Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Before I bought this, I asked a clerk if there was any difference between the software on this machine and a more expensive IT model. No, he said. I hope he was incorrect in this assessment.
This product is difficult to work with because of its software package. The machine itself seems to work fine. If you use the software included with the package, you will probably have poor quality recordings. This has been my experience and I concur with the previous reviewer's assessment.
The installation disk contains a copy of Audacity 1.2.6, a freeware program. You also need to download LAME v3.98.3, another freeware program, if you want to encode .wav or .mp3 files. (Who doesn't?!?) After you've downloaded LAME, select "export files" to record .wav or .mp3 files. The latest version of Audacity itself is 1.3.11, but the Audacity webpage recommends you use the beta version if you are running Windows 7. I found Audacity difficult to work with and the sound quality of my recordings was really awful. To me, it sounded like I was recording to a cheap cassette deck! There was a significant difference between the sound quality I experienced on the Sound Forge Audio program and this program. With Audacity, the sound is always very loud and you will hear a hiss over the recordings--even when playing a mint or good quality record. I tried adjusting the sound to the lowest setting allowed by the program, but I still picked up the loud hiss. This is unacceptable.
However, the turntable itself is actually decent. It is a three-speed player and you have more control over the tone arm--you can stop it and move it around without having it return to its rest. The downside to this is that you must start the recording by dropping the tone arm on the record, but this does work better for odd sized records or recording parts of LPs.
The turntable is locked down by the manufacturer and it is hard to tell when you have unlocked it. The packaging directions are not clear on how to tell if it is unlocked. To unlock the machine, you must turn the transit screw to release the turntable. The packaging says to use a coin, but a standard (flat-bladed) screwdriver works best. Turn the screw in a clockwise direction (as instructed) until the turntable pops up and jiggles. If you do not unlock the turntable correctly, the manual says that "the speed of your turntable seems slow" and "you hear a rubbing sound." This is not exactly what happens. What actually happens is that the needle digs into the record, destroying it. You'll know it's eating the record because a fine dust appears on the surface. The needle will also bend if the turntable is played when locked or partially locked. To be on the safe side, buy extra needles (Innovative Technology Turntable Replacement Needles 3-pk.). Use a "junk" record to make sure the turntable is set correctly.
I was going to return the machine after hearing what Audacity did to my recordings, but decided to keep it after I plugged the machine into the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD. This adapter allowed me to subvert the Audacity program and use Roxio's software to edit files. If you are able to do this you will have very clean recordings.
NOTE ABOUT Roxio Easy VHS to DVD: On Amazon, there have been multiple complaints about this product. It seems to work fine with USB turntables. Save your receipt and take the package back if it doesn't work.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Innovative Technology ITUT-201 USB Turntable (silver)
Records Turntable to PC through USB cable 3 Speeds: 33-1/3, 45, 78rpm Ceramic pick up One Touch Play / Stop control.Built-in equalizer, RCA Line-out for audio amplifier, USB connection to enable recording with PC, Transparent dust cover, Audacity Audio Editor and Recording Software
Get 45% OFF
Click here for more information about Innovative Technology ITUT-201 USB Turntable (silver)
0 comments:
Post a Comment