USB Turntable

If you have a lot of music on vinyl in 33rpm or 45rpm format, i.e. records, you may want to transfer that music to another source like MP3 or an audio CD.

Storing your music this way gives you access to listen to it on more modern format players like CD players, a PC or an MP3 player, and it also allows you a back-up in a less depreciable form. All told, it is an option that many music fans (of a certain generation) would like to take advantage of.

One option is to take your old vinyl to a specialist who will, for a considerable charge, do this transfer for you. The other option is to buy a USB turntable.

A USB turntable is, as its name suggests, a turntable that plays records and has the addition of an out-going USB port. This enables you to play a single or LP and save it directly to whatever media you have connected to the other end of the USB cable. This could be an MP3 player, a CD writer, or a PC.

The time taken to perform the data transmission will be the running time of the record, so it is a slow job, but an enjoyable one if you listen to your music as you re-record it.

On the downside, those who are serious audiophiles and listen to their music on specialist kit, will find the reproductive quality limited to say the least. However, if the main media used for playback is intended to be an MP3 player, where the reproduction is far from challenging, then this kind of data transfer device will be more than adequate.

Using a USB turntable may require the running of a driver on a PC and or the uploading of one to an MP3 player (although in most cases this will not be necessary).

Here is a page, http://fwd.five.tv/gadgets/audio-video/numark-tti, with a USB record player illustrated on it.