record player recommendations?

[asristir]

Can any of you wonderful people recommend a record player that won't damage LPs during playback?
So far all I've found is a 15000 dollar laser phonograph....
Also, is it difficult to transfer LP to digital? Purely for preservation of the medium.
Thanks fellas.

[drobot]

What's your budget (< 15,000 is pretty wide )

Check out the Music Hall MMF 2.1 - new they are around 350 bucks and have a decent stylus. I'm pretty sure that all record players damage the LPs somewhat, but not sure how you can avoid that. Music Hall makes very simple, sturdy turntables with okay cartridges out of the box. Check them out here: www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=MHMMF2

It's pretty straightforward to transfer LPs to digital. You need an audio interface from your stereo to your computer. I use this: www.zzounds.com/item--TASUS122 but this might be overkill (I use it to record guitar, bass, etc.)

I use garageband to do this - just play the LP and record it through the audio interface with garageband. There are tons of different ways to do it - try google for 'transfer LP to digital'. This tutorial: www.pcabusers.net/vinyllp/vinyllp.htm looks promising.

[asristir]

Wow! A reply! Thanks!
Thank you very much for the digital transfer link. Super helpful!

What makes one turntable better than another? Is the stylus the most important factor in getting good sound etc?
I've given up on laser styli for now. Price is just too ridiculous.
BTW there is a new technology in the works for non-detrimental LP playback. I read about it at Wikipedia, in the 'laser turntable' entry:
"Experimentation is in progress in retrieving the audio from a record by scanning the disc and analysing the scanned image. If developed sufficiently, this may make the laser turntable obsolete in the future."
Hear about that, Drobot?