Comparing Elements of Turntable Construction, Kindly requesting your help in building a turntable comparison chart. Options

[Knowzy]

Greetings HydrogenAudio.

USB turntables, as many around here are aware, range in quality from poor to decent. I'm setting out to create comparison charts detailed enough to find the gems in a sea of lightweight plastic and ceramic carts. Once the guide is more presentable, I plan to give HA an exclusive sneak preview.

What follows are the elements I'm considering for chart #3, "Turntable Construction," along with the possible values.

Is there anything else I should be considering? Are there any elements not worth comparing or combinable with other elements? Am I using correct terminology?

I greatly appreciate your informed input.

• Drive
  • Belt
  • Direct
• Cartridge Type
  • Ceramic
  • Moving Magnet
  • Moving Coil (no USB TT's feature these)
• Plinth/Body (really having trouble succinctly comparing this)
  • Lightweight plastic/No isolation
  • Heavy plastic/Rubber
  • Metal/Rubber
  • Wood/Rubber
• Anti-skate/Counterweight
  • Yes
  • No
• Edit: Removed tonearm shape, combined counterweight with anti-skate (thanks for setting me straight Axon)
• Mount Type
  • Half-inch
  • P-Type
  • Edit: Bayonet (thanks Axon)
  • Edit: Universal (thanks Axon)
  • Edit: Proprietary (thanks Axon)
• Stylus Type Edit: Added more types
  • Conical
  • Elliptical
  • Spherical
  • Linear Contact
  • MicroLine
  • MicroRidge
    
• Dustcover
  • Plastic
  • Cloth
  • None
• Adjustable Feet for Leveling?
  • Yes
  • No
• Tonearm cue?
  • Yes
  • No
• Tonearm Auto return?
  • Yes
  • No
• Edit: Specs (If Available) (Chart #4: Specifications)
  • Wow and Flutter
  • Signal to Noise Ratio
  • Rumble
  • Dimensions
  • Weight
  Edit: Pitch Control (chart #2) (thanks Axon)
  • +/- X%

This post has been edited by Knowzy: Aug 21 2008, 07:03

[Knowzy]

On the contrary, I'd say that the inability to adjust analogue levels in a USB turntable before the signal hits the A/D converter is a disadvantage.

Few USB TT's feature an adjustable gain. It's only found on the Numark TTXUSB and on models that have what I'm calling "standalone" capabilities. These are models like Numark/Ion's LP 2 CD where a CD burner is built in to the unit.

If the converters are 24 bit, that probably isn't an issue, but if they are 16 bit (which I suspect they will be on a cheap USB TT), then it is.

No models have a 24 bit converter. The closest we get is Stanton's T.90 USB which offers 48khz sample rate in addition to 44.1.

Just looked up the STR8...What's the point of an arm like that? Is there some kind of DJ behaviour that it benefits?

In doing my homework on offset vs. straight, I came across a good technical article. Here's a notable quote:

"The straight arm has found a new home with Scratch DJ's, because, the needle is more stable in the groove when the platter is being spun back and forth as that artform requires. The trade off is excessive groove wear and distortion."