USB decks ... (you'll shoot me for this ...)

[dave2010]

I noticed that our LIDL has a Dual USB turntable for £99. I wouldn't expect it to be very good, but if it's a bit like this one from Amazon it might be of interest to someone - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dual-210-USB-automatic-digitization/dp/B07T7HFTX5?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffnt-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07T7HFTX5&th=1 - which is a DT210G

I think it's this one - https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/great-gifts/dual-usb-record-player/p28123 which is a DT250 - not quite the same.

Looks as though there are several cheapish turntables nowadays, some with USB, some with Bluetooth, and I think some can be controlled automatically - somehow.

Probably not as good as the ones I'm supposed to be getting back into working order, but presumably these should work straight out of the box.

[struth]

Be more inclined to use a normal deck with a phono stage with usb.

[steve-z]

Most of the cheap USB turntables won’t treat your cherished vinyl very well at all, cartridges/styli are usually of poor quality and usually track much heavier than a decent hifi turntable. The thing is if you’re serious about transcribing your vinyl to digital you need a good quality turntable, although I’ve never used the facility myself my Audio Technica ATLP5 has a USB output, it’s slightly cheaper sibling the ATLP120 likewise, I think these are probably the most cost effective decks for producing decent digital transcriptions.


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[dave2010]

Most of the cheap USB turntables won’t treat your cherished vinyl very well at all, cartridges/styli are usually of poor quality and usually track much heavier than a decent hifi turntable. The thing is if you’re serious about transcribing your vinyl to digital you need a good quality turntable, although I’ve never used the facility myself my Audio Technica ATLP5 has a USB output, it’s slightly cheaper sibling the ATLP120 likewise, I think these are probably the most cost effective decks for producing decent digital transcriptions.
The ATLP5 is quite reasonably priced - https://www.whathifi.com/audio-technica/lp5/review

My problem (one of many) is time. I have several turntables, and I think I may even have an SME arm with a Shure V15 cartridge. If I was in desperate need of having something to play LPs on I might be tempted to buy one of the Duals - though I'd probably only play discs bought from charity shops. In the past Dual had quite a decent reputation, but that was back in the day when amplifiers had at least a moving magnet input for record playback.

Someone who wanted a cheapish deck in a hurry and wasn't too bothered about quality and care of their collection might still find this sort of thing useful.

[Opti-cal]

Couldn't have said it better myself Steve. 100% correct that these cheap decks could do more harm than good and it's certainly worth spending double (or just over) to get a good tt with recording function. I think the AT-LP5 is superb value even without the recording function. However no doubt a dedicated "proper" tt with a nice cart well, setup with recording software (Audacity etc), is the best way to go quality wise. For a nice balance between quality and convenience with unrivalled value though, the AT-LP5 is hard to beat.

[steve-z]

Couldn't have said it better myself Steve. 100% correct that these cheap decks could do more harm than good and it's certainly worth spending double (or just over) to get a good tt with recording function. I think the AT-LP5 is superb value even without the recording function. However no doubt a dedicated "proper" tt with a nice cart well, setup with recording software (Audacity etc), is the best way to go quality wise. For a nice balance between quality and convenience with unrivalled value though, the AT-LP5 is hard to beat.

With the £50 reduction in price at Richer Sounds it is now an absolute bargain. In stock form with the AT95EX it is very good sounding but there is room for some subtle tweaks, and not only by changing the cartridge. On mine I’ve stuck damping material on the underside of the platter which removes about 90% of the ringing and I’ve replaced the standard headshell with an ADC LMG-1 magnesium headshell, I’ve also changed the cartridge for the excellent Goldring E3. Only thing AT slipped up on is the arm pivot being too high but as you know I sorted that out with a bespoke shim in the headshell. The result of the mods elevates the sound quality noticeably and is not far adrift from my Rega P3/ATF7 in my main setup which is almost 3 times the price.


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