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AN EASY WAY TO CLEAN UP LPS AND TO HEAR THEM AGAIN. I HAVE NOT HEARD SOME OF THE MUSIC FOR 15+ YEARS BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU PLAY VINYL YOU WEAR THE LP A LITTLE MORE
The unit is very easy to setup,taking only minutes. RCA jacks in the rear versusa hardwired cable and an arm clip to hold the cartridge securely, theunit is well designed.
It works equally well with bothPCs and Macs, i.e. This is a great product for its price.
Sony should provide Mac compatibility by including Audacity or indicating Mac compatibilityby its use via a free Audacity download.Other than a couple of minor changes, i.e. once you download Audacity for the Mac.
The Audacitysoftware allows audio play-thru without using the RCA connections,thus only the USB connection is required. The provided software works well on the PC,but the Audacity software is preferred.
The controls, start, stop and arm up/down, makefor a simple/easy operation.
The software is pretty intuitive - but you do have to name each track, otherwise you will end up with 1 "song" per side. For those of you who thought your vinyl collection would be relegated to the "I'll listen to it later" pile, check this out. That being said, the quality is good - there is a low 'hiss' before each track, but it cant be helped, nor does it detract from the music, (where there is no audible hiss). The Sony USB turntable allows you to put your collection onto your MP3 player. Its as easy as listening to a record. The slim profile and black color make it easy to fit this unit into your audio center. I have seen similar turntables for 3x the price, but if you are a regular person who doesn't have specific and exacting audiophile needs, this is the turntable for you.
This is a great little unit. Too many times my vinyl was not treated the way it should have been. It's not "audiophile" quality, but it does the job and at a great price. My old vinyl was not the best quality either. But, when you can't get the music anywhere else, this unit works well for making the transfer to digital. The software does a good job of "cleaning" up the sound.
I also looked at the DIY options of washing vinyl records, but what I read indicated that drying was as important as getting a cleaner into the grooves and the RCA Discwasher brush was supposed to serve this function of both cleaning and drying.I hooked the Sony turntable up to my Dell Laptop so I could keep working on my desktop computer while recording. My LP collection has been in the basement for the last 23 years. I never had good stereo equipment or fresh needles, and I never treated them with more than casual care. But right now I have my first two records digitilized with a sound quality I never believed possible. There was some cracking but mainly it was noticeable between tracks.
I also found that some of these old LPs are only available at astronomical prices. So instead I just plugged headphones into the DAK mixer to listen while recording using the USB option. So I decided to try digitalizing my old LPs using the Sony PS-LX300 USB.Before playing my first record, I spent a day on-line looking at the options for cleaning vinyl records. As I pushed the start button on the Sony, I was amazed at the quality of sound coming through the headphones. I settled for the RCA Discwasher for $14.95, even though reviews claimed it was vastly inferior to the old product (which sells at auction for well over $50.00). I figured that only audio snobs with expensive equipment could tell a difference since I was quite pleased with my CDs and iPod music. For USB recording, I had to go into my control panel and change my Sound|Recording options, but that those steps were well spelled out on page 11 of the Sony turntable manual. However, I dragged them up to make a list of what MP3 tracks I'd like to buy and to my amazement I found that I had huge collections with songs that have never been digitalized.
But as it is I've fumbled along by trial and error and I'm getting incredible results. I cleaned it a total of three separate times, assuming it was very dirty, following the directions carefully. It assumes a knowledge of stereo components that I don't have. I'm sure with more fiddling around I can figure out how to get sound through my laptop while recording, but it's working just fine for me with headphones.Then I thoroughly cleaned my first LP -- an old favorite I purchsed in 1961 and played to death over the next 20 years.
Spending hundreds of dollars on a disc cleaning system for records that I assumed were about ruined was out of the question. The turntable comes with a switch to choose either Line or Phono. I presume from the combo offered above that you could also attach the RCA cables to speakers purchased separately to listen while recording through the USB option. I would have given this 5 stars with a little better instructions on set up. I expected to hear mostly hisses and pops with a little music thrown in. I couldn't believe the quality of that old LP after cleaning. I used the default settings on the SoundForce Audio Studio for "Vinyl Recording and Restoration" and these pops and crackles were almost eliminated in the final product.Right now my recordings are coming through as one track (which they mention can happen with some old LPs) but the software has a good help section which includes how to go back and separate the tracks. I'll be working through that later this morning.
But as I listen to my old LPs I am aware of exactly what they mean. Frankly I assumed those records were ruined. There is an intimacy and depth of sound that is missing from CDs. The Sony turntable comes with a USB connection and also RCA cables (which are very short). I have a DAK Mixer Interface (which I never figured out) so I hooked the RCA cables into that and tried plugging their stereo mini plug into my laptop input line, but my first pass did not produce sound on the final recording -- no doubt I had to change some settings on my input line. I am thrilled beyond belief and looking forward to listening to hours more of my old treasures as I compile them into a digitilized collection.As a final note, I always scoffed at those who said that records had a warmth that is missing from CDs. Amazing to think that such an old technology can hold up so well, even on ill-used records that are over 45 years old.
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