Hello all,
I am looking to buy a turntable to hear again my old collection of vinyls, and I would like to have the option of digitizing them, so I am focusing on USB turntables.
I like the Pioneer DJ PLX-500 model, but I am not sure if it will be compatible with Audacity, or if there may be any problems.
My alternative option would be the Audio Technica AT-LP120USB.
Can anybody give me some advice about the compatibility of the Pioneer with Audacity, or if the Audio Techcnia would be a better option in this regard?
Thank you all for your attention and for your help!
Virtually all USB turntables are class compliant which means they are plug-and-play with the drivers that come with your operating system and they should work with any audio application.
Of course with computers, any number of things can go wrong 
but they can usually be worked-out and then it should be easy.
Either of those should be fine. They are both direct drive, which I like because there are no belts or pulleys to wear out. My 40-year old Technics direct drive still works fine. (Although for the last few decades it’s only been used to occasionally digitize a record so it’s not like it’s been in continuous use for 40-years.)
And they both come ready-to-play with a cartridge and built-in phono preamp. (Traditionally, turntables didn’t come with a cartridge and the preamp was built into the receiver.)
I don’t worry too much about sound quality, since it’s an inferior format. 
The record itself is usually the weak link. You may want to use some EQ no matter how good the turntable & cartridge are… A lot of older records have rolled-off highs.
Audacity has a couple of “effects” for reducing clicks, pops, and noise. I have Wave Repair ($30 USD) which does an audibly perfect job of removing most (but not all) clicks & pops, but it’s manual so you have to find & select the defects and it’s VERY time consuming. But that also means it only touches the audio where you identify a defect. I also have Wave Corrector which is FREE and fully automatic, but I don’t have much experience with it.
Thank you very much for your advice, it is really helpful!
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