The USB turntable is one of the most striking examples of old technology merging seamlessly with new. The USB turntable acts like a traditional turntable in that it allows you to play vinyl records however it also allows, thanks to a USB connection, you to transfer the vinyl music onto MP3 through your computer. Having recently become a proud owner of this type of turntable I can vouch for its ease of use and have really enjoyed cracking open my vinyl collection and enjoying the songs again.



I had sadly lost use of my original record player a few years ago and I had found at the time that repairing it would have cost an incredible amount of money. I baulked at the thought of shelling out loads of money and decided that I would instead, rather reluctantly, join the digital age and I got myself an MP3 player.

Enthused and ready to embrace this modern technology I thought I would probably purchase my favourite tunes online and somewhere along the way I forgot about my old vinyl. Rediscovering it with the USB turntable was an absolute joy and I have been able to not only listen to the tracks but actually upload them to my MP3 player so that I can listen to them as I walk to work - brilliant. Better still I have a speaker system for my MP3 player so that I can listen to the vinyl tracks through my stereo without having to take the record out of its sleeve, load it up and move the needle to the correct place.

It really makes listening to my favourite old tracks easy. Better still they are all in a single, manageable, format so that I can listen to various albums consecutively without going through the hassle of changing the record.

The USB turntable can read all types of record so that whether you have a stack of old 45s, 33s or if you're really old 78s then you can transfer them to your computer. Once they are on the computer you can turn them in to CDs or transfer them on to your portable MP3 player.

This means that you do not have to leave your old music behind just because technology is enhancing. An extra feature of these USB turntables is that you can attach a cassette player and record all of your old cassettes onto the computer so that they can be converted to new format MP3 tracks and can be turned into CDs. This is all in addition to the fact that the USB turntable can simply be attached to an amp and some speakers and be played in the same way as a typical record player.

I for one was worried that the software that you have to use to make the most of the USB turntable would be confusing and beyond my very limited computing abilities. Fortunately I soon found that the software that comes with the turntable is very easy to use. The software is very easy to install. All you have to do is put the CD into the computer and follow the on screen advice. This carefully details what you need to do and in a few simple clicks you can download the software. After it has been downloaded it is very easy to use the software as the system is very clear and functional. Even if, like me, you are a bit of a technophobe it is possible to use the software and you can record your vinyl quickly and simply.