The DAK Vinyl Record To Digital CD Music System

[ol'skinflint]

I've read glowing reviews of this music system but my experience has been quite different. I had trouble with the tutorials and several email requests for assistance were not answered (and one that I received was just as confusing to me as the tutorial I needed clarification with). Two email requests for refunds also were ignored, and even though I finally did receive a response to my request for a refund I was told that too much time had passed (well, that's why I had requested refunds earlier!). I'd advise anyone contemplating doing business with this company to think twice about it. This is why I usually avoid online and mail order purchases....you never know if the business is reputable or not, and it seems after they get your money they never want to hear from you again....

[BrunoRepublic]

I took a quick look at this thing from their website, and all I can say is that it looks horribly amateurish. Audacity (a freeware sound editor) looks more slick than that. And their "pro DJ turntable"? Betch, please. It's a belt-driven 1200 knock-off.

I see so many useless gimmicks like this. USB turntables, cassette-to-MP3 recorders, and other such lo-fi junk disguised as high-tech. If you just want to record vinyl to hard disk (and then CDR), you don't need a lot of fancy equipment. You *might* want to get a better spec'd sound card (like an M-Audio 2496), but even then, the sound quality on many consumer PC sound cards is good enough for most people. You just need an RCA to 1/8" cable to hook up from your receiver to your sound card input. Save your money and get a decent cartridge for your turntable instead.

One big warning is their claim that it can automatically remove all hiss and clicks without any effort. Um, no. It would inevitably strip out just as much music as surface noise. Getting decent results out of declicking and noise removal takes time and knowledge. The "one setting for all" approach will always give mediocre results.

[davidb999]

I am looking to replace an old Dual turntable that no longer works and would also like to be able to digitize music to load into my computer. I also looked at the DAK products but would like your or anyone's elses opinion. I have looked at the Audio Technica AT-PL120 Direct Drive turntable. After reading about it I am assuming that I can go direct from the turntable RCA jacks to a single pin to plug into my sound card? And if this is correct, is there software that you would recommend for the import? Some of the info I have read about audacity was not very positive.Thanks,

[canadiantire]

The Audio Technica AT-PL120 turntable looks like a decent choice.

I have read good user's reviews about it.

I can be plugged into a standard amplifier equipped with a phono input or straight into a sound board.

A selector switch must be set, based on the type of equipment that receives the signal. Make sure it is set to the proper position prior to start your transfers because RIAA correction is a very tedious task to achieve after the fact.

From what I can see, the user's manual stipulates that the RIAA equalizer is built-in the turntable and it's also suitable to be fed directly into a sound card.

I don't personally use Audacy. From what I've heard, it's doing the job for most users. If you need to achieve specific modifications on the waveform you may need a higher end Audio Editing Software.

Hope this helps.