Parasound Zphono MM/MC Phono Preamplifier with USB

This is a great piece of equipment for cooling off your other electronic equipment. I had a tuner/receiver and a secondary amp in the same cabinet with no top or rear venting and this fixed my heat issues. I stuck the Parasound between my two devices to give them some room and allow heat to escape the top of the one devices while letting the other one "breathe" by not having it directly on top of my receiver and it works great. I'd say at least 10 degrees in difference. The fans pulls hot air in from the bottom and the exhaust is in the rear so it blows the heat from the rear of my cabinet toward the front. The power-on sensor via 12v cable (provided) and power-off delay are a great features. The Medium fan speed works great for me. The high speed is audible so if you can get by without it, then you will have a nearly silent device. Only thing is I wouldn't recommend for enclosed cabinets, this device requires good air circulation from at least on open area. The only other issue is that it's not the same width as most electronic components and does look a bit odd (like you are missing a piece) if you are particular with your equipment setup.

Analog AND digital output in a quiet, smooth TT preamp. I'm a budget lover of good sounding music. I've heard near $30,000 music rigs that I thought didn't sound leaps n bounds better than mine... not because my gear is so good; I just don't perceive the nuances they do ......or maybe I haven't ingested as much of the Stereophile Kool aid). Look, in no way am I trying to say this unit is as good as a Macintosh C8 or other $4000 preamp ?? Heck no. But it doesn't get more enjoyable or practical @ this price point . I can finally digitize my 300+ lp's onto a multi terabyte hard drive allowing me to keep bout 25% (out of sonic romanticism). Don't like it ?? Doesn't extract the nth degree of low end extravaganza, the syrupy warmth of caramel envelopment from the mid's, and the positively delectable caress of the high end apex from ur tweeters ??? Return the unit for refund. It's great 4 me, but admittedly, if U only buy gear that's positively reviewed w/ an A+ rating by Sonic Snobbery magazine, pass this up. Me, I'm as happy as a sow in excrement w/ this practical preamp.

Incorrect USB-A to ? cable included, rather than one that fits the back of the pre-amp. What gives? Everything else works fine. A decent budget item. They should send me the right cable.

I have an extensive 78 record collection and I enjoy doing audio restorations using my computer and restoration software. I've used another USB preamp in the past, but always wanted this preamp. The lower price compelled me to buy it. It has some features my other preamp doesn't have. First, you can choose a setting for either a moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) cartridge. I use both for my 78 restorations. It also has a switch so you can choose to send out the USB signal with the standard RIAA EQ curve, suitable for LPs, 45s and late edition 78s, or you can choose to output a signal with no EQ (flat) for acoustic and early electrical 78s and apply the correct EQ in software. The volume control for the USB output works great and I can easily optimize the signal sent to my computer. The sound quality is first rate, audibly better than me old preamp. There are also analog line outputs and inputs. The unit is solidly built with a robust power supply built in, which is much better than a wall wart used by some preamps. Even if you just want a great phono preamp between your turntable and receiver, this is a great choice. I think it performs as well as units costing much more!

Really great sounding phono preamp. I got it for its good reviews, great price point and because it included a low pass filter (to stop my speaker cones from shaking to bits) and mono switch (to fix those 60s recordings where everything was mixed extreme left or right! I don't know how it compares with more expensive preamps but in my system (Roksan Radius 5 + Hana EH + NAD + B&W 805S) it sounds just fine, thank you very much! Highly recommended!

This unit provides the versatility I need to enjoy and transfer my 78's, LP's, cassettes, Reel-to-Reel and video tape audio to the digital domain - all in one unit. It may only output CD-quality sound, so a "True Audiophile" might not be impressed, but for anyone who would love to hear and digitize their old analog recordings once again it is a dream come true! I have one output hooked up to my home theater system and the other to my computer. In addition, I can plug my headphones in directly so there is only the Parasound and my 'phones between my source and my ears. The result is remarkable. My daughter has started buying new-release vinyl because it puts anything she can download to shame. My source equipment is old, but is still worth a lot on the used market and beats anything you can buy today for under a grand in any format. Together with the Parasound Zphono with USB, it is making evenings a lot more enjoyable as we rediscover and share the greatest music of the last 100 years!

I needed a phono pre-amp for my new turntable plus a way to digitize some of the huge number of albums I have. This one did all that, AND it has an extra line-level input so now I can also digitize some of my many cassettes. The level control and clipping indicator allows me to optimize the A/D range. This is a quality little box. Sound quality is good AND I can now put some of my out of print albums on to my phone and rock on...

Was all in with this preamp until I tried to hook up my turntable. When selecting the Phono input a very bad buzz occurs. I've tried every idea known to man to eliminate the buzz and then discovered the buzz occurs even when the turntable isn't even connected! Using the Line inputs the amp sounds great, BUT I need to use my turntable! Unfortunately for me I discovered this problem after it's too late to return the item to Amazon. I've contacted Parasound to see if they can help, still waiting for a response.