piece of kit for those who still have a lot of old > > records. > > > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/24/review_ion_usn_turntable/ > -- > Gary Kjos > garykjos at gmail.com > -- Gary Kjos garykjos at gmail.com