Recording Studio Equipment

I am fairly typical of someone who buys a USB turntable. I have about 350 albums that are too good to throw away but I don’t play them anymore because playing LPs isn’t very convenient compared to CDs. I am not all that well versed in acquiring and managing MP3s, and I’m not a techie audiophile either. So, for me, the Numark TTUSB turntable is perfect for my needs and requirements, especially at the Amazon price.

I unpacked the unit, followed the very clear instructions, and had my first MP3 recorded in about 30 minutes using the EZ Vinyl Converter program provided by Numark. EZ Vinyl reads the USB input and uploads the music into iTunes to produce the MP3 files. However, I had two problems with EZ Vinyl: 1) It’s too simplistic, and 2) It often failed to upload any songs after the first one on an album side. It’s too simplistic because you have no control over the results, such as correctly dividing an album side into separate tracks. So then I had resort to using Audacity, and, after learning it, I never looked back. It is fairly easy to use, and the Numark instructions to get you started are effective. Afterward I had much better control over the production, and I have yet to learn all of Audacity’s features and functions.

After recording a few albums, I figured out that the pickup cartridge that comes with the unit is likely to be inferior. I remember from my stereo days of the 1970s that having a good quality cartridge is essential. The best speakers, receiver and turntable in the world won’t result in good sound if you have junk for a cartridge. So I drove down to one of the last remaining stereo stores in my area and bought a $49 Ortofon OM 5E — not expensive by any means — but what a difference it made compared to the Numark stock cartridge. So spend the extra money a get decent cartridge.

So I went to town recording 3-5 albums per day and then figured out that the software tools I was using (Windows Media Player, Windows Explorer, and iTunes) were insufficient for managing all of these MP3 files I’m cranking out. I want to correctly set the ID3 tags (e.g., song title, album title, artist, genre, year, etc.) for all my MP3s but what I was using was cumbersome. So I found a very useful program called Mp3Tag. It’s free software and it can be found at [...]. It lets you very easily set all of your ID3 tags for your MP3s, including attaching album covers to songs. I get the album covers from the web site [...]. In all, it wasn’t that difficult to reach the point I’m at now, efficiently converting my LPs to MP3s.

As for the TTUSB unit itself, it seems to be of very good quality, but don’t expect it match the quality and features of good turntables from your past. Compared to my 1979 Technics SL-3200, the TTUSB is missing a dust cover, cueing control, automatic return at the end of the record, and a timing strobe. The TTUSB is very basic, but if all you’re doing is using it temporarily to convert your albums to MP3s, it’s more than acceptable for that purpose. Though having cueing control would be nice.

So for the money I spent, and the results I’m getting, I’m quite happy with the Numark TTUSB.

I am adding to the folks commenting on the HUM generated by this unit. Having many turntables since the 70’s and not doing DJ gigs anymore I sold my 1200s a while back and decided to take advantage of the new units with phono preamps and USB outs – exciting….not so fast. Decided on this unit as it had pitch controll and was mid $ range, so picked this unit up last December when it was reduced to 150 bucks along with an excellent Grado labs DJ series cartridge and stylus, set the system up correctly and was immediately shocked at extreme buzz and hum. Tried tons of fixes in the last months, electicians to check my electical, adding an expensive power supply conditioner and every permutation of hookup of the unit but was still unlistenable. I was concerned the day I set it up that there was no grounding wire, which is universal for turntables, the plug had no grounding post – only polarized, which is NOT a substitute for an earth ground. Assumed that tech had come up with some way to ground out the unit in the preamp phase…sadly no.

So back to more trick-fixes, and did find something that calmed the buzz and some of the hum…turning every electrical thing off in the room. The television was the worst, even though on a seperate circuit AND located almost 10 feet from the turntable! BUT even with everything off there is still the hum, WHICH gets incrementally louder as the tonearm tracks closer to the center of the platter! This is all so strange to me and irritating, so the unit is playable only over speakers – if you have headphones on it sounds horrible. And to record such awful quality to digital format…forget it.

Actually got this unit from a dealer (turntable lab), and 3 times going to different staff there each person immediately told me that the problem is the ground. When I told them the unit has no ground they all looked confused and told me to contact Numark, 3 emails to their support have all gone ignored. Ready to take a hammer to this thing. So if you are looking to burn your vinyl to an ipod that will play on headphones – beware – nails on chalkboard. You may luck out and have a setup that allows you to minimize the hum, but I doubt it would ever disappear enough to sound even halfway decent.

i havent had enough time to see what i am capable of doing with it but am extreamly happy with what i have discovered so far

After about 2-3 regular uses the wheels started to squeak, and about 2 weeks later the left wheel stopped responding and the music playing stops and skips during use. i wish i would have just bought a better made brand over this piece of junk.