USB Turntables

This website contains useful information and resources for finding the best deal on USB Turntables.

USB turntables provide you an excuse to now go through that stack of old vinyl 78 rpm records, 33 1/3 rpm platters and those jukebox favorites, the 45 rpm’s, and transfer those “oldies but goldies” sounds into a more 21st century digital format. These USB turntables allow you to connect to your computer through a USB port and using either the software provided or your own preferred software, record that analog sound to your computer, and transfer individual song files to your favorite music device.

USB turntables consist of five major mechanical components.

1. Platter – the flat surface that holds the record
2. Drive mechanism – either belt drive or direct drive – controls the speed of rotation
3. Tone arm – holds the needle in the groove of the record while playing
4. Needle or Stylus – located at the end of the tone arm transfers the bumps in the grooves of records into sound
5. Tone arm counterweight – located on the tone arm, this allows for adjusting the amount of pressure the needle places on the grooves on the record

To prevent ruining your records when recording, you should follow some established setup procedures. While you can get recordings of your records without these steps, the quality of the recordings will suffer as well as your records.

1. Adjust the tone arm tracking force – maintaining a recommended tracking force will prevent excessive groove wear on your record
2. Adjust the anti-skating force – the force that drives the needle toward the center of the record. This puts more pressure on the inside of the groove causing uneven groove wear and loss of sound quality.

Ion TTUSB Turntable

Identified as an innovative turntable, the TTUSB comes with a USB connection that allows anyone to covert music from his or her old vinyl records to a computer. It will handle both 33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm records from the platter, but requires software control to play 78 rpm platters. Once transferred to a digital format, you can then transfer it directly to your personal music player.

This turntable comes with everything necessary to get you started recording very quickly. Weighing in at less than eight pounds, this USB turntable is lighter than most due to its plastic platter. This may cause some unwanted noise or vibration when the recording environment is not closely controlled.

Since this turntable does not come with a dust cover, you should seriously consider this as an additional purchase.

Numark TTUSB Turntable

With both the ION company and the Numark company owned by the same parent company, there are many similarities in their USB turntables. The Numark turntable has an aluminum platter compared to the plastic platter of the ION. This extra weight makes it less sensitive to external vibrations.

Like its cousin, the ION TTSB Turntable, the Numark TTSB has 78 rpm support via software. It also comes packaged with everything needed to get start recording quickly.

This turntable does not come with a dust cover and you should seriously consider this as an additional purchase.

Gemini TT-1100 USB Turntable

This fully manual belt drive turntable provides 33, 45, and 78 rpm speeds along with reverse playback capability.

With additional features such as an aluminum platter and fully adjustable counter weight and anti-skating controls, you will be recording your favorite album in no time at all.

This turntable has USB connectivity for PC and Mac computers and ships with Audacity recording software. As with the other turntables mentioned above, the Gemini TT-1100 does not come with a dust cover.

Stanton T.92 USB Turntable

The T.92 USB is a direct-drive professional turntable with built-in USB connectivity. Featuring a key lock and a pitch range of ±%12, this unit will fit nicely in a DJ setup.

Weighing in at nineteen pounds, this turntable will be less susceptible to external vibrations.
This turntable will play all three speeds, including 78 rpm. One additional feature included is a larger needle for tracking the larger grooves in your 78s.

The direct-drive means that it is much easier to cue up particular tracks for recording.

Unlike the other USB turntables noted above, the Stanton T.92 USB turntable does come with its own dust cover.

USB turntables come with varying levels of sophistication. You can choose low end USB turntables made with plastic components or you can choose USB turntables constructed with heavier metal components that provide more professional recording sessions.