USB Turntables - anyone tried them?

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I suspected that the phone had to be placed at the exact center of the turntable, and according to the instructions this was the case. I was able to record the marginal values of 0.2 % which is typical for run of the mill cassettes, and detectable under certain conditions. This site says .20% is OK.

Again, you’ve probably selected a good turntable if it has a wow and flutter under the .25 percent range. The idea, for most, is to purchase a turntable which won’t produce any distortion. Today, some high-quality turntable models have wow and flutter ratings below the .10 percent mark.

https://blog.fluance.com/wow-flutter-mean-turntables/

When looking at this unit and the reviews I was concerned about tracking force, and if it would destroy records. Some reviewers say that no, it will not. This remains to be seen. Anti skating is a matter of conjecture, and I see no tracking force spring or weight.

Tracking force is a high 6.5 g at about the level of a turntable. I tried playing back an mp3 file from an USB, however there was no output. It may be that the mp3 recorded from the Ezcap are named music01.mp3 and the like, so maybe it was looking for that type of name. No output from the speaker or line out at all, though the turn on click came through.

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Joined 2015
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I suspected that the phone had to be placed at the exact center of the turntable, and according to the instructions this was the case. I was able to record the marginal values of 0.2 % which is typical for run of the mill cassettes, and detectable under certain conditions. This site says .20% is OK.



When looking at this unit and the reviews I was concerned about tracking force, and if it would destroy records. Some reviewers say that no, it will not. This remains to be seen. Anti skating is a matter of conjecture, and I see no tracking force spring or weight.

Tracking force is a high 6.5 g at about the level of a turntable. I tried playing back an mp3 file from an USB, however there was no output. It may be that the mp3 recorded from the Ezcap are named music01.mp3 and the like, so maybe it was looking for that type of name. No output from the speaker or line out at all, though the turn on click came through.

View attachment 1177941 View attachment 1177942
See that transparent plastic stylus guard? You need to remove it before measuring, or it will be included in the VTF-measurement.
 
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Realistic?

Let me be honest.

Look I was there... we considered Realistic a notch below Superscope.

What next? Dokorder?

If you want a reasonable TT of the time, you go for a Thorens or a Dual. Technics if you got money. Denon made some nice ones but they were the heavy duty version. Sure there are some TT from the 60s that are considered classic, some very interesting idler drives. Or perhaps an AR.. BUT, then you are looking at reasonable money.

I still think that if you can find a nice Linn LP12 with a Valhalla and even a basic tonearm, you ought to go for it. Not only are the bones correct, but if you get it tuned correctly ( the suspension needs maintenance ) you will have a very good sounding, almost modern unit. And it can be updated because ALL the parts are available.

I can not believe what people are paying today for stuff that we in the 70s considered mass market dregs.

Same thing with phono stages... if you must go 70s, go for a Sansui or Yamaha... although there are units from the 90s that sell for less -in these crazy times- and sound better. I'd look into Arcam, Musical Fidelity and a number of the English brands that never dropped the LP.
 
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Meanwhile, I found what looks like a valid test of the damage caused by the Crosley.

Apparently, it introduces permanent damage in the form of record noise, crackles, but I could not hear a difference in audio quality.
If someone wants a record converted, they can play it once, and record it, and play the digital file 100 times or more while waiting to buy a better one, which, according to ebay, all the good ones are about $2000.