[MPA] converting vinyl to CD

[Scott Baldwin]

First of all I want to point out where I'm coming from. I'm a pro audio 
guy with a lot invested in equipment time and training.  I have 20 
years experience in recording and engineering.  For many years I taught 
these topics at the community college level,  and from students I have 
fielded every type of question imaginable.

I am however not an audio snob.  If a job can be done with simple tools 
I'm all for it.

With that said, I have to point that I don't have much faith in an 
interface like the Onkyo MSE-U33HB.   It does not support ASIO, which 
means that there is a lot of software it won't work with.   I do not 
think Onkyo will support this device with upgraded drivers in the 
future.   A tool that is so crippled can be extremely frustrating to 
use.      I doubt that it will ever work well under OS X, but I could 
be wrong.   I also think that if your interest is to capture well 
recorded vinyl performances, than you will be VERY disappointed will 
the quality of the digital results from this interface.  There is most 
definitely a difference in the quality of A/D and D/A converters.

If anybody is using this interface successfully I would like to hear 
how you are doing, and what software you are using.

I really don't believe there is any USB interface that gives a decent 
sound quality and reliable performance for under $200.00
Very basic USB interfaces such as the UA-3D from Edirol or the 
Waveterminal U-24 from ESI are in the $200.00 - $250.00 range.   Pro 
interfaces tend to be PCI or firewire, and are considerably more 
expensive.

There is one new box coming out this month that I don't know anything 
about, but is of interest to this conversation.  It is from TerraTec 
and has a built in turntable preamp inputs, as well as standard audio 
inputs.  It is called the Phono Preamp Studio USB.

http://www.terratec.net/ttus/

Cheers,

Scott