The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #67781   Message #2477782
Posted By: johnross
27-Oct-08 - 10:51 PM
Thread Name: Tech: DAK is back--gadgets
Subject: RE: Tech: DAK is back--gadgets
There are several turntables currently available that have built-in preamplifiers and USB outputs, so you can plug them directly into your computer, and use a program like Audacity (free), Sound Forge (inexpensive) or Adobe Audition (very expensive) to store the sound on a hard drive and burn to a CD.

The most widley-promoted is the ION, but it seems to have trouble maintaining constant speed, and it has some other problems. Better choices might be the Stanton, Audio Technica or Sony models. Any of those are probably as good as or better than the DAK or the ION.

But before you start converting, look around for the same recordings on commercial CDs. Good CDs, made from the master tapes are likely to be better sounding than anything you can do yourself, unless you have an expensive record washing system and a high-quality cartridge and stylus. It's true that some early CDs were not good copies, but more recent stuff is generally a lot better.