Direct vinyl to MP3 with a USB Turntable!

[Doctor Q]

Anyone still have vinyl LPs on the shelf gathering dust?

I just heard about this gadget that was introduced a couple of months ago: a turntable with a Mac or PC interface. It's called iTTUSB (http://www.gadgetlounge.net/archives/2006/05/12/ittusb-turntable) and costs $150 at amazon.

That name doesn't roll of the tongue very easily, but it sounds like a nice way to do those music transfers rather than using a standalone digital-to-analog converter or a camcorder.

[danny_w]

I used to have a Griffin iMic, and it seems to me that it had an input for a turntable and software to compensate for the RIAA curve and clean up the clicks and pops for recording.

[LeeTom]

While these will work for casual vinyl recording, they won't come anywhere close to the performance of vinyl on a good turntable with a good phono preamp.

More than the cartridge, more than even the arm, the table (plinth) itself and the platter are an enormous part of the what makes vinyl so much more musical than current digital recordings.

The iTTUSB is a fun and easy solution, but certainly not archival quality.

/rant.