[Eves]

Hey guys,
 
I have been thinking about getting a Vinyl player for years now, but never made the purchase.
Been using a Antelope Zodiac DAC which does not have the Turntable/Phono input unlike the Plus/Gold versions. (All discontinued now though)
I very much regret not having spend a little bit more 5ish years back.
 
After googling for ages I have noticed some people are using USB turntables with the intent of digitalizing their record collection,
however, I have not really seen anyone talking about/asking specific questions about using the computer for the simple reason of playback.
I don't have any intent of digitalizing LP's and playing them through the computer.
I would highly prefer realtime playback.
 
I bet there are some setbacks quality-wise.
 
When I look at a turntable like Audio Technica LP-120-USB, which has a integrated phonoamp, what are my options,
would I be able to have realtime playback with this player and how would the quality be depending on soundcard or the phonoamp if it indeed was possible?
How big of a part in quality is the integrated phono preamp?
 
 
 
 
TLDR: Vinyl Player to computer, how to have realtime playback and what is depending on the quality?
 
 
 
Thanks,
 
Sven

 

[bigx5murf]

I've just started playing with vinyl myself. The most important part of sound quality I believe will start at the cartridge. You'll have to decide on either P-mount or standard mount. The P-mount is much easier to replace, and requires almost no setup. But cartridge options are more limited, and there's less control. The standard mounts have more cartridge options, and you can tweak the sound quality much more, but the setup is quite a bit more tedious. I currently have an old technics P-mount, and am thinking about picking up a technics standard mount if I find a good deal on one.
 
IMO, I'd go with a vintage TT, with no phono preamp. Primarily for the sake of having the ability to upgrade the pre-amp if I so choose. I'm currently using a cheap $30, behringer ufo202 phono preamp. It has a USB out, which I can listen to out my PC speakers setup simply by setting in windows sound properties to "listen". This audio interface I'm using is limited to 16bit, 48khz. But I always have the option to upgrade that in the future.

 

[Eves]

  I've just started playing with vinyl myself. The most important part of sound quality I believe will start at the cartridge. You'll have to decide on either P-mount or standard mount. The P-mount is much easier to replace, and requires almost no setup. But cartridge options are more limited, and there's less control. The standard mounts have more cartridge options, and you can tweak the sound quality much more, but the setup is quite a bit more tedious. I currently have an old technics P-mount, and am thinking about picking up a technics standard mount if I find a good deal on one.
 
IMO, I'd go with a vintage TT, with no phono preamp. Primarily for the sake of having the ability to upgrade the pre-amp if I so choose. I'm currently using a cheap $30, behringer ufo202 phono preamp. It has a USB out, which I can listen to out my PC speakers setup simply by setting in windows sound properties to "listen". This audio interface I'm using is limited to 16bit, 48khz. But I always have the option to upgrade that in the future.

 
Thanks for the comment.
It's interesting, so basicly the ufo202 is a interface that gets recognised in Windows and you are still able to play through your own speaker setup?
 
If this works how I think it works it would open loads of options, indeed vintage TT's have appeal.
 
Maybe save up abit and go for one and add a AT150MLX.
Add a JB systems USB audio converter or something along the lines of a ufo202 and I'm getting started I guess?
http://www.bax-shop.be/nl/dap-pre-101-riaa-phono-voorversterker-met-equalizer <- This look pretty neat too, and gets good reviews.
 
 
 
Thanks

 

[bigx5murf]

Yes, the UFO202 is just a Usb audio interface, that can perform the required pre-amplification for moving magnet turntables. It gets recognized in windows as a Line-in device. From windows you can set it to "listen" to this line-in device, and play through speakers hooked up to your PC. It's cheap, and works, primarily the reason I went with it. But it's limits are easily overcome in such a setup by simply replacing it with something better, possibly what you've linked there.Or if you ever want to play with moving coil cartridges, you can upgrade the preamp to one that can handle that.