- Convert vinyl to MP3 format without a computer
- MP3 compatible with USB and SD/MMC Slots
- AM/FM receiver with digital frequency
- Belt-driven 3-speed stereo turntable: 33/45/78 RPM
- Built-in stereo speakers and included remote control
- Belt Driven 3-Speed Stereo Turntable - 33/45/78 RPM
- Built-in Stereo Speakers; Remote Control
- MP3 compatible; USB & SD/MMC Slots
To start, This is a very attractive looking vinyl player. The back of this unit contains RCA(Red/White) outputs to hook up to an audio receiver but also has a "phones" AUX port that you can plug in directly to speakers...or headphones. After looking into an array of vinyl players I found that the majority of them lack an Aux output and are not "self powered" like this unit which contains its own speaker system(the speakers are decent, but obviously you want to hook this up to some real speakers anyway). A player with only RCA outputs requires a sound system with receiver and this can get really expensive. I am not so much interested in the recording features of this player, but have tried it and it is very intuitive. I have hardly experienced ANY skipping issues that others are claiming. The skips I have encountered have been on account of the record itself. The only issue I have had...and I am not quite sure how to explain it, but rarely a record will cut out before the end of the last song on a side. It may be related to the weight of the vinyl. A counter weight is included and while not meant for this purpose, I have found that this fixes the issue. Again, this has happened very rarely.
I have a "RCA to AUX" cable connected to the microphone input on my computers sound card and output the sound from my computers headphones port to a set of Klipsch 2.1 powered speakers and man does it sounds great. In this way, my computers sound card is acting as an audio receiver. The sound is louder, crisper and deeper sounding this way. As an added bonus, I can control the volume using my computer.
EDIT 11/27/2012: I have left the general message of my original review intact above, however, when I first wrote this review, I was outputting the sound directly to a pair of speakers. While this certainly works fine, it is just not preferable in terms of sound quality. I recommend either using this player through a PC sound card or audio receiver for optimal sound, the latter being the more expensive, but likely better option. If you are like me though and just DID NOT want to buy an audio receiver, this is a tremendous way to have your player set up. Honestly, I just cant imagine an audio receiver being much of an improvement over how I have things now, if at all.
Favorite Vinyl:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Soul-Part-Greatest-Hits/dp/B000091DIQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354060106&sr=8-3&keywords=hall+and+oates+greatest+hits+vinylWe were looking for a turntable that would allow us to play records we haven't listened to in years without the hassle of a big sound system. This is perfect for our needs. Speakers are clear and strong enough for a small room. The biggest advantage is that this system uses a USB or flashcard rather than the software other systems use and customers have complained about. Reasonably priced; a great value.Excellent. Converts old vinyl LP records to MP3's without any trouble at all. All you do is plug in a flash drive or a memory card, play the record, and you have an instant MP3 copy of the record.I was attracted to some of the features of this unit such as built in speakers and ability to record mp3's directly to a flash drive rather than needing to put new software on my computer. The speakers work fine, though the sounds seems a little flat without more bass. The mp3 feature however, is frustrating. As other reviewers have mentioned, it takes a little while to start recording, so if you press record just before putting the stylus down, you will miss the beginning of the song. The encoder does not automatically split tracks for you, but they tell you that you can manually do this by stopping and starting the recording in between songs. Unfortunately, with the delay in the start of recording, this function doesn't actually work without chopping off the beginning of every track. I honestly think it would be easier to just record the entire side of the record and split tracks on my computer, but I don't think the company should advertise a feature that doesn't work the way it should.
The more problematic issue I have had with this unit is that it makes a loud clicking/whirring noise as soon as the motor engages and remains until I turn the record player off. During the break between songs or quiet sections in the music, the sound can be heard and is incredibly distracting.
I'm still debating if I want to exchange this unit for another on the chance that this one is just defective, or if I just return it and try a different model.
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First I must say that I received it in excellent condition, very quickly and Amazon was terrific as usual. They were very responsive on the return as well. I could not be more happy in that respect. That said, I was not expecting state of the art equipment for $90, but I was expecting something that would at least play an album or record at one speed or another. This didn't...after feeling the physical weight of the tone arm and seeing the obvious lack of construction quality, I made sure to test it with an expendable recording (hehe, the best use of my wife's old Jane Fonda workout record I could find). The stylus pressure (yes, with the protective cap removed) was well into the ounces when it should only have been a couple of grams. There is no counter-weight or tracking adjustment to offset any of the pressure. When I delicately placed the stylus onto Jane's grooves, it stopped the record completely and the platter kept turning underneath it. Given the weight of the tonearm, that was predictable. Using another equally expendable record, and trying all 3 speeds, the results were the same. I re-read the manual looking for adjustments but found none. I did the same using Google with the same results. I didn't test anything else on the unit, but just packed it back up for return. Maybe I got a bad unit, but the quality was such that I decided to look at alternatives instead of a replacement.
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