 "Outstanding Quality" | 2009-10-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A6CAYJIV2Z9B2 |
| I have been looking for something like this for many years. It is the perfect solution for turning all of my vinyl records into WAV files. I've been a Professional Broadcast Engineer for over 30 years and I've seen technology come and go; this one is for both the going out and the coming in. I was unimpressed with all of the USB digital turntables that I checked out; the quality just didn't meet my expectations. I already had a high quality analog turn table and phono cartridge; just needed to find an easy way to convert the analog songs to digital for my PC. Audio input on the sound cards never made me happy with the final result. Well, now I am satisfied to my heart's content. If you are like me and you want to convert all of your old records and import them into your PC media library, then this is the first step. It is very easy to hook up. No extra drivers to worry with in XP or VISTA. The second step is having good recording software. The unit ships with the free open source Audacity and while I'm not that familiar with it, I prefer Magix Audio Cleaning Lab. Great for cleaning up scratchy records. Happy Listening! |
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 "Works good....For Now....." | 2009-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2VYOO2UJURYSP |
I've been using this preamp with XP and Vista for about a year with no problems.
However, windows 7 is another story. The drivers no longer work in Win7. There is no Volume control, even though the Windows Sound panel shows the level meter going up and down, I am unable to get any application to get an input from this unit.
I have left 2 separate inquiries, over the past 2 months, to ART's customer service, via their website (No phone #'s available) and have never received a reply to my queries asking weather the device will ever support Win 7.
So Just a warning, if you are planning on upgrading to Windows 7 This year, don't plan on this unit working with it. |
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| "Vinyl to iTunes made easy" | 2009-08-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: AYBQZJBA334R9 |
| I read a lot of reviews, then purchased the ART V2 Phono Plus DJ Preamp and Roxio's CD Spin Doctor. I owned a Mac with a version of OS X 10.4. After receiving the software, I discovered I had to upgrade my Mac to 10.5, which I did. I have burned 4 LPs to iTunes, and it is going pretty smoothly. The Roxio software could have more instructions - a common issue with software - but I have it doing what I need it to do. My only complaint is that the vinyl to disc copies gobble up quite a bit of memory - about 10MB for a 5 minute song. Perhaps that's because analog has so much info - I don't know. I am using Apple's AAC encoding, which is much more frugal than Apple Lossless, and about the same as MP3. The ART V2 is a bargain, with a considerable amount of flexibility for its modest price. I just plugged a USB cable into my computer, and it was ready to go - no need for a power adapter if you run it off of the computer's USB. I monitor directly from my iMac on headphones, though you have the option of monitoring directly from the V2. The copies are pretty good, but if you really want a quality copy, you will need to use a higher quality format, such as Apple Lossless, otherwise you get some smearing on high hat sounds, etc. Some productions are more problematic than others, but most are generally acceptable for casual listening. I hope this helps. |
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| "Exactly What I've Been Waiting For" | 2009-08-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1AZ7RMKMZBW9R |
| The best thing I've bought in a long long time. With a substantial number of long-neglected vinyl LPs and cassette tapes, I've wanted to transfer and preserve them as CDs and MP3s for a long time. Dusted off the old turntable, made the connections, fired up Audacity (recording software included with the device) and I was in business. It was almost that simple. HIGH quality results. I'm thrilled. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! |
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 "Great with limitations" | 2009-07-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ECHZVN5P0VV6 |
This unit does its job well. I had some confusion when I received it due to misinterpreting the description of the item, and figured maybe someone else might too.
The unit has a USB interface, and TOSLINK optical in and out. Cool, I thought when I hit the purchase button. But what I discovered is that the audio to and from the computer has to be via USB. The conversion is all done in the USB module.
That required a USB cable I didn't have handy (and doesn't come with the unit), but those are easy to obtain. Hooked up via USB, it worked as designed. It is really quiet, and the way it all works is very convenient. I love the headphone jack with volume control. the TOSLINK out goes to the stereo. All in all, a nice unit.
What I don't like and didn't know till I opened the package is the unit's limitations on sound. It only outputs 16 bit/48 kHz. (16 bit depth/48 kHz sample rate). Considering the price of the unit on Amazon, that's probably a fair performance limit, but nowhere in the item description does it state that limitation. I'd be pretty upset if I had paid full retail.
16 bits isn't that great. 24 bits would be much better. As for the sample rate, 96 kHz would be the way to go. My audio gear is pretty good, and the quality I get from vinyl is better than what you get from typical CDs. This unit limits what I can do. |
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