OK, I've figured out why so few of my vinyl records sound like they're worth keeping—besides the realization that I've gotten on pretty well without them for 13 months. The TEAC GF-350 that I bought on Charles G. Hill's recommendation with the intent of converting my LPs to CDs turned out very quickly to be a dud. I had forgotten this until I unpacked it yesterday after more than a year. The problem is that it is playing my LPs at least one whole tone too fast—and it doesn't have pitch control or tracking, as far as I can tell.
I'm very disappointed, as I am getting too old to fiddle with stereo components, so it was a relief to have a system with built-in speakers that could do nearly everything I needed it to do. The only addition I had made was to attach a cassette deck so I could transfer my cassettes to CDs as well, something I can still do now, but which is not as important to me as being able to put my vinyl on CD.
It looks like if I want to transfer my vinyl without risking pitch problems, I will have to buy an MP3 turntable with pitch control and hook it up to my Mac. Alas, none of those turntables appear to come in all-in-one systems with built-in speakers.
Here is my question: Is my best bet to buy the Numark TTi Numark TTUSB*, or is there a better model that is the same price or less? If I do buy the Numark TTi, is Amazon's price competitive? Bear in mind that driving to an electronics store is not an option, as I am carless; if Amazon isn't the way to go, I'll have to buy the turntable online or from a store that's near the Washington, D.C. Metro. Also, bear in mind that I don't own an iPod and don't plan to own one. If I buy the turntable, I will burn the CDs straight off my Macintosh iBook G4. Many thanks for your advice!
Thanks to Father Cory Sticha for tipping me off to the TTUSB, which is more my style since I don't need the TTi's iPod dock. Plus, it's about half the price of the TTi.
