Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable

Bought this as a gift for family member. He loved this item. My observations: Beautiful to look at. Beautiful to listen to--great sound. Perfect response time. Quality made item. And the retailer who shipped this to me was very fast.

I got this for my brother. His wife said he wanted to start recording his old records on CDs. After extensive online research, this seemed to be the best solution for the money. Unlike the USB version, this can be used with a stereo system when not recording CDs.
So far he has used this on his stereo component system and proclaimed it quite good. He downloaded a different software package for recording, but I haven't heard anything about recording to CDs.

PROs: It's all there in the box, some assembly required. My brother is impressed with the numerous features. Nothing was hard to install or adjust. And he is very happy with the sound quality.

CONs: As said, some assembly required. My brother had prior turntable experience, so this was easy for him. This may not be true for others.
Also, the cables are a pain. They are captive, and short. We had to buy extension audio cables and plug adapters to mate it to the PC's sound card.

Great turntable for someone with picky ears who wants to listen to vinyl at home. I thought about getting a cheaper turtable but I'm glad I went with this Audio-Techinca instead. It has some nice "DJ" features that might be useful for some folks, but I bet this would not be a good choice of turntable for a serious DJ who scratches records and all that. It does sound incredible through my basic home theater setup (receiver with powered sub and two tower speakers). I listen to mostly mint or near mint records and I could not be happier with the sounds I'm getting. Beck's "Sea Change" album sounds amazing and after hearing it on vinyl it's difficult to listen to it on my iPod because it sounds "flat" and less "full" by comparison. Took me about 20-30 minutes to get it assembled and setup (anti-skate and tracking force). The RCA cables are a little on the short side and it is strange that they chose to fix the RCA cables to the unit but make the power cord removable. Not a huge problem, but odd choice for sure. If you are looking for good sound from your records, do not buy a cheaper turntable than this. I do not get any hum/noise and all of my quality vinyl sounds fabulous. Very solid turntable. I'm sure you could find a better turntable, but only by spending much much more $$$. Great value here.

Got this for Christmas and have used it with Cakewalk Pyro to rip 7 albums so far. The quality of the sound is fantastic using the supplied cartrdige. No hiss at all compared to what other reviews have said about USB belt-drive turntables. Has all the features I need and will even play 78s (using a different cartridge). The pitch is dead on with NO variation at all unlike low cost belt drive turntables. It does lack an auto-return function but frankly that is no big deal to me.

After having owned my Audio-Technica AT-PL120 Professional Direct-Drive Turntable for approximately one year, I am pleased thus far. I play quite a bit of vinyl and have yet to have mechanical problems. Like some, my box also arrived with minor damage, however, the player was well packed and undamaged. For the price, this is great turntable.