USB Vinyl Players - are they any good?

I noticed that there is topic already for regular vinyl players, but I decided to open a new one. My problem is, that my stereo receiver  doesn't have phono input! It's those early 2000's 5.1 receivers, from the time that everyone thought that CD's the thing. So, I would have to buy receiver + vinyl player and that would cost bit too much to my budget.

But, my computer is connected to stereo receiver, so I basically play mp3's all the time. USB-vinyl player to my computer would be ideal! Also I could rip my vinyls to mp3 format, for example to my car player. But are those USB-players any good? How about sound quality? Do they even sound like vinyls supposed to be sound - dynamic and natural?

I googled quickly some sites, lowest prices seems to start about $150... but I could pay about $400-500.

This one seems intresting:
http://www.altoedge.com/usbaudio/usb-lp120-professional-turntable.html

^ I never thoughted that! Thanks! 

Well, that's definately one option. Anyway all experiences about USB-players are still welcome.

progremist wrote: I noticed that there is topic already for regular vinyl players, but I decided to open a new one. My problem is, that my stereo receiver  doesn't have phono input! It's those early 2000's 5.1 receivers, from the time that everyone thought that CD's the thing. So, I would have to buy receiver + vinyl player and that would cost bit too much to my budget. But, my computer is connected to stereo receiver, so I basically play mp3's all the time. USB-vinyl player to my computer would be ideal! Also I could rip my vinyls to mp3 format, for example to my car player. But are those USB-players any good? How about sound quality? Do they even sound like vinyls supposed to be sound - dynamic and natural? I googled quickly some sites, lowest prices seems to start about $150... but I could pay about $400-500. This one seems intresting: http://www.altoedge.com/usbaudio/usb-lp120-professional-turntable.html

I have that. It seems to work great for me. maybe not audiophile standards, but it's just fine. You'll probably want to get some kind of USB player if you plan on archiving you collection at some point. Either that or you'll have to work around routing the audio signal through an audio interface, which may be fine if you already have that but can be needlessly expensive if you don't have any other audio recording needs.

Vompatti wrote: You won't have to buy a new receiver if you buy a phono pre-amp and plug that into a regular audio input.

That particular turntable has an in-built phono pre-amp - there is a small switch on the back that allows you to bypass that (for amps with a phono i/p) or keep it in (for amps with a normal "aux" i/ps).

progremist wrote: I noticed that there is topic already for regular vinyl players, but I decided to open a new one. My problem is, that my stereo receiver  doesn't have phono input! It's those early 2000's 5.1 receivers, from the time that everyone thought that CD's the thing. So, I would have to buy receiver + vinyl player and that would cost bit too much to my budget. But, my computer is connected to stereo receiver, so I basically play mp3's all the time. USB-vinyl player to my computer would be ideal! Also I could rip my vinyls to mp3 format, for example to my car player. But are those USB-players any good? How about sound quality? Do they even sound like vinyls supposed to be sound - dynamic and natural? I googled quickly some sites, lowest prices seems to start about $150... but I could pay about $400-500. This one seems intresting: http://www.altoedge.com/usbaudio/usb-lp120-professional-turntable.html

I have this turntable...bought it last year and I paid about US$200........List I think is $300. It works excellent, modeled after the legendary Technics SL1200 versions........which now run anywhere from $700-$1200.

Edited by Catcher10 - March 05 2011 at 18:53