[dvada191]

Mostly drum and bass, Spor, Pendulum, Noisia, etc. Some of their older music can only be found in vinyl, so I want to rip them to FLAC or wav. Right now I only have crap VBR rips. Anything better would be good, but I'd prefer at least 48kHz/16bit. I'm a total noob with all this analog stuff, so what is the best turntable, cartridge for just ripping to FLAC? Budget's around $300-500. Apologies if this is in the wrong section.

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

Do you have any gear at the moment that might help?
 
Phono pre amp in a receiver, int amp or mixer? Audio interface with decent line ins?
 
Assuming you are starting from scratch this combination would do the job.
 
Combined RIAA phono preamplifier and USB interface.
 
http://artproaudio.com/discontinued_products/discontinued_products/product/usb_phono_plus_v2/
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may06/articles/artphonoplus.htm
 
Basic deck from a company with a reputation for quality.
 
http://www.rega.co.uk/html/RP1.htm
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Rega-RP1/
 
Should be around $400 street price for the pair.
 
Prices vary in different countries so it's hard to say. Others will have different opinions of course but that combo should set you up nicely if you download a free copy of audacity. 

 

[dvada191]

I don't really have anything good. I have an Ion TTUSB10 turntable, but that will probably give me even worse quality rips than what I have right now. I was looking at the Rega RP1, it looks like a good turntable. But like I said, I have absolutely no experience with turntables or vinyl or anything like that. I just want to know what I need to get a decent rip.

 

[tempest11]

AT produces a system that will connect via USB, so you can record directly to any program that supports ASIO or WASAPI.
 
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/turntables/583f30b3a8662772/index.html
 
300 bucks.

 

[dvada191]

I have a question: does the type of needle/cartridge affect the SQ when recording?
 
Thanks.