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Your choice for budget analog to digital converter

I am embarking on an effort to digitize my brother's vinyl collection for him. What do you recommend for a reasonably capable and priced (<$250) analog to digital converter? Would like at least 24/96 capability. I am doing it here and there so may eventually go through several generations of ADCs, but have start somewhere.

Rest of system: Thorens TD150 mkII, Grado platinum cartridge, Grado phono preamp, Dell Latitude laptop, Audacity software.

Any suggestions appreciated.

PS - in case you are wondering why he is going digital, he is a musician and wants to take his music collection on the road. I get to keep the vinyl, but the time is really a gift. Your time is too, thanks. kn
knownothing
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
You might want to call Grado to try to figure out the output range, since both your cartridge and your electronics come from them. Also, how is the output of the phono preamp compared to a CD player, if you have one. If it is pretty comparable you might be in the 1 volt to 2 volt range already. You might check the CD output capability also.
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Dtc, I suspect KN is using the high output version of the Platinum cartridge, which is spec'd at 5 mv under the standard test conditions. He would most likely be using, and have to use, the low gain setting of the phono stage with that cartridge, which apparently provides a gain of 40 db. That is a voltage gain of 100 times. So under the standard test conditions the phono stage will be putting out 0.5 volts.

Particularly high volume peaks on some recordings would no doubt put that into the 1 to 2 volt range, but many other recordings will be at levels that are considerably less than 0.5 volts most or all of the time.

The key questions to ask Grado, as I see it, would be what the gain of the headphone amplifier is, at the maximum setting of its volume control, and what its maximum output voltage is.

Best regards,
-- Al
knownothing OP
1,668 posts
 
All assumptions about my gear and settings are correct. FWIW, the output of the phono preamp was lower through headphones than either of my former CD players, an old Yamaha CDC 715 (at zero attenuation) and Cambridge Audio 640Cv2 by I am guessing about 20% (I.E. 20% lower, not 20% of). Pretty subjective. Your suggestion to contact Grado is probably best advice.

Thanks, kn
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Another option I have considered is the Korg MR 2. It is a portable recorder than can be used for mics and line level inputs. It records to a SD card in either wav, flac, AIFF and DSD (SACD) format. The wav can be edited with Korg software (AudioGate) or Audacity. It does have line level volume controls. Unfortunately, it s $500. Just thought I would mention that option. Once again, I have never used it, but it does look intriguing. Korg is a well known professional brand.
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