Stanton announces battle-worthy USB turntable

Turntable manufacturer Stanton recently announced its new T.90 high-torque turntable with built-in USB and S/PDIF digital outputs. Even if you're not an aspiring DJ scratch battle champion, the ability to record your vinyl collection directly into a computer is big convenience. While USB-capable turntables such as the Numark TTUSB have been around for a while, the Stanton T.90 is the first to include features that today's DJ really want, namely digital key locking (the ability to change a song's tempo without changing pitch) and a high-torque direct drive motor that puts an unholy amount of force behind keeping the turntable spinning in spite of the energy a DJ exerts onto it by scratching records.

While the inclusion of USB is a great feature, it's hard to tell from the press release whether they've done away with standard analog outputs altogether. The Numark TTUSB may not have all the bells and whistles of the T.90, but Numark's inclusion of USB and analog outputs ensures that the turntable will still be usable long after USB goes the way of the dinosaur.

The T.90 sounds fun, but it still doesn't beat out the features and extremely cool looks of my favorite geek-worthy turntable, the Numark TTX. The TTX has a blue LED display for both BPM and RPM information, S/PDIF digital and RCA analog outputs, a reverse button, and the ability to pitch-shift your vinyl into chipmunk oblivion.

No word yet on pricing for the Stanton T.90.