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Editorial Review Can't bear to live without your vinyl albums, yet can't seem to find the time to fire up the record player these days? Well, have we got a solution for you The Crosley Keepsake. You can now simply take your old vinyls and convert them to CD in minutes with just a few simple steps. The Keepsake allows those old albums to be recorded in a digital audio format for high quality sound on a smaller, more modern compact disc. It easily interfaces with the USB port on any computer by utilizing the supplied software suite. However, if you still want to enjoy your albums old style, then Crosley's Keepsake offers a 3 speed turntable for your listening enjoyment. Preserve your entire music collection with the Keepsake. ... Read more Reviews
Reality, June 16, 2008
So i got the unit and put some records on ...
1. Sound
The sound is mediocre.It is reminiscent of the middle 50's to late 60's low end phonographs. Tone adjustment is a single pot type that ranges from low to high, bass is questionable.
2. Turntable
This is all plastic, the tone arm has no weight adjustment for the audiophile collectors and is not a quality arm, the speed switch is of low end quality (3 position slider type)
3. Case
It is a good solid wood type looks and feels good, Hardware is mid line quality.
4. USB
The system works as advertised however there is a lag time between the player speakers and play through on the computer which , if the player volume is up will give you an echo, this is not recorded, mearly a time difference between the player and computer. The player tone control does not effect the recording on the computer as it is a direct thru put from the tone arm to USB to computer.
5. questions
why is there no headphone or external speaker jack?
why is there no kickstand to hold the top open, i had to add one.
instead you have to remove it or lay it all the way back down.
Product is worth maybe $100 in todays market
The plus is that you can listen to records without having to patch into a separate audio system, it is a "portable record player" Plug and play!!!
Fun with Records!, January 29, 2008
Let me tell you a story. Recently, I went on a road trip up and down the west coast. In a small city known as San Francisco, I came across a record store, alas, it was the famous Rasputin! Marvelous music abounded everywhere, the earthly delights, it was paradise of rare form.
Since then, I have returned to my humble abode and realized that I do not possess a record player nor have I ever owned one (seeing as my birth was a decade after the 70s). Thus began my holy quest, many retailers have I visited and many forums have I searched for wisdom and an answer.
Well...
One learns soon that the Crosley name is well-spoken of in this trade. One also learns soon that record players are a dying breed. Golly! This is where the Crosley CR249 comes in. This behemoth of a record player also provides a future-proof USB connection, thus allowing one to interface it with a modern age contraption known as the Personal Computer and digitize those wondrously rare LPs that have never seen the laser light of CD form.
Hooray, I yelled at the top of my lungs. And for those desiring a more vintage look, Crosley offers this in tan. If I could trade this in for tan, I would, but I can't so I won't but in the end I am still content and extremely pleased with my purchase.
PROS
- case is fully portable with handle, like an oversized briefcase
- dynamic range speakers put out decent sound
- USB interface
- 3 SPEEDS
- cables and software are included
CONS
- lack of outputs (only USB and an AUX IN)
- speakers are not for audiophiles
If you are in the market for a very well made basic record player with USB output that is also SIMPLE to use, then this is wonderful product to start with. If you already have great speaker system and receiver, you may want to choose another record player w/ USB that offers more output options.
Disappointed - looks great, but is poorly constructed, July 15, 2008
Very attractive, a great concept...but the product is of poor quality.
This was the first phonograph I've purchased in 25 years. I am interested in digitizing some rare 78 RPM recordings made by a family member, and also to listen to some limited release LPs I own from the 80s.
It's an attractive unit when you first take it out of the box and reminds me of the old Califone turntables. But upon closer inspection, the turntable and tonearm are made of very flimsy plastic. The unit's cover must be either on (closed) or completely off...it won't stay partially open as pictured on the web page.
Installation and set up of the software and communication with the computer was a little confusing because of the way the device interacts with Windows audio settings. The instructions aren't very detailed, but if you persist you can figure it out.
I put on an LP and the sound from the onboard speakers reminded me less of a Califone, and more like the sound you'd hear from the children's toy record players of the 60s and 70s...faint, tinnish, distorted at higher ranges. I captured some of the audio to my computer and it sounded fine.
The greatest disappointment was when I tried to play a 78. The speed setting is changed using a frail, plastic, sliding lever. After switching to 78, there was no notable change in turntable speed. I looked closer and discovered a snapped circuit board and a number of disconnected wires! It looked as though they hadn't been properly soldered and had been simply fallen off, or perhaps had been jarred loose. I had never seen a circuit board snapped like that, and can't imagine how it happened, but it is a good indication about how flimsy this product's components are.
Fortunately, the distributor "Best in Home" was very professional and prompt. I contacted them the next day via email, described what happened and requested a refund. They quickly approved it and gave me detailed instructions on how to return it. There was no shipping fee and I received a complete refund. I was very pleased (and relieved!) with their service.
Note: The "Crosley 78 RPM Replacement Needle" does not fit this Crosely 78 RPM turntable tonearm, despite the fact that Crosely says "For 78 RPM turntables."
The Crosley Keepsake: Definitely a Keeper!, March 3, 2008
I recently started to collect vinyl and was looking for a way to play my records. I wanted something small (I live in studio) and easy on my wallet. I was also looking for something that looked old, but had more modern technolgy. The Crosley Keepsake Turntable was the answer that I was looking for. I have been using it fairly nonstop for 2 weeks now and it has been a blast! What's more, I have installed the software and have been ripping some mp3's! Also, the auxillary jack allows me to play my ipod through the built in speakers (which sound fine for a small, portable record player). Everyone that sees this product asks me about it and they are suprised at how reasonable the price is. I recommend this turntable to anyone looking for a cheap and unique way to enjoy analog music in this digital age.
Great value, February 6, 2010
One's satisfaction with this turntable will depend on how exactly it will be used. If you're looking for high-quality sound reproduction through the internal speakers, well---it's not going to happen! The retro styling (and retro sound) of this unit is perfectly acceptable if you're hosting a vintage 1950's style sock hop in your living room and using it to play records from that era. But if want really high-quality audio, select a dedicated turntable that you can plug into your existing stereo system.
However, what I'm using the player for is the transfer of old recordings to the computer (using the USB port) so that I can burn CDs of my old records. And this machine works admirably for this purpose. Again, if you're a real audiophile you'll probably want to purchase a much higher-quality (and more expensive) turntable, but I think for the average consumer this unit does a very acceptable job.
(I should add that while this record player will play 33s, 45s, and 78s, a 78 rpm needle is not included. Now, such a needle is available for this unit from third-party sellers for about twenty dollars. I haven't bought one yet, but plan to do so. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES play 78s on this machine without changing the needle first! You'll get very poor results---and it's really bad for the records as well.)
The machine includes Audacity editing software to convert the recorded sound into files for your computer. I'm not at all technically savvy, and quite honestly I was a bit intimidated at the thought of figuring out how to use the Audacity programme. The software comes with only the most basic user's manual, but complete technical instructions can easily be found on the web---there are even YouTube videos that show how to use the features found in Audacity. So, after a couple of hours of experimentation and doing just a bit of on-line research, I got the basics down pat. And in fact I've been having a lot of fun messing with these audio files, to see how much I can improve the quality before saving them as WAV files on the computer. The most useful tools are the noise reduction filter which will minimise rumble and hiss found throughout the recording, and the click and pop eliminator. (If you have a very stubborn click that the auto feature doesn't remove, you can actually zoom right in to the sound wave and manually re-draw the offending segment so that the pop is minimised.)
There are quite a few other tools that will alter the original audio as well, but these are the two that have gotten the most use, and they work very well as long as you have the settings adjusted properly according to the shortcomings of the recording with which you are working.... There is also a feature which will automatically separate your recording into tracks, but I've found that this is iffy at best: for me it's much easier just to manually do the dividing. And while it takes a bit of time to type in each track name, that's just one of those things that have to be done if you want the titles displayed on-screen when playing back the finished files, whether you've just saved them onto your hard drive or have burned a CD from them.
So, if I can figure out how to use Audacity I imagine anyone can do it; it provides very pleasing results for the average listener.
So far I've transferred about forty LPs to the computer, with most of the records dating from the 1950's and 1960's. I've been able to clean up the sound much better than I thought I would in most cases; some of these records were almost painful to listen to when filled with clicks and pops. There have only been a few records that were worn beyond improvement for the capabilities of the software.
One nice feature of this suitcase-like unit is that when not in use I'm able to pack it up (always make sure the tone-arm is clamped down when the machine is to be moved!) and store it away easily. Then when I'm ready to transfer a few records I just bring it out, take off the lid entirely, and set it on the computer desk and get to work.
So, to sum up----no, this unit will not fit the needs of a true audiophile. But if you're like me and have many (hundreds!) of old records that you'd like to transfer to CD, this should do the trick for you.
Stylish but difficult to use, December 24, 2008
If you're buying this just to have a nice-looking portable record player, then you'll probably be happy with this. It's stylish (I actually got the tan one, but there wasn't a way to review it on Amazon) and has built-in speakers so once you turn it on, you're good to go. It's not a Bose sound, but it's not terrible, either. By the way, if you plug the usb cord into the PC you can play the turntable through your PC's speakers (though I don't know why you'd want to).
However, I figure most people are buying this with the grand idea of transferring all their LPs to MP3s. You're going to be disappointed. First of all, the documentation is terrible. By the time you get all the connections right (it'll take a while) and get ready to make your first MP3 transfer from one of your favorite albums, you're going to realize you might have been better off just simply buying the CD or downloading the song(s) you wanted. To transfer an entire album to MP3 will probably take a couple hours or so. Then you'll find when you listen to the transfer, there are a few skips, loops, etc. I'm not a purist, but that will end up being as irritating as the way 8-tracks (remember those?) used to shift in mid-song.
You're better off just transferring one or two songs individually from your favorite albums, which may be what you plan to do anyway since it'll take years to transfer each individual album if you have a large collection. By the way, I also never figured out how to separate the songs so the album is just one really long song. I THOUGHT I figured it out, but it didn't work. Frankly, I was grateful (and relieved) I got the thing working in any fashion after hours of frustration.
Would I buy it again? I don't know. I'm tempted to return it, to be honest. Still, I like the look of it, and if it'll let me record a song or two from my favorite albums, then maybe it'll be worth it.
Here is how Crosley could improve it. Get someone who can read and write English to write the documentation. I'm not trying to be a smartypants. I'm being honest--the manual is a joke. Crosley should also think about using something other than the free Audacity program (or at least including the dll file you're going to need to make MP3s which I had to research and then download from the Internet). There are some good user-friendly software programs out there that will help you record from LP to MP3--give us a break, Crosley, and give us a better one because it reflects on your company. It makes you look cheap.
Fantastic Item! I'm listening to all my favorite albums on CD!, December 12, 2007
This is a very high quality turntable. The sound of it alone was a shock for being so simple it sounds great! I am making CD's of all my precious records from the 50's and 60's. It is easy after you get all the computer settings done, that is a bit of a challenge but once done making CD's is a snap. Highly recommend this item. I got it in black so it matches my other modern equipment.
What A Disappointment !, May 5, 2009
This is a real heart breaker. First of all the fidelity is so far below average it fell off the chart. My 83 year old Victor Orthophonic Victrola has a better tonal range. Additionally, volume is extremely weak and it seems to bring out more pops and clicks than from any other turntable. And I'm referring to LP's! If you're looking to play your 78rpm records on this thing, forget about it. I discovered that Crosley has a 78 stylus available which I promptly ordered only to discover that it isn't compatible with the cartridge on this model. I spoke to a service rep and they don't make one. As it turns out, I got this as a premium for making a pledge at a local radio station. Had I purchased it outright, it would have gone back pronto! As is, I managed to help out a local commercial free station but I now have a rather expensive doorstop.
A Great Find, December 20, 2008
I've been using this record player 2-3 hours a day for about a month and I love it. The hardest part about setting it up was getting it out the box. The speakers sound great despite how small they are and they don't get fuzzy even when the volume is turned all the way up. If you're one of those people that always wants cutting edge technology and the best sound possible, go out and buy a fancy-pants home stereo system. But if you're just a normal Joe looking for a quality record player, this is definitely for you.
Good except for one small detail...., January 4, 2009
Great turntable for what it is, a good ole mono turntable. The only thing that I didn't like, and find troubling is that while it has 3 speeds, it doesn't come with the .50 cent adapter to allow you to play a 45 speed record. No point in having the speed if you don't have the adapter for the record. But if all you have are LP's then you're in luck.
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