Omnitronic DD-2520 USB Turntable SW Direct Driven DJ Turntable with Phono/Line Switch, Digitise Your Old Vinyl Treasures in a few simple steps.

Review of Omnitronic DD-2520 USB-Turntable - Black FinishSo far, I have only given this turntable four stars rather than five but this is purely because I have not yet had time to test the USB interface and the archiving functions that it offers. I will therefore update this review at a later date when these tests have been carried out. I can say though that if the USB function is as good as the rest of the turntable, I do not expect any problems whatsoever.The review.Firstly, let me say that I make no apology for the length of this review as there was a lot to get through and there are very few other reviews of this turntable in English - and none whatsoever on the Amazon UK website.The turntable is supplied with software for the USB archiving function but in reality if you are going to use this facility, you should download the latest version of the free Audacity software and spend a little time learning to use it properly.As the turntable has a built in pre-amplifier, the RCA output is switchable between 'phono' and 'line' and can therefore be used with any amplifier having an auxillary input (which is most modern amplifiers/receivers) as well as those with a dedicated phono input stage.I hope sincerely that this detailed examination and review of what I consider to be an excellently priced, high quality turntable is of service and of use to other prospective purchasers who may otherwise be tempted to spend much more money on something that is nowhere near as good or as well built.The Omnitronic 2520 turntable - and others in the Omnitronic, American Audio and SoundLab ranges - are imported from Germany and are not usually stocked in the UK, regardless of the impression that a retailer may give.Furthermore, it is possible to obtain this turntable for less than the price quoted on Amazon by importing it oneself but to do so robs the purchaser of the valuable guarantee and return service offered by Amazon which, in my experience at least is always nothing less than exemplary.In the end, the buyer must decide but I'm certainly of the opinion that it is worth paying a few pounds more for the reassurance that Amazon provides.Overview.I wanted a turntable to go with my Denon DM39 amp/tuner/cd unit and the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers that go together extremely well.My collection of LPs, some of which are 50 years old and valuable, needed a turntable that would at the very least offer reasonable quality and treat the LPs with care.Being a Hi-Fi enthusiast can be a little like having a boat: If one is not careful, it becomes a hole into which one can pour endless amounts of money.At the time of writing, it is possible to purchase a turntable for as little as £39 or as much as £120,000, depending on how big your wallet is and what your needs may be. Under £200 is therefore a very good price to pay for what is by any standards a good quality turntable.True, fanatical audiophiles will always claim that any turntable which has a USB provision on it, thus allowing it to be used as an archiving turntable, cannot be of true audiophile quality.Whilst this may generally be true, one might just as well say the same thing about the fact that this Omnitronic turntable also has a speed control on it and markets itself as being a DJ turntable.Nevertheless, having worked in the broadcast industry for many years, including as a radio presenter, I can confidently tell you that most broadcasting organisations have what are commonly described as 'DJ' turntables in their studios, even if they ARE used to play music for audiophiles that criticise the use of such equipment!At the time of writing, I have yet to test the USB function but if it functions as well as the rest of this device, it will produce excellent results.This review is split into two parts: the first part deals with the turntable and the second part deals with tone-arm and pick up.Part one: the turntable.In common with 99.9% of all turntables today, regardless of retail price, the Omnitronic 2520 is built in China.However, so are some of the best musical instruments in the world as well as much of the scientific equipment used in today's laboratories and universities so please, do not presume that because something is made in China it cannot be of high quality.In fact, like many of the best turntables on sale today, it is produced in the Hanpin factory in China and is a fairly convincing copy of the Audio Technica ALP 120 USB which sells for more than half as much again by the time you've put a reasonable pickup cartridge in it.The first thing you notice when unpacking and assembling the Omnitronic 2520 is its weight; it weighs an astonishing 24 pounds or 11 kg. Thus, it compares very favourably indeed with turntables costing 3, 4 or even five times as much and which still only way about 7 kg and are constructed mainly from MDF.The full size, 12 inch platter on the Omnitronic 2520 is made of cast aluminium and weighs a modest 750 g. However, as this is a direct drive turntable and is not reliant on the inadequacies and variances of a rubber belt, the fact that the turntable platter is relatively light is not of great concern.The platter has a stroboscope embossed onto the side of it and of course, a suitable source of illumination, again inspired by the Audio Technica turntable.Tests show that the turntable speed and the stroboscope is dead accurate and, in case the recording itself is at variance with concert pitch, there is a speed adjustment slider available which covers a range of +/- 10%.There is also a retractable stylus light which enables the user to place the pickup accurately over the LP before lowering the hydraulically damped cueing device which, much to its credit, takes nearly 5 seconds to lower the pickup arm gently onto the disc.The turntable, which comes with an acrylic cover which displays the turntable beautifully, is housed in a strong, plastic plinth and sits on four competently made shock absorbing feet, all of which are adjustable.I have tried this turntable in several positions both close to and apart from the Wharfedale speakers (which are on professional steel stands) and the turntable is so well insulated from vibration by its shock absorbing feet, that it can be placed within inches of a loudspeaker provided that the speakers are on independently mounted stands of good quality.There is a felt mat supplied with the turntable, presumably designed as a slip mat. I have also tried the platter with a rubber mat and if anything, the felt mat does a better job at reducing rumble. However, being direct drive and the platter therefore being part of the motor itself, there is very little rumble to complain about in the first place.Audiophiles will tell you that a good turntable should have wow and flutter figures of not more than 0.05% but, in reality, this is only likely to affect those who prefer to watch their turntable through an oscilloscope rather than listen to the music.The fact is, very few LP disks are completely flat and as such, it is part of the characteristic of an LP that minute traces of wow may be audible no matter how high the quality of the turntable upon which it is played.The Omnitronic 2520 has wow and flutter figures of less than 1.25%, well within acceptable limits and as such, any variation in speed is inaudible - though it will show up on an oscilloscope!Despite its plastic housing, this turntable is extremely well built, very heavy and if treated with respect, should give years of service to its user.Part two: the tone-arm and pickup cartridge.The tone-arm on the Omnitronic 2520 is an S shape full-length arm designed to reduce tracking error and distortion produced as the arm sweeps in an arc across the disc.The arm itself is metal, as is the calibrated counterweight, and sits in a Cardan suspension pivot system which appears to be made of metal but may in fact be metal coated plastic.The turntable, being fully manual, does not incorporate a mechanism by which the arm is raised or lowered automatically, either at the start or the end of the disc.Actually, from a sound point of view, this is a very good thing as it reduces friction on the arm pivot and thus contributes to the higher quality of sound reproduction that one would expect from a good quality turntable and pickup partnership.As previously mentioned above, the arm is raised or lowered by means of an efficiently damped cueing device which is both extremely effective and accurate. Having such a device not only protects the discs themselves but also gives the user a valuable five seconds to get from his turntable to his armchair before the music starts!The central cross piece of the tone-arm is made of high quality plastic but this in no way detracts from the quality of sound produced from the pickup arm and assembly that, 30 years ago when even basic tone-arms were even more expensive, would have cost you a week's wages.The tone-arm incorporates an anti-skating mechanism with a calibrated scale that can be adjusted to match the adjustable down force of the arm itself.I have no complaints about this tone-arm at all and it is certainly superior to many others that I have examined but which come at a much higher price.The tone-arm has a good quality, detachable headshell which is designed to accept a standard half inch cartridge mount, thus enabling it to be used with almost any medium to high quality pickup cartridge.The headshell is fastened to the tone-arm by means of a very stylish ring nut that one may normally only find on higher-priced turntables which incorporate an integral tone-arm.Presumably because the turntable is marketed as a DJ deck, the supplied cartridge, although adequate for general usage, ought to be replaced by anyone who is serious about taking care of their LP records and who is seeking the best possible sound reproduction.For one thing, the supplied cartridge has a recommended tracking weight of between 2.5 and 4g which is far too heavy for any serious vinyl LP enthusiast and will likely cause significant wear to the disc if used at the heavier tracking weight.The cartridge, though marketed as an Omnitronic S15 is actually manufactured by Audio Technica and its quality is therefore very good, especially if indeed the turntable is to be used as part of a DJ set up which requires heavier tracking weights.However, the serious listener should replace this cartridge as soon as possible and I would recommend the excellent Audio Technica AT95E which has an elliptical stylus rather than the conical stylus of the supplied cartridge and also has a much better transient frequency response, necessary for high-quality reproduction of vinyl LPs.Given that the AT95E can be purchased through Amazon for less than £40 and is accepted as being of way above average quality for its price, serious domestic users should ask the question whether they can afford NOT to replace the supplied cartridge with one that is so much better and of such good value.As I say, the manufacturers cannot be blamed for supplying what is recognised as being a DJ friendly cartridge in what is marketed as a DJ record deck but that is no excuse for not replacing the cartridge with a better one, especially if the turntable is to be used for home listening and for the archiving of precious vinyl LP discs.Conclusion.All in all, the Omnitronic 2520 USB offers remarkable value for money in terms of build quality, sound and value.I have compared the quality, price and specification of the Omnitronic 2520 turntable with those in the much talked about Project range of turntables that start at about £180.Having now looked at and used both, I personally believe it is better to have something weighing 11 kg, which is direct drive, of excellent quality and build and which is in reality as functional as it looks, rather than a turntable where not only the plinth but also the platter itself is made out of nothing more than MDF, is driven by a rubber band and which has a straighttone-arm which is never going to reduce tracking distortion to the same level as that achieved with an S shaped, full-length tone-arm such as is found on the 2520....and of course with the 2520, one has the USB archiving capability.It is of course up to the individual user as to whether or not they want to be sucked in by the excellent marketing of some of the manufacturers of higher-priced but not necessarily better built turntable and tone-arms.For my money, with the possible exception of the cartridge which is cheap and easy to replace, any serious listener - including audiophiles such as myself - will find it extremely difficult to beat the value for money and excellent listening quality of the Omnitronic 2520.There will be purists who disagree with this view but I would bet any amount of money you like that they have never taken the trouble to listen to the results produced by this excellent turntable.It is far more likely that they prefer to convince themselves that spending thousands of pounds on equipment is going to give them more listening pleasure than spending a few hundred.In terms of value for money however, the truth is that at this price. the Omnitronic 2520, complete with its USB archiving ability, is going to be very hard to beat in terms of value for money and quality.As the creator of InternetMarketingNewcomers.com, a website that trains people how to make money online, I am very aware that buying goods straight from the Internet is never 100%. Nevertheless, I thoroughly recommend this turntable and music lovers, DJs and even dedicated audiophiles can purchase this turntable with confidence.Finally...The turntable should have taken 48 hours to get from Germany to my apartment but in fact took a miserable 5 days. This was due entirely to the incompetence of the courier, DPD, who unnecessarily delayed the delivery and I have received no explanation from that company for their inefficiency, despite repeated emails to them.I purchased this turntable through Liberty Sales UK who were extremely helpful, considerate and, anticipating that the package might not contain a UK plug adaptor - which it didn't - kindly posted one to me in advance and free of charge.The delay in delivery was not their fault but entirely that of the normally reliable DPD.I hope that other prospective purchasers will find this review helpful and informative.

I must say a huge thanks to the chap who wrote the original long review. I have been looking for a decent home turntable for a while now and with so many on the market these days, it can be a bit of a minefield. I used to have a Technics system but the motor finally went and thought I go for something new...old systems do finally go.Bought this turntable and the recommend needle to go with it and I am absolutely over the moon with it.It is a solid, sturdy piece of kit and the sound quality is excellent and has brought to life many of my old LPs. I daresay you can buy better more expensive systems, but you would be hard pushed to find something better than this for the price.Fully recommend - excellent!

High quality turntable with digital conversion feature. The turntable is extremely well made and very heavy - the controls all work well and it is easy to use. Very happy with purchase, so I bought one for my sister too !

I would simply support and underline the incredibly helpful review posted earlier which helped convince me to buy this. The player is as good as it was said to be.

never had a record deck like this billiant,thankyou.

Very good purchase and transaction