Hi, Azoic-
I haven't heard good things about USB turntables, but it may just be the absolute purists that are agin 'em. Most sources I've read say that it's better to use RCA cables to the phono input of an amplifier, and then connect your computer to the amplifier's "line out" jacks.

In general, a turntable (USB or not) should send uncompressed signals to your computer, which then will store them as Wav files or compress them as MP3 files. What you're reading may describe the software that comes with the turntable. Audacity is a good freeware program that can edit and compress those files.

Good luck.

-Joe-