It's the digital successor to the legendary AT-PL120. This "professional" USB turntable is equipped for better-than-average performance and is upgradable to even better sound quality.
Note: Audio-Technica provided Knowzy with the turntable used in this review free.
Review Date: November 1, 2010
The Good
The Bad
The Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB is a lot of turntable for the money.
It's a solid 23.5 pounds. It includes a cartridge that sells separately for $70. It meets both sound quality requirements. Like the Stanton T.92 USB, you truly feel like you behold a real turntable, not a plastic toy.
Despite all of this, I can't distinguish the sound from an earlier Audio-Technica turntable that sold for $100 less.
The extra $100 you spend for an AT-LP120-USB does buy you a number of things: The proper rotating speed- 33.3 RPM, a needle that's easier on your records and a decent platform upon which you can upgrade to better sound quality.
This is the second Audio-Technica turntable I have reviewed. The first was the AT-LP2D-USB, which sold for $100. I can't hear the difference between the two sets of samples.
Audio-Technica discontinued the LP2D since my review. They replaced it with AT-LP60-USB. While I haven't tested it out yet, it uses the same cartridge and the specs are very close.
So why spend an extra $100 on the LP120 if you can't hear the difference?
In the vinyl community, talk of the Audio-Technica PL120 (the original, non-USB version of the LP120) always seems to draw comparisons to the legendary Technics SL-1200 series of turntables. I see no reason to break this tradition.
The PL120 isn't a cheap imitation of the SL-1200 according to Audio-Technica. They just saw a market need for a lower-cost turntable with similar characteristics to the SL-1200.
Kurt Van Scoy, Product Manager at Audio-Technica US tells Knowzy:
"We can understand that the AT-PL120 would be compared to the Technics SL1200, since they are aimed at the same market and have a number of similar features. However, any turntables designed for the professional/DJ market are going to inevitably have features in common, like a direct drive motor with back-cueing capability, variable speed control, a stroboscopic speed indicator, a platter with a slip mat and a detachable headshell, among others. When we introduced the AT-PL120 we recognized the need to offer a lower-cost entry-model alternative to the market, while maintaining a high standard of quality and performance and offering the features professional users and DJs needed."
"We can understand that the AT-PL120 would be compared to the Technics SL1200, since they are aimed at the same market and have a number of similar features. However, any turntables designed for the professional/DJ market are going to inevitably have features in common, like a direct drive motor with back-cueing capability, variable speed control, a stroboscopic speed indicator, a platter with a slip mat and a detachable headshell, among others.
When we introduced the AT-PL120 we recognized the need to offer a lower-cost entry-model alternative to the market, while maintaining a high standard of quality and performance and offering the features professional users and DJs needed."
To be sure, there are a number of clear differences between the Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB and the Technics SL-1200:
When I reviewed the older AT-LP2D-USB, I noted it recorded too loudly- to the point of clipping in some cases. The LP120 has the opposite problem- it records so softly, you must use software to raise the volume after recording.
The "Normalize" function in your software will raise the volume to the maximum level. It's an extra step but a necessary one if you don't want to reach for the volume knob when you play back your recordings later.
Since the A/D converter is digitizing such a weak audio signal, I was curious if it was discarding some of the quietest elements of the music. Luckily, this doesn't appear to be the case.
I tested this by drastically amplifying the fade-out at the end of Steely Dan's Peg. In the last two seconds, I can still hear the music but it is overwhelmed by pops, clicks and noise from the preamp and/or the analog-to-digital converter.
I can hear an extra four notes in the nice, quiet CD version that I can't hear in the LP120 version. But perhaps those notes are simply buried under all noise that the A/D converter faithfully captures.
Like so many other USB turntables, the AT-LP120-USB doesn't come with easy-to-use or full-featured software to assist you in digitizing your records. Audio-Technica simply includes a free program called Audacity that anyone can download.
In my Crosley CR249 review, I explain the limitations of Audacity.
In their older AT-LP2D-USB turntable, Audio-Technica included a program called Cakewalk pyro Audio Creator. While this wasn't an ideal choice either, at least they had the right idea: They needed something beyond Audacity.
In my USB turntable comparison guide, you'll find quite a few software packages designed specifically for digitizing vinyl ordered by their usefulness. The ease-of-use and efficiency offered by the top two packages make digitizing with a USB turntable much more satisfying. Digitizing your vinyl collection with Audacity is tedious and is difficult to master.
1 Requires an aftermarket stylus available online at LP Gear.
1 Measured by Knowzy using this tracking force scale*. Figure not from manufacturer.
Idealized marketing photo of the Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB.
Fresh out of the Styrofoam, the platter and cartridge are not yet attached.
This is the Audio-Technica ATP-2 cartridge with a generally desirable elliptical stylus.
Here are your connection options. The Line/Phono switch bypasses the pre-amp. Unfortunately, there are no RCA output jacks- the RCA out cable is permanently attached.
The feet are dampened with springs but you cannot adjust the height. The platter dots confirm speed accuracy.
You cannot adjust the low recording volume on the left. The right shows the CD version's volume of the same song section (Steely Dan's Peg).
The Black Eyed Peas - Dum Diddly
Source: Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB
Michael Franti And Spearhead - A Little Bit Of Riddim
Pink Floyd - On the Run
Steely Dan - Peg
Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon (Abused LP)
Extremely Amplified Fade Out - Steely Dan's Peg
Listen to recordings from other turntables on our USB Turntable Samples page.
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Originally Published: Thursday, December 8, 2011, 11:22 PM PT
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 6:34 PM PT
Version 5