Review on 💻 USB Phono Plus - ART by Jeannie Story

My goal is to convert vinyl records into CDs. After checking out the USB players available, I found that my old Technics linear tracking player is way better than all the others. So the solution for me was to buy a USB interface, which turns out to be a USB phono preamp. Before purchasing the ART Phono Plus 2, I made several comparative purchases. There are a few similar products. One in particular has a good performance. USB 2.0 is claimed while Phono Plus 2 only claims USB 1.1. However, this device doesn't claim to have a monitor output, while the Phono Plus has a fairly nice monitor interface. In particular, it allows you to control the sound coming directly from the preamp. This is necessary if you want to manually crossfade during recording, since the sound coming out of the computer's speakers is delayed by at least 2 seconds compared to what comes out of the needle. The Phono Plus has a screw connection for grounding the phono stage. None of the other units mentioned it. Leaving the ground wire floating on my turntable produces a heavy 60Hz hum at the output. Finally, while ART is the most expensive of the three, nearly double the second and three times the third, I found absolutely no reviews for the other two, while ART was reviewed by buyers and magazines alike. And everyone including me loves it. This is a well built device in terms of durability, definitely not cheap junk. In terms of ergonomics, it has both minuses and pluses. Advantages:. The monitor allows routing from the preamp, USB, or both. (The reason for the "both” setting is that you will never be playing a recording and a digital audio file at the same time, so you can hear both without having to change the switch setting.) A block diagram of the internal signal routing is shown on the underside of the unit , which can be useful for mobile use. The device operates on USB power when connected to a desktop computer. If you are using a portable laptop, connecting the AC adapter (included) will turn off USB power, preventing the laptop batteries from draining. Minuses:. The gain knob is too small in diameter to be easily moved short distances like you have to do in Spin-It-Again's level wizard. The sockets and connectors on the back are marked in fir green or purple. Everything is almost illegible. I had to use a magnifying glass and flashlight to see where to plug my turntable. Difficult to read Phono/Line and Rumble Filter In/Out labels. But each has a light that lights up when the button is pressed, so you can at least easily tell what state the button is in, even if you can't tell what it means. I was very surprised that such an expensive device didn't come with a USB cable. This requires some sort of "printer" with a square connector on the preamp end and a flat, rectangular connector on the computer end. I turned on the computer and plugged in the Phono Plus USB cable. The preamp lights are on! In a few minutes everything was magically assembled. I didn't have to do or install anything. However, as I found out later, this process "broken" my computer's speakers. No sound will come from them, from any source! I had to go to Settings -> Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices, Audio tab and change the default device back to my built-in sound. Plugging in the Phono Plus changed that, so all audio was routed back to the preamp via USB! These include music when Windows starts and a beep that sounds when an incorrect key is pressed. (I'm using Windows XP, the most basic Home version.) When I was making comparison purchases, I couldn't even find the specs for this device on the manufacturer's website, so I decided to post them here. : 10 Hz - 50 kHz, +/- 0.5 dB BTHD: 0.01% typical at 1 kHz Hum and noise: > 90 dB below clipping Input impedance: 47 kΩ / 100 pF (phono stage); 270 kΩ (line) Maximum input level: 40 mV RMS at 1 kHz (phono stage); +19 dBu (line) Maximum gain: 45 dB at 1 kHz (phono stage); +6dB (Line) Analog Output Connectors: RCA (Pre-Out Line); 1/8" (monitor/headphone output) Maximum output level: +6 dBu (1.4 Vrms) Filter type/response: Switchable, high-pass filter, -3 dB at 22 HzA/D and D/A: 16 bit, 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, USB selectable Digital audio interface: TOSLINK input and output, S/PDIF (RCA) coaxial input Computer interface: USB 1.2 compliant, Windows 98SE or later, Mac OS 9.1 or later: 1.75" H x 4.2". "W x 3.5" D (44.5mm x 107mm x 89mm) Weight: 1.35 lbs. (0.61 kg) (Note: 0 dBu = 0.775 Vrms) Additional specification information:. Uses USB adaptive mode for playback and USB asynchronous mode for recording. The equalization of the preamplifier conforms to the RIAA standard (although no specification or version number is given). Although I bought it for use with a turntable, it can also be used to digitize cassettes via the line inputs. It comes with the Audacity software on CD. Using Phono Plus is extremely easy. Essentially connect the two outputs of the phono stage and the phono stage ground wire. Connect the USB cable to your computer. At this point, start Spin-It-Again, click Burn Vinyl LP, put the vinyl on the player and you'll convert the vinyl to a CD!