Color:black Media:Electronics Autographed:No Memorabilia:No Shipping Weight (lbs):1.8 Dimensions (in):0 x 0 x 0 The ART USB Phono Plus V2 phono preamp lets DJs and vinyl enthusiasts digitize their vinyl more easily and effectively than ever. USB connectivity streamlines the connection to your computer, while an RIAA-type preamp boosts the phono signal to line level for connection to analog mixers. The improved ART USB PhonoPlusV features a headphone level control, as well as a three-position switch that allows "pre," "post," and "mix" headphone monitoring. A low-cut switch also helps eliminate rumble and
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Not bad, but did not work for meJune 26, 2008 6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My search for a way to digitize my albums began about a month ago when I saw an ad for a product for $16. I was intrigued, but knew that it could not be very good for that price. Some research resulted in a purchase through Amazon of the ART USB Phono Plus. The box that I received had a defect (the head-phone jack had a short and I had to wiggle the plug to allow me to hear without buzz, hum and feedback). I was able to get past this and transfer some music. (It also appeared that the package had been opened so there may have been more problems).
My first recording had some very fast musical riffs and was a challenging piece to record. The ART unit was easy to set up as was Audacity, the recording software that comes with it. The initial quality of the recording was good, certainly acceptable. However, I experienced a slurring problem. That is, the tempo of the music slowed then sped up, as though it was catching up with itself. I rerecorded the song several times and continued to experience this problem.
This could be hardware problem with my desktop (Dell Pentium 4 - 2.4 with 512mb of memory). I was concerned that I may not have enough memory to keep up with the recording. I decided to upgrade my memory, but I needed to return the product due to the defective head-phone jack. I found out that because this shipped not from Amazon but from a 3rd party firm, I could only return the ART box, not get a replacement. I would need to purchase another. This led me to look to other products (e.g. a digital turntable or other digitizing products).
There are not many high-end alternatives to the ART box, but I did not want to buy a new turntable since I had a pretty good one already. As an alternative, I found the PRO-JECT Phono Box II USB. This was significantly more expensive ($170 vs. $70 for the ART box) but seemed to be focused at the higher end audiophile. I took a chance and bought the PRO-JECT box.
I added one gig of memory to my Dell. So the results of using the PRO-JECT box cannot be directly compared to the results of using the ART box. The PRO-JECT box is much studier than the ART box (metal vs. plastic). It is heavier and feels industrial strength (but it should for an additional $100. The ART box has volume control - I'm not sure if this affects recording levels or just the headphones; the PRO-JECT box did not have this feature. Also, the PRO-JECT box did not have a head-phone jack. I had to use the phono-out RCA jacks with a couple of adapters (which fortunately I had laying around) to get my headphones to work with PRO-JECT box.
Bottom line: the recordings from the PRO-JECT box are great, which in the end, is what I was looking for. No slurring (which may be due to the increased memory, or because it is a better box than the ART - I can't tell). If you have the ART box and experience the slurring problem, try upgrading the memory in your PC. If you are a true audiophile, go for the PRO-JECT box because it is a nice piece of equipment. Otherwise, the ART box is a good solution (exclusive of the slurring problem - has any else had this problem?).
On a final note, another reviewer noted that their desktop speakers could not be used while the ART box was plugged into the USB port. I had the same problem but did not take the time to find a solution. Not surprisingly, I found the same situation with the PRO-JECT box. The solution is in the configuration of sound and audio processing on the PC. Go to control panel, select "Sounds and Audio Devices", then click on the `Audio" tab. In the sound playback section, select your sound card, in the sound recording section, select the USB (ART or PRO-JECT) input device. When you are recording, Audacity will pump the sound to your speakers. (Note - in the Audacity set up, you need to select that you want the recording to be simultaneously played-back). When not recording, Audacity will not play the input from the turntable. So if you just want to play an album on the turntable and hear it on your PC's speakers, you should just buy a digital turntable.
Excellent for vinyl transferringJune 13, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're shopping for a device to help transfer your vinyl collection to mp3 or other digital format, look no further. I've been wanting to transfer my collection of 300+ albums to mp3, but didn't want to move my AV receiver to my PC or vice versa for this prolonged project. I've shopped for a good, small phono preamp but none of them had the ideal features for this type of work. This one does:
1) Headphone jack with volume control to monitor LP playback
2) Output level control with signal and clip indicator (vital!)
3) Analog to digital conversion with USB output (other digital outputs available too).
4) High quality phono preamp
5) Phono grounding post
Combine this affordable device with the excellent Spin It Again software and you've got a conversion setup that's hard to beat. One thing to be aware of... when this device is connected to a Vista machine, Vista will certainly recognize it as a USB audio input device, but will likely classify it as a microphone! If Vista does this, it will end up in MONO mode. You'll need to go into the settings for the device via the Sound control panel and change it to stereo, 16-bit, 44kHz.
HUM ???June 1, 2008 I recently purchased this product and had disturbing results. I was picking up a bad HUM. After switching turnatables, cords, and power supplies, it was it was the USB ports on my Sony VAIO PC. When I swapped to my Sony VAIO laptop I had no problem whatsoever. The unit performed exactly as advertized and sounds great. The audacity software is not as nice to work with as Wave Repair which is Freeware and very simple to use.
Bottom line, a good product.
Beyond PerfectMay 22, 2008 This little converter makes great digital recordings of my old LP's. Very easy to set-up and use. I have a moving coil cartridge on my turntable so I just use the cable that goes to the input on a cassette recorder to deliver the increased signal necessary for the Art Interface. I highly recommend this little device. Works great as a headphone amp as well.
awsomeApril 19, 2008 This thing works better than i could of hoped. I have been archiving my vinyl record collection using my 1974 vintage denon turntable through this device and converting the audio to FLAC lossless format. Very very pleased.
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