Groove Crew

How your record gets into your Mac.

Six stations, one cable run. Set it up once, then leave it all plugged in.

The chain, station by station

  1. 1

    Turntable

    Set it to 78 rpm.

    Shellac spins faster than vinyl. At 78, tempo and pitch are right from the moment you record.

  2. 2

    78 stylus

    3 mil, made for shellac.

    A mil is a thousandth of an inch, so 3 mil is about 0.08 mm. That is the radius of the stylus tip, sized for the wide shellac groove. Never put the vinyl stylus on shellac.

  3. 3

    Preamp

    Switch on the back to LINE.

    The preamp makes the tiny groove signal loud. It is already inside the turntable. On LINE it is on and applies RIAA, the standard tone curve for vinyl.

  4. 4

    Cable

    RCA to 2× 6.3 mm jack.

    RCA plugs are the round ones: white left, red right. The 6.3 mm jack is the thick guitar plug, mono here (TS, with just one ring).

  5. 5

    Audio interface

    Inputs 1 and 2 on line or instrument.

    The interface is the converter: it turns sound into numbers, more cleanly than the turntable does. White into 1, red into 2. On the Apogee Duet 3 the input is called Instrument.

  6. 6

    Mac with Groove Crew

    Over USB. With an interface, 96 kHz.

    Straight from the turntable it is 48 kHz. Groove Crew records both channels. When it cleans up, it compares the two groove walls, so white and red always stay in the same inputs.

What you need

Prices: as of October 2026, paid or list price, marked on each line. Where we have no source it says “price varies”. No affiliate links.

Turntable with 78 rpm
For example the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB. Preamp and LINE switch are built in.
€271paid
78 stylus, 3 mil
AT-VMN95SP, just the stylus for VM95 cartridges. Or the AT-VM95SP, the whole cartridge.
€79paid, whole cartridgeabout €35estimate, stylus only
Cable
2× RCA to 2× 6.3 mm mono jack, for example the sssnake SPR2030, 3 m. One is enough.
about €5Thomann list price
Audio interface
Two inputs for line or instrument, connects over USB. For example the Apogee Duet 3.
price varies
Tracking force scale
Tracking force is how hard the stylus presses into the groove. For example the Dynavox TW-2. Without a scale you will not hit 5 g.
price varies
Mac
With Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later, Groove Crew installed.
free in the beta

Two ways

Recommended

With an audio interface

Turntable on LINE, cable into the interface, interface over USB to the Mac.

The better converter, and both channels arrive separately. This is the chain above.

Also works

Straight over USB

The turntable’s USB cable straight into the Mac. No interface, no RCA cable. In Groove Crew you then pick the turntable as the input and the rate 48000.

The trade-off: the turntable’s own converter does the work, and it is weaker than the one in an interface. The AT-LP120XUSB converts at 16 bit and 44.1 or 48 kHz (manufacturer spec, audio-technica.com, retrieved 1 November 2026).

Before every recording

  1. Tracking force to 5.0 g.

    Check it with the scale. Too little, and the stylus jumps out of the groove.

  2. Set the anti-skating.

    Anti-skating is a small counterforce that keeps the tonearm from being pulled inwards. Same value as the tracking force, for us 5 on the AT-LP120XUSB. If the stylus drifts outwards, go to 4. When in doubt, follow your turntable’s manual.

  3. Switch on the back to LINE.

    Otherwise the signal arrives very quiet and hums.

  4. Interface: inputs 1 and 2 on line or instrument.

    48 V off (that is power for microphones), Soft Limit off, gain (the input boost) about 6 dB. On the Duet 3 you set this in Apogee Control 2.

  5. Choose the recording type in Groove Crew.

    The app is in German. On LINE (through an interface or straight over USB) set “Aufnahmeart” (recording type) to “Über Phono-Vorverstärker (RIAA)” (through a phono preamp), because the built-in preamp has already applied RIAA. In the recording profile the field is called “Eingangsentzerrung” (input equalisation). Using a flat phono input with no equalisation: “Ohne Entzerrung aufgenommen (flach)” (recorded without equalisation, flat).

  6. Check the level in Groove Crew.

    Rate 96 kHz with an interface. Straight over USB: 48 kHz, pick rate 48000 in the app. Play a loud passage: the loudest point should sit between −12 and −6 dB. If it says “Übersteuert” (clipping), turn the gain down.

  7. Start recording, wait 5 seconds, then lower the stylus.

    That way no beginning is lost. The groove before the music shows the app how the record sounds on its own.

When it does not sound right

It hums, and everything is very quiet.
The switch is on PHONO. Set it to LINE. PHONO sends the raw groove signal, which would need its own preamp and the ground wire.
It sounds distorted and far too loud.
The other way round: LINE is plugged into a phono input that boosts it again. Plug into a line or instrument input.
Too quiet, or Groove Crew says “Übersteuert” (clipping).
Turn the gain on the interface until the loudest point sits between −12 and −6 dB.
“Kein Audioeingang gefunden” (no audio input found)
Groove Crew sees no device. Connect the turntable or audio interface over USB, then click “Eingänge anzeigen” (show inputs) again in the app.
Only one side is audible.
A plug is loose. White goes into input 1, red into input 2.
The normal vinyl stylus on shellac.
Never. It is made for the narrow vinyl groove, sits wrongly in the wide shellac groove and can damage the record. Fit the 78 stylus first.

All plugged in?

Then download Groove Crew and put on your first record.

To the download