I have all these old classical albums, and can’t really afford a USB turntable, so was wondering if there was anyway to convert a regular turntable into one.

2 Responses to “Can you turn a regular turntable into a USB turntable?”

1. Daniel K on October 4th, 2009 6:09 am

   Yes, there are a few USB phono interfaces out there:
   –ARTUSBPHONOPLUSV2

2. wx_rider on October 5th, 2009 4:52 am

   What you really need to do is connect your turntable to the computer using the sound card. Here is what you will need:

   1. A turntable pre-amp to amplify the weak signal from the turntable. I have included a link below from Radio Shack (have seen cheaper prices elsewhere).

   2. A Y cable to connect the pre-amp to your computer’s sound card.

   3. Software on your computer.

   You connect your turntable to the inputs on the pre-amp (those red/white RCA connectors). The Y cable will have those same connectors on one end.. connect these to the output side of the pre-amp. The other end is a small 1/8 plug (like a headphone plug) that you will plug into the line-in connector on your sound card (blue-colour on many PC’s).

   You now have all the hardware you need. Setting things up with the software may be a bit more complex. If you are using Windows you can try using the Sound Recorder application included to record; be aware that there can sometimes be some fiddling required with sound card settings to enable and adjust the Line-In connection.

   There’s also some applications out there designed for this purpose that include filters to remove clicks and pops from records.

   Good luck!

   P.S. while there are ways to connect a turntable using a USB connection, there is no easy way to modify the turntable for this; ti would also be a matter of connecting the turntable via other devices to the computer. I believe that route would end up costing more than the one I have described above.

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