Record players with USB

Record players with USB help you digitise vinyl records to a computer or record them straight to a USB stick. A turntable with a USB output has a built-in A/D converter, your computer recognises it as a sound card and you save the recording as MP3, WAV or FLAC. Many retro and suitcase record players have a port for a USB stick instead: they record the vinyl to it as MP3 and can also play music from it. Here you'll find models from Audio-Technica, Lenco, Reloop, Thorens, Denver and Victrola.

How do you digitise a record to your computer via USB?

You connect the turntable to your computer with the USB cable that usually comes in the box. The computer normally recognises it without installing any drivers, and for the AT-LP60XUSB the manufacturer Audio-Technica states this explicitly. You record in the manufacturer's software or in the free program Audacity: you start recording, play one side of the record, then split the recording into tracks and save it. The converters in the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB and Reloop Turn 3 MK2 turntables record at 16-bit resolution with sampling rates of up to 48 kHz.

USB output to a computer or recording to a USB stick?

• USB output to a computer (usually a USB-B connector): you edit the recording on your computer and split it into tracks. Turntables with this output include the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB, Reloop Turn 3 MK2, Thorens TD 202 and Lenco L-30.
• USB stick port (USB-A): you record the vinyl straight to the stick as MP3, without a computer, and you can also play music from the stick. You'll find it on some retro record players, such as the Denver VPL-230 or Lenco LS-55.

On DJ turntables, USB is sometimes only there to control DJ software. The Reloop RP-8000 MK2 sends MIDI commands over USB, so you can't record the sound of the vinyl through USB.

Does a USB turntable play without a computer?

Yes, USB is just an extra and you listen to records as on any other turntable. You connect models with a built-in phono preamp via the RCA output to an amplifier or active speakers; if they have a PHONO / LINE switch, you use it to choose whether to use the built-in preamp. Retro and suitcase record players have speakers built right into the cabinet and play without any other equipment, much like turntables with built-in speakers. You'll find the full range in the turntables category.