is a quality 'needle' on mediocre TT foolish for recording?

[60ndown]

I picked up a Harmon Kardon CDR2 the other day at a thrift store ($24) it seems to be working perfectly....

http://www.harmankardon.com/resource...guide%20om.pdf

looks like it can record straight off a TT?

I see vinyl all the time for pennies in thrift stores, but i dont want to (and cant afford to) spend $5000 on a TT.

Is there a good and affordable way anyone can think of for me to put a good enough TT together to make recording vinyl onto cds with this machine worthwhile?

[Mooly]

You need more than TT.
The CDR2 appears to accept "analogue" line level inputs so you need an RIAA preamp (or preamp/integrated amp/receiver with one inbuilt) to boost and correct the response from the "needle".

[audio-kraut]

get a used thorens player at ebay, Thorens TD165 Vintage Turntable Near Mint Condtion | eBay get a decent cartridge (I prefer the denon DL 103 or DL 160 high output mc) Denon DL103 DL-103 Stereo Moving Coil Cartridge | eBay and a phono preamp able with mc input. That one you could DIY - there are enough ideas on this website. If you use the DL160 an mm preamp is sufficient for gain.

When it arrives, clean the platter bearing, re oil it, get a new drivebelt, install the cartridge check the tonearm config. with a protractor All for less than 1000$.

BTW - get a cheap computer with decent soundcard (I like m-audio) and store the transfers to a harddrive. Why the heck bother with burning cds.

[Xoc1]

One way to impove the quality of your recordings from a turntable is to resist the temptation to listen to the record player using speakers when recording to digital. Monitoring with headphones will improve the quality of the transfer as the turntable does not need good accoustic isolation or a specialised support.

[60ndown]

$1000 !!!!!????

i was thinking $100


is the general consensus this is not a worthwhile venture?

or is it possible, with $100 worth of diy and thrift store searching i may be able to record some vinyl with fun/good results?

[audio-kraut]

$1000 !!!!!????

i was thinking $100

100hundred doesn't buy you much of anything.
You could check around for a Dual TT - some not too bad ones might be out there. The cheapest cartridge I would use for that job is a shure m75 and you still need a phonopre, even the cheapest will cost you at least 50.00 - so no, a hundred won't get you anything, unless you are really, really lucky - like when I found a technics sl 10 with a tangential arm and the rest of the micro system (tuner, amp, preamp and casette player) for 9.50$ at the local thrift store...

Good hunting, but if you go for sup par equipment - why even bother to transfer?
Buy second hand cd's, that is way cheaper in the end.

[60ndown]

im guess my real question is,

would a cd recorded from vinyl, even with very mediocre used equipment, would actually be less 'digital sounding'

then a regular cd??

[60ndown]

Originally Posted by Mooly

You need more than TT.
The CDR2 appears to accept "analogue" line level inputs so you need an RIAA preamp (or preamp/integrated amp/receiver with one inbuilt) to boost and correct the response from the "needle".

doh, shoulda kept my NAD 3020 !!!!

[sofaspud]

My 2 cents...
Spend whatever you want to spend to get an operational turntable.
Record a few tracks to your hard drive. Load a track into your editing software. You can filter out noise, set peak levels, remove clicks and pops, etc etc. The editor I use even has a software RIAA filter (though I've never used it); no phono preamp necessary. And it seems to me your hard drive can be used as the CDR2s "digital source".
Would it be less digital sounding? Man, that's an issue for a whole other 1800 post thread.
Record a little bit and see how you like it, then go on from there.

[60ndown]

yea ill try recording a few vinyl and see what the results are like,

i like the idea of giving a friend a 'cd' and the first 5 seconds of it popping and scratching a little like the old vinyl did

i dont think id want to edit that stuff out.