Buy NAD PP 3i Digital Phono Preamp with USBNAD PP 3i Digital Phono Preamp with USB Product Description:
- Transfer your valuable vinyl collection to a PC or Mac; uses your existing high quality vinyl playback system and offers audiophile quality ripping
- Connect your turntable to most amplifiers, receivers, and PCs
- Settings for both MM (moving magnet) and low output MC (moving coil) types
- More efficient external 24V DC power supply that reduces power consumption
- Comes with a new version of AlpineSoft's VinylStudio Lite ripping software compatible with both Mac and PC
Product Description
LP to HD: The easy way to digitize your records!
This sophisticated and cost-effective component allows you to enjoy your vinyl LP collection through your normal stereo system, but also gives the option to record your LP's into today's digital formats.
The PP-3i combines NAD's award winning PP-2i MM / MC Phono Preamp with a high quality Analog-to-Digital converter with USB interface. The PP 3i enables you to transfer your valuable vinyl collection to a PC or Mac hard disc drive. There is also a line input to allow for the transfer of cassette tapes. This extra functionality makes the PP-3i an easy upgrade from the PP-2i, while maintaining the PP-2i's extraordinary performance and sound quality.
The new "greener" PP-3i uses less than one watt of power in standby mode. NAD has also improved the digital circuitry and included a new, shielded USB cable, which both combine to reduce noise and improve the analog-to-digital conversion process.
The PP 3i offers a very high quality path to converting analog vinyl into digital music files. Unlike the "all-in-one" solutions on the market that use inferior turntable and cartridge elements, the PP 3i uses your existing high quality vinyl playback system and offers audiophile-quality ripping. The PP 3i Phono-to-USB Preamp offers a complete hardware and software solution with exceptional flexibility to record from LP or tape.
The PP 3i comes with AlpineSoft's VinylStudio Lite ripping software (for both Mac and PC). VinylStudio Lite is the most intuitive software available for ripping LPs and burning audio CDs. It automatically adds track numbers, looks up song titles (metadata) online, and offers other options for file management. Users can also opt to automatically add tracks to their iTunes Music Library. The included VinylStudio Lite PC Software makes it easy to copy your LPs directly to the hard drive of your PC as either wav or mp3 files.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Great Way to Convert Your Record Collection
By Midwest Guy
**Update** 01/23/2011After converting several recorded record albums to MP3 then putting them on my iPhone, I have found that the recording level is softer by a noticeable degree. This cannot be fixed when using my iMac and a USB connection to the PP3. For some reason, using USB locks out any adjustments that can be made to the volume of the line level. This is an annoying problem. I've also learned that I don't even need this device. I am using a Sunfire TGP-5 processor which has a line level RCA out. What I've done is run an RAC to mini jack from the Sunfire to the back of the Mac where there is a mini jack input. I am still using the software that NAD packages with the unit and with this setup, I can adjust the line level so that it matches the level of downloads or CD's that are copied into iTunes. You can buy this software independently of the PP3 so I really needed was to buy this software. While I'm not 100 percent sure, I would think many home theater processors would have a line level output. In the case of the Sunfire TGP-5 it also has a built in phono preamp so I never needed the PP3 to record albums digitally. Some people will still need a device like the PP3 to use it as a phono preamp. But if your processor has the line level output, any phono preamp will do and avoiding using the USB method has it's advantages.-----------------------------------------------------------Anyone looking at the NAD PP3 most likely already owns a good turntable and simply wants a way to convert their records into a digital format while preserving most of the sonic qualities they already enjoy when listening to their records. I saw a review on the NAD PP3 in a recent audiophile magazine and decided to roll the dice and give this little unit a try. You can read that review on NAD's web site. With the critical ear I have I was concerned that the sound would be compromised too much. While I was not expecting this unit to sound exactly as good as the original record, I was hoping that it would come close enough to make me happy.I really can't compare the NAD PP3 to anything else as I've never used anything else. I don't know if there is a less expensive, or better, way to achieve the same results. But for me the price seemed reasonable and NAD has a good reputation. I was concerned about the fact that this unit only converts at a maximum of 16-bit/48kHz instead of the more modern 24-bit/96kHz or 192kHz, but then the good old CD is just 16-bit/48kHz so if a CD can sound good this NAD should be able to do the job.When I got the NAD PP3, I hooked it up to my Rega turntable and my computer and burned two of my favorite records onto CD then used the CD to load the music into my iTunes to play on my iPhone. The only complaint I have is it took a while to burn the CD's into iTunes but I'm not sure if that is due to the type of CD I'm using. There is probably a better way to convert the audio file directly into iTunes anyway and I'll experiment some more with that. After I was done, I played the records and the CD's I made on my stereo to compare the difference.The NAD PP3 fully metmy expectations. While the sound quality was not quite on a par with the original vinyl recording, the sound was close and perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure the average person would really notice much of a difference at all. In fact, I'm not sure that if I purchased a store bought CD of the same vinyl record, that it would sound any better than the CD I burned. After all, records can sound better than a CD, if you need to be convinced Google "vinyl vs CD" and the How Stuff Works search at the top will explain it to you.Bottom line, on both my iPhone and the CD the sound is very good and I could not be happier. If there is a way to get this same quality for less money, I don't know about it. To me the NAD PP3 is a great bargain because the cost of purchasing CD's to replace all my records would be hundreds of dollars more. The software that comes with the NAD PP3 is very easy to use but you'll end up purchasing the $30 full package to get all the features which include the ability to remove pops and clicks, and mark tracks. The other minor pain is the CD software that comes with the NAD PP3 is a mini CD disk that won't work in an iMac but you can download the software from the NAD website. If the NAD PP3 came with the full blown software on a full size disk, I would give it five stars. It deserves five stars just on its sonic merits, but having to purchase more software made me take away one star.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.NAN pp 3i great little amp
By Jim
Hooked up to an old Technics turntable the sound field was very good using my Onkyo receiver and Mirage prestige speakers w/subwoofer. I also hooked up a Pioneer cassette deck and it played my tapes very nicely too. The LP to CD free software Vinyl Studio is basic but adequate for conversion , probably will upgrade in the future to the better version to eliminate the clicks sounds. I am very happy with the product and recommend it as an alternative to buying a USB turntable (if you already have a regular turntable).
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