I've seen some record players with USB support, but know nothing about them. What do you suggest for ripping records to .wav? I'd like to retain the highest quality possible, without breaking the bank. I don't have all that many records, but most of the ones I do have aren't available on CD, so ripping them is really the only way I've got to listen to them. I don't really want to set up a record playing in my system...just looking for a quick/easy/cheap way of doing this, but don't want them to sound like crap either.

What say you?

I like the Ion turntables that either go right to a pc for later burning to CD, or their latest one that burns right to a CD for you on the fly. Trying to justify getting one though...

I ended up with a Technics turntable that offered a line-level out feeding a CD recorder. Then, I rip the CD into an audio editing program to apply NR and break it into smaller chunks of music (some fancypants people call these "tracks").

The Technics TT was much more than an Ion-type setup, but I liked the idea of occasionally playing a record, liked the "pride of ownership" that I wouldn't have with a plastic Ion, and I justified it by accepting the rare call from a customer that wants to pay me for the service.

One
or
Two

Either of these should do it without the need of a new turntable, etc. Under $50.

I think you can do it for free if you already have a TT or access to one.

Assuming your AV receiver has a phono input, you can use that in conjunction w/ the TAPE OUT or REC OUT. Take that analog output and connect it to your PC or Mac input and use a recording app to convert it to a WAV or MP3 of your choice.

The only cost may be a cheap analog cable to get the RCA outputs to your sound card inputs. IIRC, didn't you just build a really nice tower? If so, then I assume you've got a pretty decent sound card.

If you have a Mac, you could use Audacity, which is pretty easy to use.

I don't have a turntable at all at this point.

Then you should not have bought those albums!

I obviously had a TT when I bought them.

Anyone actually have some experience doing this? I was considering purchasing this, based solely on it's good reviews.

If you don't have a turntable, then a TT with USB output would be the way to go. The Audio Technica would be as good as any for the money. The Cakewalk software that comes with it looks good too. It enables you to split the wav file into tracks, which is important, as the usual method is to transfer a side at a time.

BTW, I use the Behringer U-Control UCA202 that Zim links to. I have an old Rega Planar 3 turntable that I plug into the phono input of my old Luxman amp, and then plug the Behringer into that. A USB turntable replaces it all.

I've also been curious about this, too, since several bands I like release stuff on vinyl that is either unavailable on CD or really hard to find. If I ever start buying those records, it would be nice to be able to rip them once and not worry about wear from repeat playback. I remember Audio Technica's name came up quite a bit in the brief searching I did before.

Whatever you decide to do, let us all know how it turns out.

Mine should be on the doorstep from UPS when I get home. Has it worked as expected for you? I mainly bought it to run REW software, but am thinking of the other options since it has a fiber-optic output.

Also, given that they are not going to make your old LP's anymore, any self respecting LP-ophile should have this:
LP Player