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ART Pro USB Phono Plus

Type(s): Household Product, Toy
Tags: usb records mp3

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BBGCCI/ref=sr_11_1/104-5457332-3513507?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=11091801
$99 (US, estimated) Buy from amazon.com

It's the eternal question: You have "Kung Fu Fighting" on vinyl, but how do you get that onto your computer to turn it into an MP3? Well, Grasshopper, there are many paths to enlightenment, but few are more Zen than this little USB audio interface.

A phono cartridge needs a pre-amp with special equalization. The USB Phono Plus has true phono inputs--along with line level and digital audio connections--in a small, solid, metal enclosure. It's a great solution for Mac iBook and Mini owners lacking audio inputs, but it works with standard USB audio drivers on any recent Win or Mac system. ART also includes a wall wart so you can use it apart from your computer as a standalone phono pre-amp.

My favorite feature? It has a KNOB. The gain control lets you fine-tune the volume before digitizing, to record the level as high as possible without clipping. But trust your recording software's level meters, rather than the clip LED on the front panel; mine flashed red even when there was a bit of headroom to spare. No complaints about the sound quality, though. I can't hear any difference between my original vinyl and the digitized version.

in stores (their website artproaudio.com has a dealer locator)

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I bought this on the strength of the MAKE review.

So far, it has been great. Good, clear, clean recordings and is a snap to set up.

The included, freeware Audacity software is pretty easy to use, but I have two minor grips:

i) The mp3 files it produces are awfully large. Perhaps they're optimized for music; I'd be satisfied with lower-fi recordings for the audio books I've been digitizing.

ii) It doesn't have a "chop long file into tracks" feature. This would make digitizing LPs and cassette tapes a lot easier.
Posted by sej@aol.com on August 09, 2006 at 15:17:55 Pacific Time